lime chips for cond neut

Tim_59

Can I just put some chips in a pipe and pump the condensate through it? Do I need contact time? What is the best/common practice?
Tim

Timco

Does anyone have a P/N or an online sourse for these? I have checked all my big box stores and need to fill my new cond neutralizer setup.

Thanks, Tim

Dave_4

marble chips

are available at LOwes (prob home depot as well) in garden section in a 50 lb bag. I took some of them and broke up smaller to fill mine which works fine and pH came up nicely. Just have to find use for the other 40 lbs.

Unknown

Tim:

Most people I know just go to the local garden store and ask for a bag of lime chips. They are very inexpensive.

Ordering on the net would incur shipping charges which would bring the price up higher than you could buy locally.

Timco

I found the marble chips at Lowes, but it said nowhere on it 'lime'. Am I missing some basic geology??? My local guys said that the white marble chips were not the lime chips I am seeking...I made a pretty good neut container out of ABS & tapped my barbs in & out of it.

Tim

jp_2

marble = limestone

well, a google search shows marble to be a form of limestone.

learned my lesson for today.

Timco

Thank you for sharing your lesson. I am good to go!

Tim

Terry O

Another source of product is a local fish store.... fish hobbyists (been one for 30 yrs!) use crushed coral, oyster shells and a dolomite gravel for ph control in marine and african tanks. Most any fish/pet store will carry similar products.

albandjann1725849

small sizes

Be careful of small particle/grain sizes and highly porous limestone material. They may tend to turn to mush/paste and pose a problem for the condensate pump.

Mark Biro

Forms of calcium carbonate -- many

Yup, jp has it.

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) has the advantages of being common in the earth, benign, economical, useful for many things, available retail in many forms, and a neutralizer.

You can, for instance, lime you fields or garden, to reduce acidity.

A common sedimentary form of CaCO3 is limestone.
A common metamorphic form of CaCO3 is marble.
A common igneous form of CaCO3 is... dunno. Impossible?
(Since it's marine shell-life that builds up usable quantities of CaCO3, if I have it right... ancient, or modern, as oyster shells.)

So: farm stores have bags of crushed limestone, for liming fields, and oyster shells, for laying hens. Garden stores also have the crushed limestone, and sometimes even a finely-ground form, for sports field line markings -- too fine for neutralizers. Many sources, many forms... and cheap. The biggest challenge, it seems to me, is to resolve to throw most of a bag into your garden, rather than storing it as clutter, until needed far in the future. :-)

Crush fine, and mix with linseed oil to form "whiting," traditional (now outdated) putty. ;-)

Tim_59

Derheatmeister

Hey Gregg,what is Sheetrock made of ?

Uni R_2

Gypsum

So are most toothpastes.

Derheatmeister

And that is also the name of the town near me where they produce sheetrock).... well ,Does Gypsum or sheetrock have neutralizing property's?

jp_2

drywall

calcium sulfate.

probably work but would turn into soup.

Mark Biro

Sheetrock = or <> Gyps?

Oh, dear... and I am getting ready to sheetrock today, but not for a neutralizer.

Back to you: What does "Gyps" mean in German? :-)

And does that mean a blame thing for gypsum sheetrock? ;-)

Derheatmeister

Gyps

Ja das is so ,Or: Gipsplatten which is Sheetrock :das ist doch das gleiche ,or yes that's the same.

Dave Stroman

When I build mine, I like to run the condensate through the neutralizer before I pump it. Probably saves the pump from unnecessary corrosion. I also like to dump the drain tube from the boiler into a sort of stand pipe. This will prevent any fluid from backing up into the boiler if the neutralizer plugs up with "paste".

Dave Stroman, Denver