Rectorseal 8-Way Have a Shelf Life?

acwagner

I have a 32oz bottle of Rectorseal 8-way that I've been using for 3.5 years. My steam boiler is fairly small, so the bottle has lasted me that long.

Today I was doing my pre-season boiler cleaning and realized there were solids sloshing around at the bottom of the 8-way bottle. I used a strainer and found out they are crystals. Some fairly large. I'm guessing they somehow precipitated out of the solution.

Anyone else had this happen? I don't see a "use by" date on the bottle.

ethicalpaul

I haven’t seen it myself. Personally it wouldn’t bother me

Have you used it the entire life of your boiler, or did you start out with a muddy boiler like many of us?

How does your water look over time?

Jamie Hall

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/198336/rectorseal-8-way-have-a-shelf-life

I doubt there's a shelf life. The slow formation of visible crystals isn't really all that surprising. You might try heating the bottle (loosen the cap!) gently — just hot water from the tap will do — and swishing it around. You might also try adding a little distilled water and swishing. Or both…

delcrossv

I've had the same thing happen with an open bottle. Hot water will re-dissolve the crystals.

I assume it's still good.

acwagner

Thanks all. I suspected heating the solution would make them dissolve back into solution. Although, at this point, its only about 2-3 oz of solution remaining in the bottle. So, I'm not sure what concentration of the final solution would be since the amount of solids is pretty significant relative to the amount of remaining fluid.

I think I'll store the next bottle in a clear container so I can see when/if it precipitates again. I did notice over time it seemed the 8-way wasn't as potent. I kept upping the amount of 8-way and yet the boiler water pH wasn't getting much higher when I tested it. Which was non-sensical to me, but now I know why.

@ethicalpaul - my boiler is fairly "new" as boilers go. But, it's sensitive to suspended solids and will kettle. I was getting tired of having to skim/clean the water 2-3 times a season. I started using the 8-way experimentally. After the initial wild reaction of the boiler to the first few uses, it has lengthened the time between cleanings. But not as much as I would have hoped. That said, clearly the solution was getting less concentrated over time without me realizing it until now. So there's still hope.

Jamie Hall

Variations in concentration of the solution with time is not uncommon. This is why you titrate the additions, rather than just dumping in so and so many ounces and calling it good.

ethicalpaul

thanks. You may find this short video interesting:

Forum post here

acwagner

Video is interesting. What additive do you use to raise the pH of your boiler water?

ethicalpaul

typically 8-way, but currently there’s one of 8-way’s ingredients in there, hence no color marker.

But 8-way gets it plenty high. Over time I will go back to 8-way and reduce my PH to a more reasonable level of 11.

How high is yours? Your comment that you were unable to increase it was concerning to me.

acwagner

I don't have trouble raising the pH. Over time, it just took more volume of 8-way after each cleaning to get the pH to the same level. I'm guessing the solution became less concentrated over time as the crystals formed.

Usually I target pH to be between 9 and 10. Any higher and the boiler will surge, but I'm still experimenting.