Removing scale in Jabsco toilet bowl

jac

jac

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I have a Jabsco compact that is starting to get a bit of build up in the very bottom. I suspect that the pipes will also have some. Over the winter I will service the pump and maybe replace the pipes if too bad but I'm not replacing the bowl for a bit of scale.

Is there a simple way to do this without damaging anything? At home we just squirt some lime scale removing stuff down and leave overnight and all fine but I suspect a dose of harpic down a marine toilet may not be good for the pump innards (let alone nearby marine life)

So any effective, non damaging options.
 
jac said:
I have a Jabsco compact that is starting to get a bit of build up in the very bottom. I suspect that the pipes will also have some. Over the winter I will service the pump and maybe replace the pipes if too bad but I'm not replacing the bowl for a bit of scale.

Is there a simple way to do this without damaging anything? At home we just squirt some lime scale removing stuff down and leave overnight and all fine but I suspect a dose of harpic down a marine toilet may not be good for the pump innards (let alone nearby marine life)

So any effective, non damaging options.
Click to expand...

If you're looking to remove scale which is visible in the bowl I would use HCL / Sulphamic Acid scale remover / strong vinegar etc but don't pump it and it won't pass through the lower valve and affect anything else. Once it's stopped fizzing pump it through with loads of water.

Richard
 
I leave vinegar in Toilet for 12 hrs. It cleans everything and is environmentally friendly. Every one knows fish goes well with vinegar and fish live in the sea.
 
RichardS said:
If you're looking to remove scale which is visible in the bowl I would use HCL / Sulphamic Acid scale remover / strong vinegar etc but don't pump it and it won't pass through the lower valve and affect anything else. Once it's stopped fizzing pump it through with loads of water.

Richard
Click to expand...

I had wondered about that. The smallest amount needed to cover the scale, leave for several hours then fill the bowl with as much water as it will take filled from the tap to dilute, then pump it all out, and pump through several more times.

Am I right in thinking though that once any of these products stop fizzing they basically are no longer working so no benefit to leaving in the bowl any longer.
 
jac said:
Am I right in thinking though that once any of these products stop fizzing they basically are no longer working so no benefit to leaving in the bowl any longer.
Click to expand...

Yep ... that's right. If the fizzing stops because all the scale has gone then that's the job finished. If the fizzing stops and you can still see some scale then you need to add a bit more acid which will start the fizzing again. Carry on like this until the fizzing stops and the scale has gone.

Richard
 
We buy hydrochloric acid in 500 ml bottles in supermarkets in Greece, strength is usualy 6%. One of these is sufficient for cleaning up the toilet and joker valve. I now put all of it in and pump until there is a little left in the bowl. Action is then taking place throughout. I leave it for about half an hour. Strong fizzing stops in five or ten minutes but there is still something going on for much longer than that.

Nothing in the toilet or fittings will be harmed by this and the only chemicals pumped into the sea are chloride salts, which are already present there in large amounts. The CO2 generated in the reaction is probably insignificant from an ecological point of view. :)
 
I did like Vyv describes (probably his advice) using brick cleaner. Entertaining bubbles and gloops, cleaned out the system and no adverse effects
 
I use the readily available Viakal, which would appear to be a mix of formic and citric acid, not as aggressive as the hydrochloric acid / brick cleaner option (and probably a bit more expensive) but does the job and is safer to handle and store.
 
ghostlymoron said:
What do the Greeks do with their freely available hydrochloric acid?
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In Croatia it's always in the bathroom cleaning section along with toilet ducks and similar. Usually a choice of 6% or 19% for a similar price which seems an expensive way to pay for water. :confused:

I assume that it's used for the same limescale removing purposes that we use it for as the water out there always seems to be hard water.

Richard
 
The mere fact that the fizzing has stopped means that there is no more scale or anything else that is being acted upon OR that the acid has lost its potency; it does not necessarily mean that all the acid has been neutralised.
 
PuffTheMagicDragon said:
The mere fact that the fizzing has stopped means that there is no more scale or anything else that is being acted upon OR that the acid has lost its potency; it does not necessarily mean that all the acid has been neutralised.
Click to expand...

That is true but sea water is slightly alkaline PH 7.5 to 8.4 would also neutralise the remaining acid when you consider the relative volumes.
 
PuffTheMagicDragon said:
it does not necessarily mean that all the acid has been neutralised.
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I disagree ..... it does mean that the acid has been neutralised to all intents and purposes. If you mean that the pH will still be lower than 7 then you are right ..... but the pH of vinegar amd lemon juice are well below 7 and nobody worries about those ....... in fact, we drink them! :)

Richard
 
RichardS said:
I disagree ..... it does mean that the acid has been neutralised to all intents and purposes. If you mean that the pH will still be lower than 7 then you are right ..... but the pH of vinegar amd lemon juice are well below 7 and nobody worries about those ....... in fact, we drink them! :)

Richard
Click to expand...

Yes, we do drink lemon juice; also phosphoric acid, if it comes to that.
As for the vinegar, that reminds me of a story from when I was much younger about a rich liveaboard who was offering one thousand pounds to whoever could drink a glassful of vinegar every day... which, logically, elicited the question "For how long?"
 
Do they have different H & S laws in Greece? Hydrochloric acid sounds scarily dangerous to me especially at 20 % concentration.
vyv_cox said:
Exactly the same as we do - pour it down the toilet or waste pipes to clean up scale. It's not only Greece, similar 500 ml bottles are sold all over Europe.
Click to expand...
 
ghostlymoron said:
Do they have different H & S laws in Greece? Hydrochloric acid sounds scarily dangerous to me especially at 20 % concentration.
Click to expand...

As I said above, it's UK that is out of step with Europe. (Surely not? :) ) The 20 % marking may well not be true. Up until last year all the acid we were buying was marked at about 20% but now it is all marked 6%. It seems likely that the 20% was the dilution ratio of the concentrated acid but the 6% is the ratio of HCl to water. They work out as roughly the same. It is not very dangerous at this concentration, sold everywhere in my experience, Holland, Denmark, France, Spain, Italy, Greece and no doubt many more.
 
If anyone is worried about using acid to disolve scale, then don't ever eat tinned citrus fruit .....

The grapefruit were now segmented but still had their pith. To removed that they soaked the segments in what was described as food grade [wtf?] hydrochloric acid. This did the job but left the segments contaminated with the acid.

To get rid of the acid they then washed the grapefruit in caustic soda, another powerful corrosive.

We were told the alkaline caustic soda neutralised the hydrochloric acid and left the segments safe to eat.
Click to expand...

http://addiator.blogspot.de/2012/09/how-they-produce-tinned-grapefruit.html

Original source C4 Food Unwrapped.
 
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