# Experiences cleaning inline diffusers?



## George Farmer (2 Feb 2011)

Any of you guys have experience cleaning your inline diffusers?  I'm sure my bubbles are getting bigger.

I expect the internals to get a little clogged over time, even on the filter outlet.  Also the ceramic exterior is exposed to some light, so algae may get a light covering.  I've also noticed in hard water areas, ceramic media tends to clog with calcium deposits.

I was thinking of submersing the whole unit in thin bleach, and injecting bleach into the CO2 hose inlet.

Then rinsing and soaking the unit in de-chlorinator/water solution, and syringing out from the CO2 inlet. 

Any experiences welcome!


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## LondonDragon (2 Feb 2011)

Haven't actually cleaned one yet, I am on my third now and have given away the precious two! lol
But I would suspect soaking it in bleach for a few hours would do the trick.


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## viktorlantos (2 Feb 2011)

I also not cleaned them. I guess i will never clean them. Easier to get a new one every 8-12 months or so  But looking forward if anyone does that.


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## George Farmer (2 Feb 2011)

I will clean mine this weekend and observe any differences!

Thanks, guys.


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## ceg4048 (2 Feb 2011)

Yep, 20 minutes or more filled with bleach straight from the bottle cleans the unit of algae but bleach won't remove the calcium deposits. You'll need to soak it vinegar or other acid to clear that up.

Cheers,


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## Garuf (3 Feb 2011)

Vinegar first then bleach? You should be back to atomic levels then for sure.


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## Themuleous (3 Feb 2011)

I can say I've never cleaned one of mine!  One of the big advantages of inline I think is that even if the bubbles are bigger they get more time to dissolve, even if attached to the filter outlet.  Its also never going to clog completely due to the pressure of the co2. 

Were I going to clean it though, I'd probably just use a bleach soak as well.

If you want to remove the calcium deposits, hot water and citric acid would work a treat.  Certainly does on my kettle!

Sam


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## Anonymous (3 Feb 2011)

!


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## nry (3 Feb 2011)

My Boyu is inside the cabinet so is dark most of the time and as yet, still looks as white as it did when it went in ages and ages ago.


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## Themuleous (3 Feb 2011)

Yeh even the ones I've got in broad daylight haven't got algae on the ceramic disk as yet.  Would think the CO2 gas would keep it too dry?

Sam


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## George Farmer (9 Feb 2011)

Just cleaned mine, as described earlier in the thread.

The difference is really quite remarkable.  

The bubbles must be 10x smaller.  I've dropped the CO2 rate and fitted a drop checker to be on the safe side until I come up with an appropriate BPS rate.

Quite chuffed actually!


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## LondonDragon (9 Feb 2011)

Nice one George, might be worth cleaning it 2-3 times a year to keep the rate flowing at a steady pace and avoid fluctuations.


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## George Farmer (9 Feb 2011)

Exactly my thoughts mate.

I go through about 4x 2Kg FE every year so that's a good trigger point for me. Just changed one too!


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## foxfish (9 Feb 2011)

Exactly what make & model are you talking about George?


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## George Farmer (10 Feb 2011)

foxfish said:
			
		

> Exactly what make & model are you talking about George?


It's a Boyu model with 16mm fittings.  Kindly donated by Paulo!


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## Garuf (10 Feb 2011)

How did you go about cleaning it, George? Just bleach in the end?


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## plantbrain (11 Feb 2011)

Tilex, toilet bowl cleaner works much better than bleach FYI.

Takes about 10 min and it will make any and all stuff growing or discoloring it go away.

Rinse 2-3 x and then soak in dechlorinator for a min, then return to service with mist


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## plantbrain (11 Feb 2011)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> Just cleaned mine, as described earlier in the thread.
> 
> The difference is really quite remarkable.
> 
> ...


Try cleaning once every month or so for in lines, 2-3 weeks for disc in the tank


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## foxfish (12 Feb 2011)

I wonder if steradent would work?


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## strat100 (17 Feb 2011)

How much!!!!http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tilex-Mold-Mildew-Remover-473/dp/B0009P68M0


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## GreenNeedle (22 Feb 2011)

Not been in the CO2 forum for a while but I was doing mine at the same time as Purigen every 2-3 months.  At a fiver each I had 2 and just 'swapped' them over. I had 2 purigen bags too and kept the newly cleaned one in a dark DI water filled box in a dark cupboard until the next change to stop it from cracking.

So just like the Purigen it had 1 day in bleach followed by 1 day in vinegar followed by 1 day in dechlor. (In a bowl in the shed. lol)

I assume it should be bleach first then vinegar and not the other way round to restore any Ph difference that may happen to neutral?  Maybe there is no difference with the diffuser etc. lol

One thing I will add though (Boyu) is when I first used these with the Tetratec I could see the bubbles and I only used it for a month or so before returning to a Rhinox.  The bubbles were too big and you could see them come out the lily straight to the surface and therefore pointless.

When I used it with the Eheim I could see no bubbles!!!  100% solution in essence.

Both filters rated at 700lph and the diffuser positioned 6" from filter on the out side.

AC


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## mjbarnard (23 Feb 2011)

George which diffuser are you using?


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## foxfish (23 Feb 2011)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> foxfish said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I asked that one page back


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## plantbrain (23 Feb 2011)

Tilex kicks plain bleach's hiney.

Much better IME.


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## foxfish (25 Feb 2011)

Well I tried bleach followed by steradent, certainly worked!!
Big difference in quantity of mist in fact i had to turn the gas down considerably as the bubble counter jumped fro 3ps to ridiculous ps!
I will now clean more regularly & also look for Tilex.


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## GreenNeedle (1 Mar 2011)

strat100 said:
			
		

> How much!!!!http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tilex-Mold-Mildew-Remover-473/dp/B0009P68M0



Lol at the retailer there.  The shipping weight gives away that the price is for a case.  Maybe 6 but the others seem to ship in 9s.

Tom - Which version of the Tilex do you use?  Is it the one above as there are a few different versions.  Not sure the daily shower cleaner is going to do the business. lol

AC


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## GreenNeedle (1 Mar 2011)

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_a ... t_in_tilex

Seeing as Tilex is US and hard to buy in the UK then the answer above may help us a little more 

And can be bought here (still looking for cheaper options.lol)
http://www.bonnymans.co.uk/products/pro ... uctID=6163

Is this not the same as bleach?

AC


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## plantbrain (1 Mar 2011)

No, it's much more concentrated and whitens faster.
There is likely some equivalent in the UK.

Just gotta look and see.


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## strat100 (6 Mar 2011)

Anybody had any joy finding something similar to tilex?


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## foxfish (6 Mar 2011)

Do we know what material is most likely to be blocking the diffuser, if we knew that then we could get the most suitable chemical to dissolve the deposits?
What about hydrochloric acid as used to clean kettles?


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## strat100 (6 Mar 2011)

Would have thought it would be calcium deposits.


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## Andrew Butler (8 Oct 2017)

Resurrecting an old thread but how do people go about cleaning their inline diffusers these days?
Frequency? - Going to start using it on the dirty side
How are you making sure the bleach is rinsed out thoroughly?

Has anyone considered using anything like Kilrock to remove the limescale? - how do you go about neutralising a product like this? I've got very hard water so it builds up a bit quicker.


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## GHNelson (8 Oct 2017)

Any Thick household bleach will do similar to Domestos....plain not scented!
Mix with 50% water.....leave overnight.
Washout with dechlorinated water.


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## ceg4048 (8 Oct 2017)

Andrew Butler said:


> Has anyone considered using anything like Kilrock to remove the limescale? - how do you go about neutralising a product like this? I've got very hard water so it builds up a bit quicker.


Yes, Kilrock is just Formic acid, which is about 10X stronger than vinegar. Any acid can be used to dissolve limescale, which is simply Calcium Carbonate. This is not a big deal. Use it and rinse under the tap.

As mentioned above, if there is algae or other organic material buildup on the diffuser you can soak in bleach. I don't have the patience to wait over night.  I just soak in 100% bleach for 5-10 minutes and then rinse thoroughly under the tap.

Cheers,


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## MarkyP (8 Oct 2017)

I soak mine in pure lemon juice for 30 minutes then rinse in tap water - works for me!


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## Andrew Butler (10 Oct 2017)

hogan53 said:


> plain not scented!


Haha, I had worked that bit out. I'm sure there are many that don't!



ceg4048 said:


> I don't have the patience to wait over night


Thinking about getting spares and rotating as I'm not patient either!



MarkyP said:


> I soak mine in pure lemon juice for 30 minutes then rinse in tap water - works for me!



Thanks for the input guys, I will have a ponder and find out what works for me best
andy


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## Akmaliano (11 Oct 2017)

Just cleaned mine for the first time over the weekend. I took the following method suggested by a few before:

1. soaking in 100% thin bleach for a few hours (just a generic cheap one from Morrisons)
2. followed by cleaning using a tube brush and thorough rinsing
3. soaking in white vinegar to remove calcium (also bought from Morissons). Next time I'll try Killrock
4. rinsing and soaking in water with fair amount of Seachem Prime.

I haven't tried out this newly-cleaned diffuser yet to check if this cleaning method was effective but hoping that it will be working better than before I took it off for cleaning. Lately it was producing clearly enlarged bubbles and the dissolution rate clearly dropped as I was having to turn up the needle valve more and more to achieve a lime green DC.

The new diffuser I swapped it with whilst cleaning was bought on ebay and it made such a big difference - the bubbles are now gone and there is such a fine mist that from a few feet away the tank doesn't look like it's being injected with CO2!


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