My husband put a few old 1 lb bags of cal hypo shock on top of an old broken refrigerator in our garage and one of them has spilled open somehow. The spilled shock has turned dark brown and it is stuck to the top of the refrigerator. Since the shock is on top of a tall refrigerator, the only way to get it out of there is to vacuum it up with a shop vac. Could it damage the shop vac if I vacuum it up? After I get all of it off, how do I dispose of the shock if I don't want to put it in my pool? I'd like to dispose of the shock that has spilled and the other 2 bags since I never intend on using it.
Cleaning up spilled cal hypo shock and disposing of it afterwards
- Thread starter ba67
- Start date
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,007
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Sounds like it has rusted the top of your fridge.
Can you sweep it up instead? If not you’ll need to rinse the vac parts well afterwards.
you don’t want cal hypo to mix with any other chemicals in its dry form- it can cause an explosion.
Dump the spilled messed up stuff in the yard somewhere that you don’t mind being bleached and dilute it well.
Be mindful that calhypo heats up when added to water.
I would personally just use the other bags in the pool-
or take them to a chemical recycling facility
Here’s what 2# of the strongest cal hypo will do - not a huge deal. About 2-3 days worth of fc and a little ch increase.
Can you sweep it up instead? If not you’ll need to rinse the vac parts well afterwards.
you don’t want cal hypo to mix with any other chemicals in its dry form- it can cause an explosion.
Dump the spilled messed up stuff in the yard somewhere that you don’t mind being bleached and dilute it well.
Be mindful that calhypo heats up when added to water.
I would personally just use the other bags in the pool-
or take them to a chemical recycling facility
Here’s what 2# of the strongest cal hypo will do - not a huge deal. About 2-3 days worth of fc and a little ch increase.
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,007
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Too dangerous.
The dust is very toxic and corrosive.
Cal hypo can easily catch fire and explode in contact with other materials.
How do I get it off the top of the refrigerator if I can't vacuum it up with a shop vac? If I get on a ladder and brush it with a hand held broom into a dust pan, I worry that some of the dust will get airborne. There is muriatic acid, liquid chlorine, gasoline and pesticides in this garage so I don't want to do anything that could cause an explosion. I also don't want to breathe in any of the dust while cleaning it up. I don't want to use a shop vac if it could potentially damage the shop vac or cause cal hypo to get airborne. I've got an small shop vac in my garage that is rarely used anymore and I could use that one instead and throw it away afterwards if this would be a safer solution.
Maybe put the small shop vac outside and use the long pool vacuum hose to get in the garage so that any dust created by the shop vac goes outside.
Use a dust filter on the shop vac.
Note that cal hypo is very dangerous, so be super careful.
Use a dust filter on the shop vac.
Note that cal hypo is very dangerous, so be super careful.
Unfortunately, the refrigerator is too far away from the exterior doors to do what you proposed. If I bought a cheap hand held vacuum to vacuum it up, would that generate dust? I'd be willing to buy a cheap vacuum and just throw it away afterwards if I need to.
All vacuums create dust.
It mostly depends on how much gets out past the filters.
It mostly depends on how much gets out past the filters.
Scrape it off and sweep it up. Then double bag it. A damp rag can clean the rest off.
- Feb 6, 2015
- 7,809
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
And don't store muriatic acid in the garage or near other chemicals.