Bromide in sea strainer

S

Silver Bullet

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Oct 23, 2012
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Florida
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Sundancer
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Cummins
I started a Thread about Bromide in the sea strainer to reduce growth in the lines. Does the Bromide hurt the A/C lines or unit?
Everyone says it slows the barnacle growth, but can it hurt the equipment?
 
Ive been using Bromine Tablets for 6 years. No negitive effects. I was told it may lead to premature strainer basket failure. I have yet to experince that yet. I notice a big diffference when i forget to put the tablets in during the summer


Rob
 
Bromine and chlorine are corrosive and will eventually eat thru metal. Since it is a flowing thru the system, it may take time to corrode the internals of the AC but when I called Marine Air and asked them about it, they told me that was a big no as it will eat away at the tubing inside the AC unit itself. I have done it in the past but will put a tablet just to sit inside the strainer in the future. Just looking for problems.

If you place a piece of copper tubing inside the strainer, this will create a copper oxide will deprive the sea water of oxygen and not allow growth to occur from what I have read and my dock neighbor has great result with that.
 
The problem with tablets in the strainer is when the system sits idle for a while, like when the temperatures falls and your system doesn't cycle on very often or when you leave a tablet in the strainer basket with the system off or in humidity control mode. When the tablet sits in the strainer, it continues to dissolve so the water in the strainer becomes super concentrated with bromine or chlorine which are very corrosive. Some strainer baskets have plastic bottoms in them and some strainer bodies have plastic sides and lids and the concentrated chemical will eventually degrade the plastic parts and you will have to replace them. The stainless steel mesh material used in the baskets will also eventually corrode away.

I find that it works better to just clean the system once a year with a phosphoric acid solution.
 
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I use to put a bromine tablet in my stariner but found after a while it started to turn the strainer basket green (corroding it). My boat is lift kept so the AC would be shut off for a week at a time. As Frank said, if it's running and cycling all the time it may be OK but don't let it sit idle.
 
I use bromide with good results, although I did have to replace a strainer basket because the plastic bottom disintegrated. I attribute that to the fact that I had left the basket with bromode in it during a period when the system was not being used very much. Now, I only put the tablets in during the hot NC summer months, when the system runs nearly continuously. As Frank said, don't let it just sit there for long periods in a concentrated state.
 
trit21 said:
Bromine and chlorine are corrosive and will eventually eat thru metal. Since it is a flowing thru the system, it may take time to corrode the internals of the AC but when I called Marine Air and asked them about it, they told me that was a big no as it will eat away at the tubing inside the AC unit itself. I have done it in the past but will put a tablet just to sit inside the strainer in the future. Just looking for problems.
Click to expand...

Silverbullet, I was told the same thing from Dometic, Scott Beard (the president of our company) and Jesse Russell (my sales manager and former technician) I would keep away from that stuff only because of the potential problems. We had a warranty claim that was denied by the factory because of this. In my view using barnacle buster (acidic) or the hammerhead descalor (non acidic, we carry in stock and safe for the units) is your best bet. I was thinking of doing another group buy with the descalor maybe this is a sign from the heavens.
 
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I guess all hot tubs , pool heat pumps and alike are made of magic metals ? Come on guys . Frank has a vaild point about the duration of the off cycle. Other then that its all nonsense. Im sorry. U have a better chance of having a coil fail from electrolysis, or using those nasty acidic condensor cleaners ( when done improperly ) then bromine use. Ive never heard of a failure . Only the baskets which is what the bromine comes in direct contact suffers failure after YEARS of superconcentrated contact. Like i said 6 years on this boat four years on my old 34 dancer during the summer never had an issue. Coil failure related to this is bull !

Rob
 
Robski97 said:
I guess all hot tubs , pool heat pumps and alike are made of magic metals ? Come on guys . Frank has a vaild point about the duration of the off cycle. Other then that its all nonsense. Im sorry. U have a better chance of having a coil fail from electrolysis, or using those nasty acidic condensor cleaners ( when done improperly ) then bromine use. Ive never heard of a failure . Only the baskets which is what the bromine comes in direct contact suffers failure after YEARS of superconcentrated contact. Like i said 6 years on this boat four years on my old 34 dancer during the summer never had an issue. Coil failure related to this is bull !

Rob
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Difference in spas, hot tubs, and pools is that you control the ph which is the amount of acid in the pool which will limit the amount your heater and metals wear. Leave the acid level high and you start replacing heaters and metals parts of the pump. Have I seen this? Yes, many times with mine and my parents hot tubs. In the case of the AC , you cannot control the ph of the water so there is wear of metals parts. Obviously it is taking longer due to thickness of metals, amount of corrosive fluid you arenpushing through the system vs amount of water, and if you don't use the bromine in cooler months it will take even longer but I bet there is still wear on the coils. If it works for you, keep doing but kind of hard to argue the corrosiveness of the water you are putting through you AC system.
 
Tom,

He'll figure it out when that $75 Perko strainer basket comes out in bits and pieces.........and he realizes the internals of the A/C system are subjected to the same chemistry.
 
I run PineSol through mine. Just close the thru hull and pore a gallon bottle in the strainer twice a season and stays clean. Recommended by my surveyor. Use it in all my drains, ac pan, sump pump. Gets rid of all the slime etc and leaves nice scent. Wife likes the Tropical Scent.
 
Robski97 said:
Ive been using Bromine Tablets for 6 years. No negitive effects. I was told it may lead to premature strainer basket failure. I have yet to experince that yet. I notice a big diffference when i forget to put the tablets in during the summer


Rob
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Rob, what product are you using. Growth was bad this year at the dock
 
I would be scared to use bromine or chlorine as well. The copper tubing bin the a/c units is very thin. As for its use in spa’s, no comparison. Spa’s are all plumbed in pvc so it’s not a concern.
 
Korkie said:
I run PineSol through mine. Just close the thru hull and pore a gallon bottle in the strainer twice a season and stays clean. Recommended by my surveyor. Use it in all my drains, ac pan, sump pump. Gets rid of all the slime etc and leaves nice scent. Wife likes the Tropical Scent.
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LOL I thought I was the only one who ran pine sole through everythng LOL.
 
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