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Scum in the soap lines

M

Mel(NC)

Member
I keep having problems with the strainers in my HP soap and pre-soak lines stopping up with scum. I have to clean the strainers out every 4-6 weeks, which I find very difficult to remember. I put pieces of copper pipe in the tanks after reading that on a previous post but the problem persists. I use KR soap which I am very pleased with other than this scum issue. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Have you tried thoroughly cleaning out the tank and flushing the lines? You should first run some all purpose cleaner in the tank and through the lines followed by some fresh water. If this doesn't solve the problem sounds like you have contaminated product or a product that does not have an antimicrobial agent in it to prevent bacteria from forming in the solution.
 
Clean and bleach the tanks and make sure they're as sealed as possible. Reduce the level of the liquid in the tanks as low as you can. The soaps are probably biodegradable, which happens as soon as it's mixed with water and exposed to air. You might try a couple tablespoons of bleach in the tanks once a week - if you do that, run the Hydrominder to fill the tank over its usual fill point to mix and dilute the bleach.
 
Have this issue with KR Purple Passion Pre Soak. I am switching from that. Also had it with one of their HP soaps. I now use the Sonic I think it's called and don't have the problem.
 
Thanks for the replies. I clean the tank out every 6 months or so but I have never really "decontaminated" it and the lines. I might try that with some bleach. My tanks are not covered so maybe it does have something to do with the chemicals breaking down. The tank is actually and old barrel and I have the hydrominder float set so that it holds about 10 gallons. I can try dropping the tank level a little.
 
scum

I once had a problem with air in my soap site gauge. I replaced all my lines thinking leak under vacuum. But the air persisted. I then noticed air swirling in my clear strainer bowl .The specific gravity of this soap was heavier than what I was using before. My float on the hydro minder was at the end of the adjustment, so I added weight to the tank float. This added some reserve water- soap level above the tank out let. My tank is very small, then it fills I get a lot of air in the tank from the hydro minder . I still had air in my site gauge that measures ounces per minute of soap being injected and the clear strainer. I then tried changing the hydro minder tip to lower the soap concentration going through the screen, this reduced the air some. I then bought a new strainer with the larger screen opening size. This fixed the air problem completely. Air is a Oxidizer, the air caused a soap film on the screen, thus adding to the restriction of the filter causing more air and a perpetual cycle. A direct benefit was my pump quieted down. Good luck, Pete.
 
Had the same problem with kr orange creme.
Throughly cleaned and bleached the tanks, hydrominder floats and lines.
Like Earl I switched to Sonic and the problem went away.
Have to say though I really miss the great smell of the orange creme.
 
We have used to use the Vanilla Cream, Bubble up and Orange Cream from KR we have had nothing but problems with it, Separation when it got cold and Scum problems in the tank when it got warm in the summer. We hung swimming pool bleach pellets in the tank, this helped some but didn’t stop the scum problems completely. We tried the KR Sonic wash, the smell of it turned me off right away, smelled terrible. We have since gone to JBS “Fonic” P-100 and couldn’t be happier. No more separation or Scum problems. The Fonic has a nice pleasant smell, they say it’s supposed to smell like Strawberry’s but it smells like Fresh and clean to me.
 
FWIW, I ordered the hydrominder ultra lean tip kit and no longer mix the products.

If you have sketchy incoming water pressure it may not work for you.
 
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