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Muriatic Acid Shock To Remove Scale?


TXGlenn

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Beginning my second season of pool ownership...still feel like I'm lagging behind the learning curve.

Anyway I have some scale build-up due top my pH getting out of hand. This happened last year and the pool builder told me to dump "alot" (5-8 gallons) of muriatic acid in the pool, leave the pump running, and scrub it every day and the scale will come off. I put about 4 gallons in there and the scale disappeared seemingly overnight on it's own.

So the problem came back. I was planning on trying this again but wanted to see how harmful this kind of treatment is to my equipment. I have a salt water pool so wasn't sure if this would damage my salt cell or not? I read where it could damage heater components but I'm not running the heater at the moment.

I read in the pool school the best way to remove scale is drain and acid wash but this MA shock worked really well last year. Am I setting myself up for a headache if I try this again?

Thanks

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Beginning my second season of pool ownership...still feel like I'm lagging behind the learning curve.

Anyway I have some scale build-up due top my pH getting out of hand. This happened last year and the pool builder told me to dump "alot" (5-8 gallons) of muriatic acid in the pool, leave the pump running, and scrub it every day and the scale will come off. I put about 4 gallons in there and the scale disappeared seemingly overnight on it's own.

So the problem came back. I was planning on trying this again but wanted to see how harmful this kind of treatment is to my equipment. I have a salt water pool so wasn't sure if this would damage my salt cell or not? I read where it could damage heater components but I'm not running the heater at the moment.

I read in the pool school the best way to remove scale is drain and acid wash but this MA shock worked really well last year. Am I setting myself up for a headache if I try this again?

Thanks

The acid lowers your PH which in turn makes the water very acidic and will corrode heat exchangers in heaters.

I have used acid to clean scale off tiles above the water line, but in very small doses and watered down, Just be careful with that stuff and find a new pool company that can water test properly

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I read where it could damage heater components but I'm not running the heater at the moment.

Low Ph can damage the heater even if you aren't running it. When its off, pool water still runs thru the exchanger.

I would venture to say 5 to 8 gal of acid and running the pump is a bad idea. I have heard of a similar trick but with more acid, NOT running the pump, and Taking the light fixture out, and anything else metal that might get attacked by the acid like pool rails, etc. But have someone do it that has experience doing this sort of thing.

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Thanks for the responses.

Is there a pH level that will loosen up the scale enough so I can scrub it off while maintaining a safe level for my metal components?

What if I lowered pH to scrub the scale, then brought pH back up to normal pH level quickly (i.e. all in one day)?

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There are also products such as ScaleTec, but I have not used them though did see a post recently where the person had good results. The poster noted that they then got algae afterwards (though the scale was removed) so the product may contain phosphonate which breaks down to phosphates which is algae food, but algae growth can be prevented through proper chlorine levels relative to CYA.

Some more about calcium scaling is here.

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There are also products such as ScaleTec, but I have not used them though did see a post recently where the person had good results. The poster noted that they then got algae afterwards (though the scale was removed) so the product may contain phosphonate which breaks down to phosphates which is algae food, but algae growth can be prevented through proper chlorine levels relative to CYA.

Some more about calcium scaling is here.

Thansk CG. This would be great solution if it works. I already ordered some and will give it a shot.

To make sure I'm not barking up the wrong tree though, what I am referring to as "scale" are small, hard, off-white formations (usually about 1/8-inch across) spread randomly about my pool, most noticeable on the steps. Is this most likely scale? My CH stays at 350 but due to my CYA being low, my pH kept getting high which I think is the reason I got this. I tried unsuccessfully to find pictures of calcium scaling...I do not have a chalky white substance along the water line....just these little rock-like specs.

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