Peg Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 I am using Baqua Spa chemicals. Do I have to use their cleaner to clean my filter?It is so expensive, not to mention how far I have to drive to get it. Is there something else I could use, like something I ready have around the house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooltoy2000 Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 I have heard of people using Simple Green. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peg Posted July 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 I am using Baqua Spa chemicals. Do I have to use their cleaner to clean my filter?It is so expensive, not to mention how far I have to drive to get it. Is there something else I could use, like something I ready have around the house? I have Simple Green. Does anyone know if this is okay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Biguanide (Baqua) is not compatable with many different chemicals. I would not take the chance on using simple greeen. anyway, I would not use any product for cleaning a filter that might cause foaming in your pool. Biguanide (Baqua) is not compatable with many different chemicals. There is no telling what effect it would have on a biguanide pool or whether it would even be effective. I would not take the chance on using simple greeen. anyway, I would not use any product for cleaning a filter that might cause foaming in your pool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brulan1 Posted August 4, 2006 Report Share Posted August 4, 2006 Biguanide (Baqua) is not compatable with many different chemicals. I would not take the chance on using simple greeen. anyway, I would not use any product for cleaning a filter that might cause foaming in your pool. Biguanide (Baqua) is not compatable with many different chemicals. There is no telling what effect it would have on a biguanide pool or whether it would even be effective. I would not take the chance on using simple greeen. anyway, I would not use any product for cleaning a filter that might cause foaming in your pool. Robarb makes a good filter cleaner or you can do the good old fashion muriatic acid and water in a pail. Make sure not to mix MA with HA and use plenty of water with one part of acid. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted August 5, 2006 Report Share Posted August 5, 2006 Robarb makes a good filter cleaner or you can do the good old fashion muriatic acid and water in a pail. Make sure not to mix MA with HA and use plenty of water with one part of acid. good luck Do NOT use muriatic acid to clean a filter for a biguanide pool without first using a filter cleaner that is compatable to remove the baquagoo or you will be replacing the filter. The ONLY reason you need muratic acid to clean a filter is to remove scale deposits! If there are no deposits your do NOT need to acid wash! Also, Brulan1 please explain what HA stands for. I assume that MA is muriatic acid. The only thing I could come up with for HA is hydrochloric acid which happend to be another name for muriatic acid. Also, could you clarify your recipe of "plenty of water with one part acid"? IF you don't know you really shouldn't offer advice that someone on the forum that might try to use it thinking you know what you are talking about. If anyone needs to acid wash a cart the proper dilution, accorind to the Unicel website (one of the largest manufacturers of OEM and replacement carts) is one part acid to 20 parts water. This recipe is a bit more exact. They also caution not to acid wash without soaking in a degreaser first and that biguanide pools and spas need special products that are compatable or the filter can be ruined! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brulan1 Posted August 5, 2006 Report Share Posted August 5, 2006 Do NOT use muriatic acid to clean a filter for a biguanide pool without first using a filter cleaner that is compatable to remove the baquagoo or you will be replacing the filter. The ONLY reason you need muratic acid to clean a filter is to remove scale deposits! If there are no deposits your do NOT need to acid wash! Also, Brulan1 please explain what HA stands for. I assume that MA is muriatic acid. The only thing I could come up with for HA is hydrochloric acid which happend to be another name for muriatic acid. Also, could you clarify your recipe of "plenty of water with one part acid"? IF you don't know you really shouldn't offer advice that someone on the forum that might try to use it thinking you know what you are talking about. If anyone needs to acid wash a cart the proper dilution, accorind to the Unicel website (one of the largest manufacturers of OEM and replacement carts) is one part acid to 20 parts water. This recipe is a bit more exact. They also caution not to acid wash without soaking in a degreaser first and that biguanide pools and spas need special products that are compatable or the filter can be ruined! 1 gallon of MA to 30 gallons of water. Hydrochloric acid=HA like you said. They are absolutely not the same (LOL). When you mix those two chemicals it makes a deadly mustard gas like the gas used in WW1 (WW1)= World War 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hottubdan Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 With BaquaSpa you need to use a cleaner compatable with the sanitizer. The above suggestions are risky. We sell the filter cleaner for less than $10.00. Have have seen Internet stores that sell and ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 With BaquaSpa you need to use a cleaner compatable with the sanitizer. The above suggestions are risky. We sell the filter cleaner for less than $10.00. Have have seen Internet stores that sell and ship. Listen to hottubdan! I have been saying the same thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitisi Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 When my filters are dirty i put them in the dishwasher laying on the top rack, ( No dishes in dishwasher) and use the standard detergent, i run it on the heavy cycle and stop and rotate the filters every 5 or 10 minutes, they get real clean and its simple, just a comment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 When my filters are dirty i put them in the dishwasher laying on the top rack, ( No dishes in dishwasher) and use the standard detergent, i run it on the heavy cycle and stop and rotate the filters every 5 or 10 minutes, they get real clean and its simple, just a comment I'm sorry but the concept of putting an item with a variety of various body fluids, dead skin, hair and other crap into an item designed to clean our dishes that we eat off of is nothing short of disgusting! I know that people do this and it's even been recommended by some on spa forums but if many of you have had the opportunity to see what comes out of these filters under a microscope, you may think twice. A dishwasher will get rid of the "chunks" but it certainly doesn't address calcium and minerals and bacteria. It's fine by me but please don't ever invite me over for supper OK?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintnsunni Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 When my filters are dirty i put them in the dishwasher laying on the top rack, ( No dishes in dishwasher) and use the standard detergent, i run it on the heavy cycle and stop and rotate the filters every 5 or 10 minutes, they get real clean and its simple, just a comment I also wash my filters in the dishwasher but I have two sets so one is always ready to swap out. I did soak my filters in simple green overnight in a bucket then ran them through the dishwasher. So far so good from what I can tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 So far so good from what I can tell. And this comment is exactly my concern for the unknowing consumer. When it comes to filters and cleaning them, the "chunks" I spoke of is what most will base the results on. It's like clear water must be balanced! IT'S NOT! You can't look at water and determine whether or not it's sanitized and same goes for a filter and it being cleaned properly!!!!!!! These are the things that happens without dealer support IMO... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmendoza17 Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 And this comment is exactly my concern for the unknowing consumer. When it comes to filters and cleaning them, the "chunks" I spoke of is what most will base the results on. It's like clear water must be balanced! IT'S NOT! You can't look at water and determine whether or not it's sanitized and same goes for a filter and it being cleaned properly!!!!!!! These are the things that happens without dealer support IMO... Any more on the simple green idea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennnis Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 Has anyone used TSP " Trisodium phosphate " ? It is a good cleaner. I have not tried cleaning my filter with it yet but a friend of mine said he used it. TSP is good grease remover, and I have used it to clean the wood clapboard on my house and my deck. I read an article on using a mixture of TSP and Oxygen bleach " Sodium percarbonate " (OxiClean is 40% Sodium percarbonate) mixed with warm / hot water as a cleaner for just about anything. I do not think this would cause foaming. Anyone here tried this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmendoza17 Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 I read someone used simple green? Anyone else tried that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 Has anyone used TSP " Trisodium phosphate " ? It is a good cleaner. I have not tried cleaning my filter with it yet but a friend of mine said he used it. TSP is good grease remover, and I have used it to clean the wood clapboard on my house and my deck. I read an article on using a mixture of TSP and Oxygen bleach " Sodium percarbonate " (OxiClean is 40% Sodium percarbonate) mixed with warm / hot water as a cleaner for just about anything. I do not think this would cause foaming. Anyone here tried this? TSP (the real stuff, NOT the substitute sold in many areas where phosphates are banned) is the best filter cleaner there is for chlorine and bromine systems. It is what is recommended by most of the OEM and replacement filter manufacturers such as Unicel and Pleatco. Hose off, soak overnight in a solution of one cup TSP to every 5 gallons of water, and then hose off again. If you live in an area where real TSP has been banned because of phosphates (Florida for example) then you can use powdered automatic dishwasher detergent such as Electrosol or Cascase instead of TSP. It costs a bit more but works just as well! Use the same one cup to each 5 gallons of water for soaking. If you are using biguanide (SoftSoak, BaquaSpa, Revacil, etc) for sanitation you need to use a special filter cleaner designed for biguanide systems to remove the grey sticky film that forms on the filter. Once it is removed you can soak in TSP if you need to ( you usually don't if you are cleaning your filter regularly). If you use TSP without removing the film first with a special cleaner it wil turn into a gummy mess and your filter cartridge will need to be replaced! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintnsunni Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 And this comment is exactly my concern for the unknowing consumer. When it comes to filters and cleaning them, the "chunks" I spoke of is what most will base the results on. It's like clear water must be balanced! IT'S NOT! You can't look at water and determine whether or not it's sanitized and same goes for a filter and it being cleaned properly!!!!!!! These are the things that happens without dealer support IMO... I had the local dealer suggust tsp soak if needed otherwise use the dishwasher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 I had the local dealer suggust tsp soak if needed otherwise use the dishwasher. Well isn't THAT convenient and I didn't see THAT coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brulan1 Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 Well isn't THAT convenient and I didn't see THAT coming! How about Robarb Filter Cleaner or MA w/ water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 How about Robarb Filter Cleaner or MA w/ water? Muriatic acid should never be used to clean a filter unless the orgainics have been removed first with TSP or a filter cleaner. Muriatic acid will react with the organics on the filter and cause them to harden into a a cement like substance, ruining the cartridge. The only time a filter should be acid washed is if there is a lot of scale build up on it, and then only after being soaked in a degreaser. Most commercial filter cleaner are propriatary mixtures of some type of acid and degreaser so they can usually do the job in one step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintnsunni Posted November 21, 2006 Report Share Posted November 21, 2006 Muriatic acid should never be used to clean a filter unless the orgainics have been removed first with TSP or a filter cleaner. Muriatic acid will react with the organics on the filter and cause them to harden into a a cement like substance, ruining the cartridge. The only time a filter should be acid washed is if there is a lot of scale build up on it, and then only after being soaked in a degreaser. Most commercial filter cleaner are propriatary mixtures of some type of acid and degreaser so they can usually do the job in one step. So tsp soak good to do but as to rinsing? Is anything wrong with useing the dishwasher? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brulan1 Posted November 21, 2006 Report Share Posted November 21, 2006 So tsp soak good to do but as to rinsing? Is anything wrong with useing the dishwasher? dishwasher has detergent and could disperse soap for a nice bubble bath and perhaps unneccasary TDS into the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintnsunni Posted November 21, 2006 Report Share Posted November 21, 2006 dishwasher has detergent and could disperse soap for a nice bubble bath and perhaps unneccasary TDS into the water. Good point! what about simplt runing it without soao but cycle it through to rins out tsp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brulan1 Posted November 21, 2006 Report Share Posted November 21, 2006 Good point! what about simplt runing it without soao but cycle it through to rins out tsp? That works or mabye a hose to save on your electrical bill being you are in a budget spa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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