[schmidling]

Last year's soaker hoses  are nearly useless this year and new ones work fine.  I suspect the well water is clogging them so I am wondering if there is something reasonable that I could soak the old ones in to dissolve the calcium or whatever is clogging them.

It would take at least a gallon to soak them in a bucket and new ones are about $10 so vinegar might work but probably not worth the investment.

I have a pint of nitric acid that has been collecting dust for 40 years that is available or how about battery acid?  And what concentration of either or any better ideas?

Thanks,

Jack

[curiouscat]

What's a soaker hose?

[vmelkon]

I don't know what a soaker hose is but I guess you need CLR. CLR is a commercial product and it stands for Calcium-Lime-Rust.
http://www.lowes.ca/cleaners-by-surface-type/clr-28-oz-calcium-lime-rust-remover_g1198852.html

Or you can use some weak acid like citric acid or acetic acid (vinegar) or a strong acid like hydrochloric acid. They sell hydrochloric acid as muriatic acid at hardware stores and pool supply stores.
Nitric acid might damage rubber. Sulfuric acid would form CaSO4 which doesn't dissolve in water but MgSO4 is very soluble.

The deposit tends to be CaCO3 and MgCO3.

[billnotgatez]

Soaker hose Definition from Society & Culture Dictionaries & Glossaries
Environment Dictionaries
Environmental Engineering (English ver.)
A low-flow watering device with small holes throughout the surface of the hose used to soak plant beds and gardens.
The above came from
http://dictionary.babylon.com/soaker_hose/
When i used GOOGLE
soaker hose definition

But after I did my GOOGLE it took me a while to get a definition that was one I liked and then it is limited too.

GOOGLE so much with so little

[Arkcon]

I have some regular hoses attached to my outdoor taps, with minimal accumulation, and only at the metal connectors.  I bought a splitter, made of some very dense plastic, and in a few months, it was completely caked with salts.  As in 1/3 to being plugged completely.  So I'm guessing it has much to do with flow arte, and speed of sweep-through, and type of material.  At any rate, vinegar didn't help me mush, and even hardware store concentration hydrochloric acid wouldn't help much.  And I don't suggest that either.  So you can select any descaling solution you'd like, and hope for the best.  Its a totally bizarre occurrence, none of my indoor fixtures have any visible scaling, and I'd lived in houses with really bad scaling problems.

[curiouscat]

  Its a totally bizarre occurrence, none of my indoor fixtures have any visible scaling, and I'd lived in houses with really bad scaling problems.

Could it be because indoor plumbing is almost always full of water? The wet  dry cycling of outdoor pipes might play a role?

[schmidling]

What's a soaker hose?

I guess it's been covered but it for slow irrigation of gardens.  In my case rows of sweet corn.

The ones I use have a soft plastic hose that is perforated along its length and encased in a loose fitting fabric sheath.  The latter prevents the water from just squirting out and keeps it close to the hose.

We have gotten used to throwing away coffer makers every six months so we buy the cheapest we can find but was hoping there might be some way to salvage the hoses.

I have a couple of pounds of citric acid.  Any idea on how  much to put into a gallon of water to dissolve the scale?

Jack

[Arkcon]

Like I said, these salts can be really tough to dissolve, once they've grown into massed crystals.  Citric acid isn't very dangerous, assuming you don't inhale the dry powder.  Just dissolve up a bunch in a bucket that can hold your hose.  Stoichiometry won't help attack massed crystals any better.

[408]

Do not use the battery acid (sulfuric acid) that will form calcium sulfate which will be just as hard to remove.  Get some muriatic acid (HCl) or nitric acid which you already have, dilute it say 10:1, and leave the hose in it overnight.  I clean my coffee maker with nitric acid every few months.

[billnotgatez]

@408
are you sure it ok

soft plastic hose
and
Nitric acid