Major iron stains

[Bonibelle]

Anyone have a good process for getting seriously disgusting iron stains from pleated filters?  I turn my water softening system off when I refill my tub so I usually get some iron on my filters. This last time, I must have really got a serious plug of iron because my filters are orange. I have tried soaking them with the purple stuff, rinsing and rinsing and rinsing...soaking in the metal out product, rinsing rinsing...and now I am trying Simple Green...
 I guess they are just stained, but somehow I don't feel good about using them in the tub again...
Any ideas?  :-/

[spa-ing]

I think it is unusual in my experience that they don't rinse clean. Are you using a metal gone product on a fresh fill? I do since my well water is very (like ridiculously) high in iron. My filters the first week turn ORANGE but my water is crystal clear. I take them out and simple hose them off in the sink using the vegetable sprayer and hot water. All the orange comes right out. Pop them back in to the tub. Next week, there is barely any staining and whatever there is comes off the same. I also use metal gone weekly (3T in my tub) even when not refilling.

Are these really old filters? Mine are new this year. Maybe newer materials?

[hottubdan]

If it is just the filters that are staining I would not worry about it.  Make sure you use a stain and scale control product to protect the spa. 8-)

[Richs100]

I also use metal gone weekly (3T in my tub) even when not refilling. /quote]

Is 3T an amount?  Teaspoons, Tablespoons?
And you use Metal Gone on a weekly basis?  I thought you should only use it on a fill and then use Stain & Scale weekly.

Thanks, Rich

[spa-ing]

I use metal gone (a metal and scale combo product) 3T as in Tablespoons not t as in teaspoons, weekly. This is per the instructions printed off the computer program from my dealer. My alk and pH are very very high, as well as my iron, from the well. Maybe this is why. But the water has never been clearer.

[tony]

I also use metal gone weekly (3T in my tub) even when not refilling. /quote]

Is 3T an amount?  Teaspoons, Tablespoons?
And you use Metal Gone on a weekly basis?  I thought you should only use it on a fill and then use Stain & Scale weekly.

Thanks, Rich

LeisureTime Metal Gon is used at fill time.  You add the whole bottle.  What spa-ing is using must be another product.  LeisureTime's stain and scale product is called Defender and is used weekly or biweekly.

[spa-ing]

It isn't called metal gon, that is my mistake. It's called Leisure Time stain and scale. I add it weekly. It does control iron stain.

[MarKee]

Boni:  If your dealer sells the Marquis Filter Cleaner, you might try soak your filters in that.  It works very well on stained filters.  

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

About the only thing that will get it off is muriatic acid. 1 part muriatic acid to 20 parts water (according to the filter manufacturer Unicel). BE SURE all oils are cleaned from the filter first.

"If the filter has a coating of algae, calcium carbonate (residue from calcium hypochlorite), iron, or other minerals, soak the cartridge in a solution of one part muriatic acid to twenty parts water until all bubbling stops. WARNING: Failure to remove all oils and cleaning solution before acid soaking will result in a permanent restriction of water flow and cause premature cartridge failure."

That said, the staining shouldn't effect the performance of the filter. It's just aesthetic.

Oh, and just for safety sake, WARNING: Wear rubber gloves and safety glasses when using acid. Do not add water to acid. Always add the acid to the water. Do not mix chlorine and acid.

[Bonibelle]

Markee, I use the spaguard purple filter cleaner from my dealer..Usually it works fine and usually, like spa-ing said, my filters would rinse clean. I think I must have had an unusual amount of iron on my last fill. I do use the spaguard stainand scale product to remove the iron when I start up. If I'm adding water, I use my softened water.

Doc, I'm not fond of muriatic acid and I think, at this point, I probably will just buy new filters rather than mess with it. Since you say that they are still functional (just ugly) I can use them every time I refill to pull out the iron...that way I won't make my extra set rusty too.

Thanks  

[uncommonlytasty]

You can try using some Iron Out to clean the filters.  I swear by the stuff, it works like magic.  Iron out is also good to add to the brine tank of your water softener when you add salt.  If you have high ph and high iron content, you should consider installing a calcite filter (AKA ph neutralizing filter).  This will buffer the ph and filter out particulates including the red water type iron.  Correcting the ph of the water helps the softener work better and will help prevent corrosion.  Also, I found it much easier to fill the tub with softened water and then add calcium increaser later.  Get some Iron Out, it works.

[spa-ing]

We have a filter in our softner--KDF-85 Mediaguard

http://www.excelwater.com/eng/b2c/mediaguard.php?WL_Session=1dc4bdebbec6487ddd62f01fa3d99272

it works great! And really inexpensive.