MA bath for cartridges

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LaMraVrga

Well-known member
Jun 21, 2024
53
Houston, TX
Pool Size
20000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
The pool store told me to add a whole gallon to my pool a couple of weeks ago so I bought one and went up to my pool, took off the lid and seal, looked away while holding my breath and poured it crouching down really close to the water. With no protection and did the entire perimeter. Everything went well but after reading all this I won't be doing that again.

Actually, I bought another gallon today and plan to pour it in a 50 Gallon Plastic Drum to clean my algae clogged cartridge filters tonight. The drum already has water, bleach and cartridge cleaner I used last week so I'm gonna leave that in there. Oh lord, I hope I don't blow up the neighborhood. Do I pour the whole thing? And how long do I leave the cartridges in there?
 
LaMraVrga said:
The drum already has water, bleach and cartridge cleaner I used last week so I'm gonna leave that in there. Oh lord, I hope I don't blow up the neighborhood.
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Use fresh water. MA is fine with low FC like in the pool but imma guess you went 50 to 1 with the bleach too.
LaMraVrga said:
Do I pour the whole thing? And how long do I leave the cartridges in there?
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I let them soak for a full day. I'd flip them about halfway becasue the tops were above the water and I'd stir them around a couple times over the course of the soak. Then they got hosed off well and put back in service.

I always dumped my bucket right on the lawn and lightly watered the area for a minute or two. YMMV if your grass isn't as hardy as mine.
 
Newdude said:
Use fresh water. MA is fine with low FC like in the pool but imma guess you went 50 to 1 with the bleach too.

I let them soak for a full day. I'd flip them about halfway becasue the tops were above the water and I'd stir them around a couple times over the course of the soak. Then they got hosed off well and put back in service.

I always dumped my bucket right on the lawn and lightly watered the area for a minute or two. YMMV if your grass isn't as hardy as mine.
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I just poured some Clorox Slow Pour gel bleach in there from a gallon I had.... maybe like not even a quarter of a gallon. Or maybe around that much +/-. It already had the cartridge cleaner that Leslie's sold me. I'm gonna be honest that cleaner sucks.
 
Newdude said:
Ok so 200 to 1 instead of 7 parts per million in the pool. Still no Bueno. Dump it and start fresh for the MA.
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10-4 boss! Will do as soon as I get home. I went home on my lunch break and put the cartridges in the old bleach/cleaner drum to soak so I plan to get home, spray them roughly, then replace the drum contents with clean water and MA then let them soak. So the whole gallon then?
 
LaMraVrga said:
So the whole gallon then?
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I always did as that's how I was directed at first. I got plenty of the bucket water on me and never felt the MA, sometimes I didn't even wash after, nor did it harm my grass so it's strong enough to get the job done but not too strong.

A half gallon would likely be plenty if you'd like to be extra cautious.
 
Newdude said:
I always did as that's how I was directed at first. I got plenty of the bucket water on me and never felt the MA, sometimes I didn't even wash after, nor did it harm my grass so it's strong enough to get the job done but not too strong.

A half gallon would likely be plenty if you'd like to be extra cautious.
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Oh I'm not concerned about the splash or the grass... I just want the easiest way to clean a filter. I would pour more if I need to. The cartridge cleaner product is a total scam. Was just as hard to clean the cartridges even after sitting in cleaner for days. Then they say "well it's not for removing algae, it's for removing oils" I don't care about oils.... the algae won't let my system filter! I hope the MA helps.
 

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LaMraVrga said:
The pool store told me to add a whole gallon to my pool a couple of weeks ago so I bought one and went up to my pool, took off the lid and seal, looked away while holding my breath and poured it crouching down really close to the water. With no protection and did the entire perimeter. Everything went well but after reading all this I won't be doing that again.

Actually, I bought another gallon today and plan to pour it in a 50 Gallon Plastic Drum to clean my algae clogged cartridge filters tonight. The drum already has water, bleach and cartridge cleaner I used last week so I'm gonna leave that in there. Oh lord, I hope I don't blow up the neighborhood. Do I pour the whole thing? And how long do I leave the cartridges in there?
Click to expand...
If you acid bath your cartridges before removing all the oils (and there are oils in the fabric) be prepared to purchase new cartridges.
 
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1poolman1 said:
If you acid bath your cartridges before removing all the oils (and there are oils in the fabric) be prepared to purchase new cartridges.
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Well they're soaking in the cleaner solution now and I also added some bleach, but that mixture is the one I used a week ago. Hopefully it's still good. I'm gonna get home and spray them off then with new water and MA I'll let them soak for a few hours and then spray them off and install. I just realized that my goal was to make it easier to clean them but I have to do the the same labor intensive cleaning first then clean them again after the MA bath:brickwall:.
Why does the entire pool industry feel like a scam :(. Not only is it labor intensive.... it's expensive as well.
 
LaMraVrga said:
Well they're soaking in the cleaner solution now and I also added some bleach, but that mixture is the one I used a week ago. Hopefully it's still good. I'm gonna get home and spray them off then with new water and MA I'll let them soak for a few hours and then spray them off and install. I just realized that my goal was to make it easier to clean them but I have to do the the same labor intensive cleaning first then clean them again after the MA bath:brickwall:.
Why does the entire pool industry feel like a scam :(. Not only is it labor intensive.... it's expensive as well.
Click to expand...
Swimming pool = luxury item. Luxury = added cost. Oil change on a standard car = $50.00 - $80.00. Oil change on a Lamborghini Huracan = $500.00 - $800.00 (actual prices).
 
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An oil change for a Bugatti Veyron can go upwards of $20,000 – $25,000.

The eye-watering cost isn’t only tied to the car’s complexity; technicians have to remove several panels and parts from the underside to access the 16 oil plugs.

Because the Bugatti uses super thick 10W-60 synthetic oil, it takes hours to drain.

Expect your Veyron to be in the shop for 27 hours to have its oil and filter replaced.

If you drive your Veyron often, you’ll need an oil change every 5,000 to 7,000 miles.

Otherwise, it’s just once a year.

The Bugatti holds 16.5 quarts of oil for the quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 engine.
 
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LaMraVrga said:
Well they're soaking in the cleaner solution now and I also added some bleach, but that mixture is the one I used a week ago. Hopefully it's still good. I'm gonna get home and spray them off then with new water and MA I'll let them soak for a few hours and then spray them off and install. I just realized that my goal was to make it easier to clean them but I have to do the the same labor intensive cleaning first then clean them again after the MA bath:brickwall:.
Why does the entire pool industry feel like a scam :(. Not only is it labor intensive.... it's expensive as well.
Click to expand...
I have a cartridge filter and after spending hours trying to clean those filters using a gentle detergent spray, I opted to just toss them each year and buy new ones for about $125 for the package of 4. I change them in less than 20 minutes and life is good. Could be me, but I have many other things needing my time, or that I want to do than clean filters, but I 100% understand the "experimentation" side of seeing what will get these things clean in terms of a soaking solution. My only question is whether the solution would weaken the filter substrate, sort of like bleach weakens any material being bleached such as clothing.
 

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