How to remove lime scale/calcium deposit at water level?

[kadoxu]

Hi,

I'd like to know how you usually remove lime scale/calcium deposit (if you have any) that appears at water level in the tank.

I know I can use a 50% bleach solution on CO2 equipment if I rinse it right and leave it to dry for long enough, but what about inside the tank?

I've heard about using vinegar... but with a pregnant woman in the house that hates the smell, it's something I'd like to avoid if possible. And I want to check with you guys before doing anything stupid...

Thanks in advance!

 

[G H Nelson]

Hi
You could try Lemon/Lime Juice!
I usually use a Stanley blade for the more stubborn scale......being careful not to scratch the glass.
hoggie

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

You could try Lemon/Lime Juice!

Lemon juice would be my choice as well (probably after white vinegar), but any weak acid will do. You could try synthetic citric acid (C6H8O7) (rather than the citrus fruit juice, which is ~8% citric acid for lemons).

Citric acid is about £5 a kilo on Ebay or £1 for 50g in Wilko.

cheers Darrel

 

[Jester]

I gently scrape with a Stanley blade also.

 

[ian_m]

JBL make a descaler which works well.

http://www.jbl.de/?lang=en&mod=products&func=detail&id=2459

 

[kadoxu]

Thank you guys, I'll try lemon juice then! If it's too hard I'll give citric acid a try.

My hands are not steady enough for me to be confident using a blade.

I saw JBL Clean A when looking for a solution, but wasn't sure I could use it inside the tank. It's a bit expensive, but I'll give it a try if I'm not happy with lemon or citric acid.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

JBL Clean A

That one has a safety sheet on the JBL German web-site, the ingredients are:

Aqua
isopropyl alcohol
Citric acid
benzalkonium chloride
Basic blue 9

So it is water, alcohol, citric acid, a surfactant, a colouring agent and a very large amount of profit for somebody.

I had to look up <"benzalkonium chloride">, but I'm pretty sure you need the alcohol to get it to go into solution, and that although it is a biocide etc. they've just it in very low doses as a surfactant.

cheers Darrel

 

[zozo]

Depending on the amount of deposit i guess, i got medium soft water dKh 10 and aslo staines a bit at the watersurface after a week. Even more since i use dry salts now to make my ferts.. But every water change once a week i take a cloth and only damp one corner of that cloth with a little white vinegar and rub the glass where it is stained, wait a few munites rub it again and then take a dry corner from the same cloth and whipe all off. Works like a charme everytime till now.

 

[Tim Harrison]

In MK the water is so rock 'ard I used to use a hammer and chisel

 

[Ryan Thang To]

In MK the water is so rock 'ard I used to use a hammer and chisel

its not as bad as that

 

[zozo]

In MK the water is so rock 'ard I used to use a hammer and chisel

Would come in handy, DIY chisel a nice background..

 

[kadoxu]

I ended up buying a box of citric acid... 250g for £1.50 at Wilco. Using some hot water and the damp cloth corner 'technique', it wasn't too hard to the remove the thin layer in the tank. It was also useful to clean a used CO2 kit I just bought.

 

[HiNtZ]

Glass scraper blade for me personally. Keep it at a a shallow angle and be gentle only going one direction, and if possible, sticking to one side of the blade only. I found using both sides after removing heavy scale leaves a micro burr on the the opposite side that can leave very very faint scratches.

The benefit of a glass blade over stanley blade is that it is more flexible and it applies pressure evenly to a point, even if you aren't.