First off, let me say water condensation in the air line is a VERY major issue with this unit and getting it to work at all. I finally did get it to work OK but the hassle might be way too much for many, be warned. The unit I used was a $129 Harbor Freight 40 lb soda blaster designed for Armex XL blasting media (baking soda). The soda does not do a thing on removing calcium scale so don’t waste your time, it’s too soft. The soda is much finer than what I used, Maxx strip PF2 (pool finish 2), which is fine grade specifically made for pool tile cleaning. It’s harder than calcium but softer than porcelain tile and basically Epsom salt with neutral PH. The PF2 will etch plaster and grout but that was my technique and not an issue after my first tile. I did use it to clean some plaster/quartz pool surface near rocks and it didn’t damage the plaster as long as I didn’t try and clean all the calcium off and was back at least a foot from surface with nozzle. They make a courser grade PT2 (pebble tec 2) which I didn’t try and would not recommend. The retailer here said Maxx Strip PT2 is the only approved media for pebble tec. The PF2 cleaned 15 years of never cleaned VERY HEAVY scale on my desert pool tile to shiny, completely clean tile with no visible tile damage, very impressed with the product. I used almost 120 lbs (about $100) for a 14000 gallon pool on 6”x6” tile and rocks only.
I tried the soda blaster as sold, but it didn’t siphon media longer than 5 minutes before it plugged the siphon tube. I later discovered it was moisture vapor condensing and causing the media to plug the small siphon tube openings. I enlarged the siphon tube lower holes to 5/32 and single air hole near top of siphon tube to the same. Worked better but still had major plugging issues in siphon tube due to moisture. Very minimal (10%) tube blockage around upper hole would stop the siphon. I have a high quality water filter/separator at air compressor and bought two more cheap harbor freight ones, one piggy backed to the one on the soda blaster and one near the end of the line but it did little better. I then added a Harbor freight desiccant air dryer that worked but that quickly filled with moisture too so I bought another and dried one while using one, installed quick disconnects on them so changing was easy. I dried them in my oven, 275 degrees for 30 minutes or until beads turned back to blue color. There plastic so heat with your discretion. I covered them in a towel when I connected air in case it exploded but they never failed. I had to use 150 feet of air hose to reach pool and rerouted the air hose through house which helped by cooling air. My wife ran around and drained compressor tank and filters constantly but did little to help as water was still vapor and not getting caught in filters. Soda blaster takes a minimum 8.5 cfm @90 psi compressor, mine is 19 CFM with 80 gallon tank so it didn’t run hot. I ran the blasters feed wide open and at 90 PSI.
Bottom line is it will work great if you can dry the air sufficiently. The humidity here was 12% and 80 degrees the time I worked it. A MUCH better quality dryer is needed, maybe one with easily replaceable desiccant that can be swapped. IF I was to do this again, I would take a 54 quart cooler, drill and in and out hole for air hose, coil up approx. 25 feet of hose and pack with ice. That is basically what an expensive air dryer does, its just a cooler to get the moisture vapor to turn to drops so it can be filtered out.
I looked at a commercial pool media blaster unit made for Maxx strip ($1300), the one difference was it forced the media out the bottom instead of siphoning out the top. I thought since soda is moisture sensitive also that the soda blaster would work. All in all a learning experience, I am a major DIY’r so this was kind of fun, (wife didn’t think so) if anyone has questions, just ask. Nice to be able to contribute to knowledge base at TFP as I have learned so much from this site and all the great people who use it!
Wrinkled Fingers
I tried the soda blaster as sold, but it didn’t siphon media longer than 5 minutes before it plugged the siphon tube. I later discovered it was moisture vapor condensing and causing the media to plug the small siphon tube openings. I enlarged the siphon tube lower holes to 5/32 and single air hole near top of siphon tube to the same. Worked better but still had major plugging issues in siphon tube due to moisture. Very minimal (10%) tube blockage around upper hole would stop the siphon. I have a high quality water filter/separator at air compressor and bought two more cheap harbor freight ones, one piggy backed to the one on the soda blaster and one near the end of the line but it did little better. I then added a Harbor freight desiccant air dryer that worked but that quickly filled with moisture too so I bought another and dried one while using one, installed quick disconnects on them so changing was easy. I dried them in my oven, 275 degrees for 30 minutes or until beads turned back to blue color. There plastic so heat with your discretion. I covered them in a towel when I connected air in case it exploded but they never failed. I had to use 150 feet of air hose to reach pool and rerouted the air hose through house which helped by cooling air. My wife ran around and drained compressor tank and filters constantly but did little to help as water was still vapor and not getting caught in filters. Soda blaster takes a minimum 8.5 cfm @90 psi compressor, mine is 19 CFM with 80 gallon tank so it didn’t run hot. I ran the blasters feed wide open and at 90 PSI.
Bottom line is it will work great if you can dry the air sufficiently. The humidity here was 12% and 80 degrees the time I worked it. A MUCH better quality dryer is needed, maybe one with easily replaceable desiccant that can be swapped. IF I was to do this again, I would take a 54 quart cooler, drill and in and out hole for air hose, coil up approx. 25 feet of hose and pack with ice. That is basically what an expensive air dryer does, its just a cooler to get the moisture vapor to turn to drops so it can be filtered out.
I looked at a commercial pool media blaster unit made for Maxx strip ($1300), the one difference was it forced the media out the bottom instead of siphoning out the top. I thought since soda is moisture sensitive also that the soda blaster would work. All in all a learning experience, I am a major DIY’r so this was kind of fun, (wife didn’t think so) if anyone has questions, just ask. Nice to be able to contribute to knowledge base at TFP as I have learned so much from this site and all the great people who use it!
Wrinkled Fingers
