hard water deposits

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Secla
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hard water deposits

Post by Secla » Tue Jun 07, 2016 10:34 pm

I get hard water deposits left on my stainless boiler after a brew, Does anyone have any tricks on how to remove ? I don't really want to use a scouring pad

Wezzel

Re: hard water deposits

Post by Wezzel » Tue Jun 07, 2016 10:51 pm

Cheap supermarket lemon juice or white vinegar. Just wipe with a non scratch scouring sponge.


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Secla
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Re: hard water deposits

Post by Secla » Tue Jun 07, 2016 11:06 pm

pretty sure ive got some white vinegar in the cupboard to i will give that a bash
cheers

Mr. Dripping

Re: hard water deposits

Post by Mr. Dripping » Wed Jun 08, 2016 10:50 am

Citric acid solution.

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Sadfield
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Re: hard water deposits

Post by Sadfield » Wed Jun 08, 2016 12:19 pm

Old starsan solution.

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BenB

Re: hard water deposits

Post by BenB » Wed Jun 08, 2016 1:11 pm

I also go for the Starsan. I find the deposits appear a few days after brewing once all the water has dried out. By that time I've got lots of starsan solution knocking around. I know some people manage to keep Starsan for weeks/months but whenever I've tried this the bottom of the FV lid goes all mouldy which puts me off using so I just dump it. Nowadays I dump it via the kettle. I've got a little recirc pump I use for sterilising the boiler tap so I just use that to spray the starsan all over the sides of the kettle. Makes it good and shiny.

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orlando
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Re: hard water deposits

Post by orlando » Wed Jun 08, 2016 5:51 pm

Reducing the alkalinity in your brewing water makes life a lot easier as you don't get the same level of deposit. I can usually spray the crud off my elements for example with very little scrubbing needed.
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alexlark
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Re: hard water deposits

Post by alexlark » Wed Jun 08, 2016 6:02 pm

Citric Acid is good stuff. I'll have to try the Starsan though

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Sadfield
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Re: hard water deposits

Post by Sadfield » Wed Jun 08, 2016 10:58 pm

orlando wrote:Reducing the alkalinity in your brewing water makes life a lot easier as you don't get the same level of deposit. I can usually spray the crud off my elements for example with very little scrubbing needed.
This. Doesn't work retrospectively though. Image

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Aleman
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Re: hard water deposits

Post by Aleman » Thu Jun 09, 2016 8:40 am

Use RO or deionised water as a final rinse water :whistle:

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Jocky
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Re: hard water deposits

Post by Jocky » Thu Jun 09, 2016 9:09 am

My water is quite hard (230ppm CaCO3) too. After cleaning kit my final rinse is with a weak citric acid solution (made up with my tap water). Starsan is fine (although I make it up with soft bottled water), but citric acid solution is a bit stronger and makes things nice and shiny.
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alexlark
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Re: hard water deposits

Post by alexlark » Thu Jun 09, 2016 9:18 pm

Jocky, when you say weak citric acid solution, what amounts we talking?

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Jocky
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Re: hard water deposits

Post by Jocky » Thu Jun 09, 2016 10:19 pm

About a tablespoon in 3 to 5 litres.

Not sure of the actual strength if I'm honest.
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast, Seaweed, Blood, Sweat, The swim bladder of a sturgeon, My enemies tears, Scenes of mild peril, An otter's handbag and Riboflavin.

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alexlark
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Re: hard water deposits

Post by alexlark » Fri Jun 10, 2016 9:29 pm

Cheers. I'll also give that a go next time. I've only cleaned the element with citric by boiling with a few litres but everything above that has a white misty coating.

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Jocky
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Re: hard water deposits

Post by Jocky » Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:02 pm

Oh you definitely don't need to boil the element to clean it.

A bit of citric even in cold water should bring it up super shiny.
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast, Seaweed, Blood, Sweat, The swim bladder of a sturgeon, My enemies tears, Scenes of mild peril, An otter's handbag and Riboflavin.

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