I have water running through very narrow diameter copper tube and it
is clogging. Any suggestions for cleaning and keeping clean?
I have water running through very narrow diameter copper tube and it is clogging. Any suggestions for cleaning and keeping clean?
If the problem is hard water deposits, you probably have to bite the
bullet and get a water softener to prevent the clogging. If it’s
only for this purpose, the smallest, least expensive unit will
likely serve you well. Cleaning the tube can be done with good old
fashioned Lime-away, or one of it’s clones.
If it’s just trash from old plumbing, you can put a filter (the ones
used for ice makers will likely work well) in the line.
Ron Charlotte – Gainesville, FL
@Ron_Charlotte1 OR afn03234@afn.org
Hey Keith, One really important question is, what is it in your
water that is clogging your tube? If there is a lot of calcium in
the water you may try flushing it fairly frequently with white
vinegar. The worse the clog, the longer it will take. Another thing
you might try would be placing an inline filter on the line in an
easily accessable place. I’ve used the filters from automobile fuel
lines (new ones of course) to filter water in a variety of
applications and they’ve worked well for me. I would really
recommend finding out the source of the clog though. What is your
application?
Mike
If the source of the problem is hard water deposits vinegar will
work faster if it is warm - this is basic chemistry - and if the
deposit is of the calcium-magnesium type then cold vinegar may not
work at all since the presence of magnesium raises the temperature
needed for the reaction to work.
Where I live the water is very hard and of the calcium-magnesium
type, so I know this from first-hand experience as well as theory. It
is quite usual here to descale shower heads by soaking them in very
warm vinegar.
Pat