Anyway to clean inside of copper tank?

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Sat. Oct. 19, 2019 8:49 pm

I have this old copper tank, probably about 30 gallon or so. It has a pin hole in it but that I can fix. I would like to use it to temper water to room temp before it goes into the water heater. My concern is it sat for two decades with water in it, I have no idea what it looks like inside.

Wondering if there is any sure fire method to clean out any scale and anything else that might be in it without getting out of hand?


 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Sat. Oct. 19, 2019 8:59 pm

Muriatic acid & some real serious RINSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Might keep the solderin iron handy. BUT-- ya want clean??? That'll do her.

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Sat. Oct. 19, 2019 9:23 pm

Citric acid will do it and it is safe to use as it's used in candy and pharmaceuticals.

 
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Post by CapeCoaler » Sat. Oct. 19, 2019 10:55 pm

Does it have a decent sized port in it...
Gonna have some slime and organics in it...
"Spray Nine" is a good cleaner for slime and organics...
Rinse well...
Get a small camera in there to see the condition...
And soak with citric acid for the scale...

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sun. Oct. 20, 2019 8:52 am

Richard S. wrote:
Sat. Oct. 19, 2019 8:49 pm
I would like to use it to temper water to room temp before it goes into the water heater.
I'm just curious, what are you hoping to gain with this? What about condensation? Where will it be? In a basement?

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Sun. Oct. 20, 2019 10:36 am

OK---we run him off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Sun. Oct. 20, 2019 4:58 pm

freetown fred wrote:
Sat. Oct. 19, 2019 8:59 pm
Muriatic acid & some real serious RINSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Might keep the solderin iron handy. BUT-- ya want clean??? That'll do her.
I know a highly skilled welder, I'm going to see what he says. I'm assuming he would be able to tig weld copper.
CapeCoaler wrote:
Sat. Oct. 19, 2019 10:55 pm
Does it have a decent sized port in it...
There is two for at least for 1 inch pipe.
Lightning wrote:
Sun. Oct. 20, 2019 8:52 am
I'm just curious, what are you hoping to gain with this? What about condensation? Where will it be? In a basement?
Correct, it would be in the basement, you would be able to raise the water temp many degrees especially in the summer. This is for 3 households and what may be up to 10 people. 3 dishwashers, 3 clothes washers etc. Even if I can raise the temp 5 or 10 degrees on average it will be substantial savings.

That said I'm think I'm going to can this idea but only because I have no idea what the inside condition of the tank is like.


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sun. Oct. 20, 2019 5:42 pm

My concern was that it wouldn't yield very much gain for the effort involved. Primarily my reasoning would be that #1 the water wouldn't spend very much time in the temp tank to absorb ambient heat and #2 with such a small temp differential between the water and ambient it would take days for it to increase much.. just my opinion :)

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Sun. Oct. 20, 2019 6:08 pm

Lightning wrote:
Sun. Oct. 20, 2019 5:42 pm
My concern was that it wouldn't yield very much gain for the effort involved. Primarily my reasoning would be that #1 the water wouldn't spend very much time in the temp tank to absorb ambient heat
Probably not when there is lot showers going on but dish washing, clothes washing and other short uses throughout day. It is copper so the transfer of heat will be fairly quick. Plumbing it in is a couple of bucks.... I don't have to buy it so it will save me something.

My only concern is wasting time on something I can't clean properly or it springs some more leaks... I'll shelve this idea until the Spring when I have more time.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Mon. Oct. 21, 2019 9:16 am

Save your time and money. The tank won't temper things much, but it will get cold enough to sweat in the summer.

 
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Post by scalabro » Mon. Oct. 21, 2019 10:28 am

If you decide not to use it for your original intent, use can use it as the base of a pot still! 😂

 
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Post by bambooboy » Sun. Nov. 03, 2019 6:27 pm

Richard on antique cars to clean radiator & block we use vinegar full strength,let it sit a few weeks.on your tank rotate once in a while,drain do it again till clean,it works wonders.30 gal tank maybe use 3 gallons vinagar

 
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Post by carlherrnstein » Sun. Nov. 10, 2019 9:00 pm

freetown fred wrote:
Sat. Oct. 19, 2019 8:59 pm
Muriatic acid & some real serious RINSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Might keep the solderin iron handy. BUT-- ya want clean??? That'll do her.

Fred you nailed it, muriatic/hydrochloric acid is probably the quickest most reliable acid to use. However if potable water will go through it you need to be careful about any solder joints if any.

Copper can be tig welded but it turns black around the weld area and is dead soft.

 
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Post by Richard S. » Sun. Nov. 10, 2019 9:40 pm

Thanks for the ideas but I'm canning this idea altogether, I was talking to my Dad the other day he said he fixed a whole bunch holes on that tank 40 years ago.

 
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Post by hotblast1357 » Mon. Nov. 11, 2019 5:14 am

Richard you’d be better off installing those preheaters that go on all the drain side plumbing, I think people make them, I don’t know if you can just go buy them, but with as mush usage as you have, I think they would work wonders.

https://www.hydro.mb.ca/your_home/water_use/drain ... _recovery/


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