Cleaning out the old distiller

[tania]

Hi
I am resurrecting our old distiller and the coil is coated in a hard coated scum.
What do you suggest as a suitable solvent to clean off the element?
I've already tried soaking it in a high grade detergent and lots of elbow grease.
Thank you, Tania[/sub]

[bernie]

Soak it in 2M HCl then rinse reallly well to remove any acid traces

[kimmy]

When ever I have finished with the distiller for the term I soak overnight with vinegar then rinse the following morning. If you give it a scub in the morning this lifts any hard to remove matter.

Good luck.

[Robb]

Hi Tania,

It is a good idea to use an acidic solution, the scum that is deposited on the Coil/Elements is usually that of mostly Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc, Copper, Sodium, Iron salts. This makes the distiller very in-efficient. When it comes to removing this build up of hard insoluble salts it is a good idea to use an acid with a low concentration. 2M HCL is fine.

Over time as the water boils inside the boiler, the insoluble salts again begin to form until you have this problem again.

So all-in-all a low concentration acidic solution will be fine. Don’t forget to rinse the still very well and give the final rinse before assembly with distilled water to ensure there is no cross contamination from normal tap water.

Hope this helps.