Vitodens Cleaning

Glen

with quite a bit of input from FredM in their Langley office. It was the least aggressive but with the ability for correct passivation. Others may work too but without the blessing from Germany and waterloo/RI.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Does anyone know of a U.S. source for the cleaning products Viessmann recommended for the Vitodens HX?

Antox 75E Plus

or

CitriSurf 3050

Paul Pollets

CLR

Mike, we use CLR, and find it works extremely well. We dilute it 50% into a spray bottle with very hot water. We use a cut credit card to push the debris through the gaps in the HX. (Viessmann tech tip) After the first treatment, we wait 15 min., rinse and do it again. We also clean the condensate trap. CLR is widely available.

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[Deleted User]

Cut credit card....

ALAS, a use for all those post holiday credit cards that I've cut up.

Thanks Paul!

ME

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Thanks Paul.

I've been using CLR but was using a nylon scrub brush instead of a credit card to get the debris that the vacuum can't suck out of the cracks.

A fair amount of discoloration remains after the CLR. I presume this is normal?

Paul Pollets

Discoloration

You will see some discoloration, it's normal. Only a credit card (cut at a 45) can dislodge the sediment and push it through. You'll notice most of the sediment is on the bottom 1/3 of the HX, as the condensate dripping down lays down the deposits. We use a nylon brush, as well. It takes about 45 min to do a thorough cleaning. We vaccuum out the debris, before starting the CLR treatment. Always seem to find about a cup's worth after 1 year of operation.

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Mike T., Swampeast MO

I've found maybe 2-3 tablespoons of debris each year, but I can certainly see why annual cleaning/inspection is required.

Leo G_101

Stainless steel

dental pick I find works better then the AMEX card.

Just got some citri from a local company that specalizes in commercial aquatic spas. They have their own chemist who formulated this stuff, and has been accepted by V. Maybe google aquatic spas, or try this website, and they may have associates in the States.

www.commercialaquaticsupplies.com

Leo G

mac

CittriSurf can be found at..

the manufacturer, Stellar Solutions, Algonquin, IL, phone: (847)854-2800. I need to clean mine shortly after 2 years on propane..

Mike T., Swampeast MO

You might want to watch out using the dental picks. Viessmann literature is quite specific about not using metal implements or anything that could scratch the HX.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Anyone want to share an order? Looks like the smallest amount you can buy is 5 gallons of concentrate with 1 gallon making up to 15 gallons of product for use. With mine the only Vitodens in town--and probably for 100 miles around--we might have mini fusion reactors for residential use before it was used...

Leo G_101

actually Mike

I was told that stainless is alright, but not brass.

Go figure

Leo G

scott markle_3

citrisurf

Mike I recently bought a pre diluted spray bottle directly from steller solutions, no minimum order. I'm told that the antox is much more agresive and somwhat dangerous. The sitisurf takes a bit of elbow grease to get all the deposits off, I used a scotch brite sponge which was OK'd by viessmann. I have one unit that has some build up in the passages, the credit card idea will be helpfull on this, I was considering trying a dental water pick.

Glen

antox

is no longer recommended. Sort of - it's still listed by
viessmann and it works best but at the expense of personal and environmental safety. It is nasty stuff. Full suit with air highly advisable.
I was able to buy citrisurf by the gallon - it works well at 30:1 dilution. 15:1 for really heavy cleaning. The htex of the vitodens can be expanded via the assembly bolts - allowing a brush to be used. flush with hot water. At worst I have only found a few "coffee" grounds in the ones I service - very clean burning.Brushing would have been fine as I have yet to see any ferrous contamination.
Citrisurf passivates any non SS materials and leaves a nice finish on the htex. I sourced it through a swimming pool supplier in Vancouver BC as it is used in pool maintenance.

Brad White_184

Citrisurf

Mike T. mentioned CitriSurf 3050. The site has several -about a dozen- types with similar descriptions. Was Viessmann that specific? I am curious why one type over another.

Brad White

Thanks, Glen

Good to know and good to have a reason.

scott markle_2

77 plus

Viessmann was not as specific with me. I was directed to stellar solutions and based on my intended use stellar advised the 77 plus product. 77 plus comes in a 22 oz. spray bottle, very convenient. I did not get the impression that this was a very reactive or aggressive product. In-fact I was warned that it may not be all that effective on certain stains, which is true, as mentioned it did take quite a bit of elbow grease to get things all nice and shiny. I rinse with distilled water, I'm fairly confident I'm not doing any harm with this product, If anyone has any information to the contrary please let me know.

Seems to me that while the mod-con manufacturers I have used do briefly discuss cleaning and inspection, the actual procedure is not given as much detail in the literature as it probably should be.

Anyone have any advice about cleaning a Budarus GB?

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Am I correct that "passivation" has something to do with iron that for whatever reason becomes disassociated with the other metals that made it "stainless"? And once such has happened the object being to turn it into a sort of protective patina that naturally occurs with many metals including properly alloyed? carbonated? but "common" steels?

Glen

exactly -

because of the SS/Ti metallurgy - any ferrous materials can lead to parent metal contamination. 3050 eliminates that and does leave a nice grey/whitish patina. Photo is of a VSB during a seal rebuild ... coloring is typical of a correctly "passivated" combustion chamber.

scott markle_2

77 plus

The 77 plus product is not strong enough to produce the The grey patina shown in the photo.

Tom Hopkins

Can you tell me the name of the company you bought the citri from?

Mike T., Swampeast MO

If it were strong enough to do that Scott, I don't think I consider it safe for me to use.

scott markle_2

scroll up

Stellar solutions, the phone and address is already posted. They will sell directly