Cleaning equipment?

[mjsnook]

I have some equipment that is need of a good cleaning. It has all kinds of creepy stuff from my tank all up inside and stuff.

I have seen on the forums here where people use a vinegar solution to clean some parts and most come out looking as good as new.

My question is what type of vinegar to use and at what ratio do I mix it with water or just use it full strength.

Thanks,

Mike

[sir_dudeguy]

I use straight up 100% distilled white vinegar :) No ratio's for me lol.

is it a pump that you need to clean? If so, poor like a gallon of vinegar in a big cooking pot or something like that and put the pump inside there (and whatever other parts that fit in there as well). Let it soak for a while and then scrub it off. Also, turn the pump on under the vinegar. It will help clean some of the crap out of it. But do NOT turn it on with the output part of the pump pointing up at your face! I made this mistake and found out that vinegar burns your eyes very bad! :lol:

[chrisstie]

I'm with sir_dudeguy on this one :)

And yeah.. careful with the outlet of the pump.. Having vinegar fumes and liquid shoot at your face is a BAD thing.

I wonder if anyone else has done this? I feel a little better about it now dudeguy :)

[sir_dudeguy]

lol trust me...thats not the only time i've done that w/pumps. It seems like every time i'm about to set up my return pump or whatever and plug it in to test it...someone says something to me and i space out but my hands keep flipping the switch to the "on" position lol.

[mjsnook]

So just 100% pure white distilled vinegar? Then just rinse it under tap water?

[sir_dudeguy]

yep, thats what i do ;) Make sure to rinse it off well. I dont even think it would cause any problems if you didnt even wash it off, but i just like being too safe. But after all...if you can inject vinegar into aptasia to kill them and it doesnt hurt the rest of the tank, then i'd think vinegar residue on pumps would be perfectly safe as well.

[alizarin]

I've used cheap apple vinegar and it works fine too.