Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions How to clean membrane diffusers?

Hello all! I am sorry I have not had time to stop in and say hello but between building a new home and working over time in the frantic Atlantic I have had absolutely no time to post! I hope all of you are doing well!

That said’’’’ how do I properly clean membrane diffusers? I have noticed my pressure on my rotary vane compressor rise steadily from 4psi to almost 10 psi in 3 months. I removed the disk and soaked the membrane in bleach and scrubbed and it had very little effect. Any thoughts or ideas from the pros would be greatly appreciated!

PS the depth has remained the same at 10ft and the air lines seems to be clear and clean so I feel it must be in the diffusers?

Did you clean the exhaust side of the two felt filters, Did you clean the underside of the membrane?Did you check to see that the guage is accurate would be a few places to consider.

Thanks for your reply and advice Ted! No! I only cleaned the top on the disk as the underside is a hard plastic and I did not remove the membrane from the disk. I just soaked and scrubbed top with a brush. I have not checked the felt filters on the compressor but the intake filter is clean. The gauge I did check and it seems to be working correctly. I removed it and checked it with another air supply and it was on the money. How do I check the felt filters and what would you suggest as far as cleaning the diffuser membrane? Thanks for your help!

SaltH20cowboy, If the membrane are the problem, then they must be clogged from the inside out.

We tried CLR over the years and found that it cleaned only for a short period of time. We worked with a supplier manufacturing a new natural product that is not hard on the water but that cleans very well mineral deposits in water pipes.

We used it on our Bubble tubing and our diffusers and found it to be the best product we have ever worked with. It is not harsh on the water; fish or membranes won't make a hole in you hands or pants... and remains clean for a long time. Its called bio-purge, it's on our website: http://www.canadianpond.ca/biopurge.html

Simply put, you unplug your airline, take a funnel and pour a liter for each 2 disks and 200' of air line. Plug the compressor back on, run it for one or two minutes, stop it and wait about 30 minutes. Then let it run again to flush it out and see the results…

Only draw back is that this stuff looses its potency after 6 months. So you can only buy it for an application when needed, and then buy fresh stock when needed.

This is our solution for cleaning membrane, disks or tubing... Of course as Ted said, I would look into all the other items first as the problem might not be related to a plugged membrane.

A litre sells for 20$ and a 4 litre jug for 75$.

Good luck!

Somebody might say this is a dumb solution but I simply use muriatic acid. I disconnect the line and use a funnel to dump about a cup into the line. I use a little water to flush if off the end of the pipe so it doesn't get on my brass nipple fitting and hook it back up. I turn the air on for a minute or two to get some of the acid down to the diffuser and then I shut it off for several hours. I start it back up and no problems. This has worked for me with no fuss. For a very small pond you might worry about how much acid you are putting in the water but for my 1/2 acre pond I think it gets dilluted quite well and does no harm to anything. I wouldn't do this if you have any metal fittings in your air line but all plastic won't get damaged.

If you have the end cap access on the pump unthread the "OUT" filter as it is marked as such, just use light air to blow it out, the intake side will be clean and "or" you can use that one as a spare for the exhaust side also.Be sure to use an anti seize compound on the threads and a vasaline type material on the end cap O-rings If you have a disc type membrane diffuser that is threaded take it apart and clean the underside as this is where you may have "vane dust" or if it is a name brand diffuser such as Vertex or ATI that have a "no questions asked 5 year warranty" just have them ship you a new one.Be sure to "flex" the diffuser on a regular basis as this is one of the things a pressure guage will let you know when its time.Air pressure up "flex" air pressure down "clean air filter" good luck.