Debris Coming from Heater

[Mackhatter]

Hello Gents,

For some months, I’ve had this on the bottom of the pool just under the returns from the filter and heater. My local guy says it’s calcium from runing the pump too slow and the water is cooking the calcium out and those are deposits. So we turned up the speed substantially, and I am still getting the chips.

Any Ideas? I have a Glasscoat finish on the pool, and to my untrained eye, if you could magically take the Glasscoat material, put it in suspension, and then heat the liquid really hot, the Glasscoat material solidifies into what we’re seeing here and gets sent out of the heat exchanger back into the pool.

Any ideas?

thanks!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Take some of that material and put it into a glass bowl. Then add a few drops of muriatic acid. If it fizzes like crazy, it’s calcium carbonate scale.

Please post a full set of water test results. CH,TA & pH as well as CYA and FC/CC

 

[Mackhatter]

Did that. It didn’t fizz like crazy, but that might have been because the only acid I had on hand was AcidMagic and maybe the buffering agent in it kept the interaction low. I can go get some stright acid if you want.

My numbers are CH-250 TA-100 pH-7.3. FC-2.5 CC-2.0
We use ORP through our Chemtrol system for sanitation. There’s normally just the two of us being the users and we’re diligent about good showers before using the pool. The ORP now is in the low 700s. We normally keep it at about 750 with a pH of 7.3

Thanks for any help.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I and others have written about Acid Magic before -

User Friendly "Acid Magic" vs Muriatic Acid

I ran into this product that touts how much easier and safer to use than Muriatic Acid yet you get the same results 1:1 but I have not heard any mention of this as an alternative to Muriatic Acid other than a reduced strength one so you have to buy more or using the powdered acid which you have...

www.troublefreepool.com

My guess is that the heater is causing the clarifiers and phosphate buffers to breakdown and form calcium phosphate scale. Phosphate scale is incredibly hard to remove as it does not dissolve except in the strongest of mineral acids. So your heat exchanger is getting coated on the inside with scale build up that randomly breaks loose. Eventually you are going to clog the heat exchanger. If you have the time and energy you might remove the heater and take off the header block to see if there’s scale debris inside.

I suggest you stop using the Acid Magic. It’s basically overpriced muriatic acid with additives your pool water doesn’t need. In reality it’s no safer to use than regular muriatic acid. Even half strength (no fumes) MA would work just as good and avoid all the unnecessary additives.

 

[Mackhatter]

Super! That all makes sense. Will-do. Thanks again!