Cleaning heads pipes!

[davethedog]

Morning all and after 2 years of living onboard the aft heads outlet pipes are very clogged with calcium deposits and sometimes will not even flush at all.

So, rather than go through the painful task of renewing the hoses, which I know is the best option but access to one of the pipe runs is very very difficult, is there any cleaner we can put down there to clear them? As said they are very clogged up!

Thanks

DTD

 

[NormanS]

Morning all and after 2 years of living onboard the aft heads outlet pipes are very clogged with calcium deposits and sometimes will not even flush at all.

So, rather than go through the painful task of renewing the hoses, which I know is the best option but access to one of the pipe runs is very very difficult, is there any cleaner we can put down there to clear them? As said they are very clogged up!

Thanks

DTD

Brick cleaner 10% hydrochloric acid does the job. (Available from B&Q.)
To prevent the problem, pump more. Jabsco recommend 7 strokes of the pump per metre of hose, minimum.

 

[Sandy]

If it is that bad I'd replace the pipework.

If you have fresh water handy a regular flush through with that helps.

 

[davethedog]

Thanks for the replies so far and think will try the brick cleaner option first as got to be worth a try! As said, the pipe runs on the boat are a bit fiddly to say the least!

 

[ylop]

A recently blocked holding tank was cured by buying two large bottles of the cheapest own brand diet coke (phosphoric acid) we could find and pouring in. I don’t know how quick it fixed the problem - we left it for a week before investigating but it certainly worked. (We used diet as it is less “sticky” than full fat).

Will be considerably cheaper than any proprietary cleaner - and depending on your proximity to a big B&Q etc maybe easier to get hold of than Brick Acid (hydrochloric acid).

 

[davidmh]

What does the brick cleaner do the heads pump unit and the skin fittings.
David MH

 

[Fr J Hackett]

A recently blocked holding tank was cured by buying two large bottles of the cheapest own brand diet coke (phosphoric acid) we could find and pouring in. I don’t know how quick it fixed the problem - we left it for a week before investigating but it certainly worked. (We used diet as it is less “sticky” than full fat).

Will be considerably cheaper than any proprietary cleaner - and depending on your proximity to a big B&Q etc maybe easier to get hold of than Brick Acid (hydrochloric acid).

Good to know for those that suffer from constipation, drink two litres of Diet Coke and wait a week certainly better than drinking brick cleaning solutions.

 

[ylop]

Good to know for those that suffer from constipation, drink two litres of Diet Coke and wait a week certainly better than drinking brick cleaning solutions.

My investigations revealed that most or perhaps all of the blockage was crystalline rather than “organic” in nature. Brick acid might be more comfortable that trying to pass razor sharp crystals

 

[Fr J Hackett]

My investigations revealed that most or perhaps all of the blockage was crystalline rather than “organic” in nature. Brick acid might be more comfortable that trying to pass razor sharp crystals

Ah your heads was suffering from chronic marine gout due to an overly rich diet, cut back on the red meat.

 

[Boathook]

What does the brick cleaner do the heads pump unit and the skin fittings.
David MH

Trudesign fittings don't like drain cleaner even though the stuff comes in plastic bottles. I was trying to clean an elbow (off the boat) and it went tacky and soft. Luckily I had replaced it as I was altering the layout.

For the OP the pipe if blocked that bad will require replacement and in future flush more water through the system.

 

[Roberto]

When you use HCl, put it in the bowl, give a few pump strokes then leave it there, go out and look at the underside of the hull where the WC outlet is: there will be fizzling gas bubbles together with small amounts of whitish concretions coming out of the through hull. Wait, flush and repeat until debris and gas are much reduced or disappear.

OT I was curious as to why is diluted hydrochloric acid sold as "brick cleaner"; who might want to clean bricks ? A quick internet search showed pictures of brick walls conditions exposed to UK weather, understood now

 

[capnsensible]

Brick cleaner in the UK. Agua Fuerte in Spain. The latter certainly works. Used it on our liveaboard yacht and our school yachts. Plenty of flushing after treatment. Didn't ever see any signs of degradation of seals and plastic,

 

[Fr J Hackett]

When you use HCl, put it in the bowl, give a few pump strokes then leave it there, go out and look at the underside of the hull where the WC outlet is: there will be fizzling gas bubbles together with small amounts of whitish concretions coming out of the through hull. Wait, flush and repeat until debris and gas are much reduced or disappear.

OT I was curious as to why is diluted hydrochloric acid sold as "brick cleaner"; who might want to clean bricks ? A quick internet search showed pictures of brick walls conditions exposed to UK weather, understood now

Brick cleaner was traditionally used to clean up the mess left by sloppy bricklayers ie mortar which is a carbonate base and will react with the HCl. What people seem to be using it for is to clean off efflorescence which are water soluble salts ( sulphates predominantly) which are contained in the brick matrix and are produced in the firing process. They are commonly found in the softer bricks of the South East. There is no need to use an acid cleaner as they are in fact water soluble and will wash of or better still can be almost completely removed with a stiff brush then a final wash with water. It occurs when the bricks become saturated with rain water or those below the DPC and then dry out the soluble salts migrating to the surface with the water and leaving the deposit as the water evaporates. Unfortunately as there can be quite large amounts of these salts they continually reappear over a long period.

 

[rogerthebodger]

The way I cleared my head pipes was to remove the and beat the hell out of them on the walk-on mooting to break the crud inside away from inside the pipe

I using HCI use it sparingly as the resultant gas can build up and damage pump or pipe joins

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Brick cleaner in the UK. Agua Fuerte in Spain. The latter certainly works. Used it on our liveaboard yacht and our school yachts. Plenty of flushing after treatment. Didn't ever see any signs of degradation of seals and plastic,

It's unlikely to be detrimental or significantly attack hull fittings and valves but more likely to attack and corrode / weaken small things inside a pump, springs etc but I can't imagine a single treatment followed by flushing to be detrimental I wouldn't leave a pump chamber full of it though. It shouldn't attack any "plastic" either, Boathooks drain cleaner must have been something different with some sort of organic solvent in it.

 

[Roberto]

It's unlikely to be detrimental or significantly attack hull fittings

Also, the treatment is usually done with the boat afloat, the through hull/seacock will be underwater which would give immediate additional dilution to the acid.

 

[Gustywinds]

Agua Fuerte in Spain.

"Strong water" could be misinterpreted easily!

 

[capnsensible]

"Strong water" could be misinterpreted easily!

It's around 26% solution of hydrochloric acid. Available in every supermarket at just over a euro a litre.

 

[davethedog]

Thanks all and really want to avoid having to change the pipes if I can!

 

[srm]

The question of deposit build up in the heads pipework comes up fairly regularly.
Once you have cleaned the pipes it is so very simple to keep them clear. All that is needed is to flush the system through completely after each and every use, so there is only sea water standing in the pipes. Out of sight but still in the pipe is the cause of your problems. If you have long pipe runs you need to pump more each time. So simple.
This advice is based on not having had to clean out heads pipes, not even once, in 50 years of yacht ownership including the time spent living on board.