You don't leave it in for days.
Just long enough to dissolve organic crud.

Household bleach is already diluted and motors are sealed in epoxy. Epoxy is
tough stuff. If you are paranoid, make it a 2:1 solution.
Yes, you need to use brushes and do some scrubbing. And lots of rinsing and
soaking in fresh water with dechlorinator.

If there is no organic buildup, then skip the bleach. Do the vinegar soak
overnight and see how it is.
After a good cleaning, it is wise to treat o-rings with silicone o-ring
lubricant.

CW
"bacala" wrote in message
news:kD2Be.75942$oK.51289@okepread02...
"CheezWiz" wrote in message
...
I would use 100 % food grade vinegar.
It is already a diluted acid and given enough time, will dissolve all the
calcium away.

To get rid of biological deposits that vinegar will not get, I use 1:1
solution of household bleach.
Soak the equipment in it long enough to dissolve the bad stuff, then
rinse MANY times and soak with a dechlorinator like amquel+. My CPR
overflow and BakPak had become clogged with little sponge like critters
to the point both devices were choking and had do this to dissolve them
away.

CW

Is it ok to soak the pumps completely in the bleach solution? Could it
damage the motor or moving parts ( I know the motor compartment is water
tight and completely submersible, but I don't know if the pump would
remain water tight if submerged in a bleach solution) Would it be ok to
soak/submerge in the bleach solution, and if so could I run the pumps
inside the bleach bath to clean all the internal parts of crusty buildup?
Or would it be better to soak the skimmer only and apply the bleach
solution to the pumps with a cleaning brush or something?


"bacala" wrote in message
news:YUGAe.74603$oK.20755@okepread02...

"Billy" wrote in message
...

"FordStyle" wrote in message
. com...
Soak it in a mix of white vinegar and water and it will help remove
the calcium deposits. If you can stick it in a container that's large
enough and run the pumps over night it this mix it will help clean
some of the internals a little better. This will help remove the
calcium deposits but not sure of all the tube remnants from the small
dusters....

Second that. Various brushes can be of use, I purchaced a couple toilet
brushes (marked and stored away from the bathroom for obvious reasons)
that are handy as hell.

billy

What ratio of water to vinegar do you recommend? 1 to 1?

Also what do you think about using a mild strength hydrochloric acid or
other type of acid?