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View Full Version : GFO has concreted in reactor.. how get it out?


Spar
01/18/2014, 11:56 PM
My pump stopped working for a couple weeks that was supplying water to my GFO reactor... and now it has literally cemented inside the chamber to the point it won't come out. I have tried hot water and vinegar with no luck in loosening it.

Any advice on what I can use?

For reference I am using one of the 5" wide avast marine reactors.

ridetheducati
01/19/2014, 08:02 AM
Drill.

Gagonzalez
01/19/2014, 08:08 AM
Anything that can break it up. I usually use a ratchet extension when I need to break up anything that doesn't come out easily. A small crowbar from Lowe's works too depending on how large your canister is. As mentioned above, a drill works great too! Good Luck!

d2mini
01/19/2014, 08:58 AM
Yeah, i'd go with the drill. Lots of drilling should eventually allow you to break it out in chunks. Just be careful not to break your reactor.

dkeller_nc
01/19/2014, 09:02 AM
If you choose to use a chemical method, you can either fill the reactor with vinegar and wait a day or so, or add 0.1N HCl and wait about an hour. Either way, the acid will dissolve the calcium carbonate that has cemented your GFO together, allowing you to remove it without damage to the reactor.

AcroporAddict
01/19/2014, 09:03 AM
If you choose to use a chemical method, you can either fill the reactor with vinegar and wait a day or so, or add 0.1N HCl and wait about an hour. Either way, the acid will dissolve the calcium carbonate that has cemented your GFO together, allowing you to remove it without damage to the reactor.

This: ^. Holy Moly, a crowbar inside an acrylic reactor?

cakemanPA
01/19/2014, 11:25 AM
I had the same thing happen to me. I used lemon juice to get mine to break up. I let it sit overnight and it did the trick.

d2mini
01/19/2014, 02:48 PM
If you choose to use a chemical method, you can either fill the reactor with vinegar and wait a day or so, or add 0.1N HCl and wait about an hour. Either way, the acid will dissolve the calcium carbonate that has cemented your GFO together, allowing you to remove it without damage to the reactor.

Didn't work for me. Several days and two straight vinegar treatments later, I finally went with a chisel and hammer.