Alphawolf Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 I have a 450 gal. Caldera spa that is 2 years old. I have maintained ph and alkalinity very well, but we do have hard water here (250ppm). Recently my ozone generator quit producing any bubbles and I discovered the Venturi was clogged with hard water scale, I assume had flaked off the heater element. I'm thinking of dumping a gallon of muriatic acid into the full tub and circulating it overnight before draining, flushing and refilling. This should descale the entire system, right? Thoughts? I can't imagine a 1:450 ratio is strong enough to hurt anything in 8 hours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laenini Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 OMG Do NOT, I repeat DO NOT!!!!! dump a gallon of Muriatic Acid into your hot tub!! I promise you, that will be the END of that hot tub and no warranty in the world will help you if you do something so foolish!!! Muriatic acid is a STRONG acid. While there are some fancy, high tech industrial acids in the world, Muriatic Acid, otherwise known as Hydrochloric Acid, is one of the strongest acids an average person is able to interact with. If you put 1 gallon of it into your hot tub it will destroy the finish, all of your fittings, and it will corrode everything that it doesn't outright destroy. Then to add injury to insult, you will severely chemically burn yourself if you contact that water while draining the tub. Or God forbid what might happen to anyone who might try to climb into that tub before you have a chance to drain out the chemicals. Urban legend tells of gangs using hydrochloric acid to dissolve bodies. It can come pretty close, even diluted 450:1. That drain water will kill any grass it comes into contact with, and will damage just about any surface it comes in contact with. I believe it would still be strong enough to etch concrete. Pool and Spa chemicals deserve your full respect! They can be dangerous and you should never, ever under estimate their power to cause harm if used incorrectly! Please trust me. I am a pharmacist in real life, I know what harm HCl can do to a human being! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n1oty Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 I'd suggest removing the mazzei injector and cleaning it. While the injector is out and no water is in the tub, do a reverse blow on the heater return fitting in the tub with a wet-dry vacuum to blow any deposits back through the vinyl hose. Re-assemble and test water flow. If your flow is good, simply run your water at the low end of the hardness scale. Any final deposits should slowly be re-absorbed into the water. Due to the restrictive nature of the venturi in the injector, most of the deposits should be there, but the heater return fitting is also somewhat restrictive and will catch anything that got by the injector. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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