Calcium Hypochlorite

814jeffw

814jeffw

Active member
So I decided to mess around with some CH once again,..I used it years ago,..probably around 2004? I was always able to make it work,..more hassle than SH obviously but I used it to do alot of work back then,..and those roofs done with it in particular stayed clean for a longer time than roofs done with SH,..Not that it's that relevant,..just an observation. I think it may be due to Calcium Hypochlorites' ability to disinfect better? Just a loose guess though.

The issue with CH is two fold,..preparing it is messy and it is unstable once mixed and begins to degrade. There is a misconception though about it not being soluble,..Kinda' true,.but the part that dissolves is the only thing we need for cleaning. So in my opinion,..it is actually very soluble,.meaning,..when you mix it ,.the part that dissolves, actually dissolves easily,..it's the inert parts that don't EVER dissolve that seem to make it an insoluble product as a whole,..and I suppose it can be looked at that way,..but I look at it as that part that dissolves is the only part I'm concerned with,..you can mix it and aside from letting it settle a few minutes,..it is ready to use.

So I've learned recently that I wasn't ever using it strong enough,...I use to mix 1lb. per 5 gallon water,.which is actually weak. So,..learning this I decided to mix 3 Lbs. into 5 gallons water,..then I let it settle and pumped it out with a little transfer pump I made from a 1 GPM 12V pump. I pumped it through a funnel and paint strainer into a 1 gallon bottle for experimental use to be applied with a spot sprayer. So I now have a relatively "clean" batch of CH. I used it on a job Saturday to do some testing,..tested it on a painted wood deck that had serious black mold,.and it made it disappear quickly,..and then I tried it on some concrete with green algae,..and on this it was very effective as well.

Since I let most of the mess settle to the bottom of the bucket before pumping it out,..it didn't even leave a noticeable haze on the painted wood deck,..and the deck was an ugly blue.

There are always gonna be issues with Calcium Hypochlorite,And this isn't a thread to get anyone's hopes up on a powdered roof chemical. It is likely not as cost effective as SH .But I knew it would kill mold and algae and I thought I'd fool around with it again. I will be mixing larger batches for use in concrete cleaning and other uses for continued testing. Actually on concrete it is relatively fool proof,..lay it down and a run surface cleaner over it,.and no issues of hazing. One benefit is CH isn't as hard on vegetation as SH.


As I stated earlier and many times over the years, (for those of you who were around for the big debate around 2011 or so)
..I have used ALOT of CH over the course of a few years,..I know what it is and the negatives,..but I like having anything in my arsenal I can get.


Jeff
 
Good to know that the useful components do dissolve. Also, for us guys up north it might be useful as SH isn't three cents a gallon up here (or $3 for that matter).
 
Jeff, have you tried washing houses with it?
If so, was there a residue?
Thanks.
 
Jeff, another question, has it ever hurt vegetation when using it?

Can you just make up a 5 gallon bucket with 3 pounds of CH and downstream it or you have to make it stronger to downstream?

I would like to talk to you on the phone if you have time. Thanks.
 
As far as shelf life is concerned I'm not exactly sure,..I have some mixed up right now that will have been sitting for a week on Thursday. This would be a determining factor whether it is worthwhile or not to at least experiment with. I want to be able to get the mess out of the way by making larger amounts at one time. I don't ant to mix it every day.

Christopher,..when I used it years ago early 2000's for house washing,..I was applying it direct with a roller pump,..It never left a residue because I rinsed it before it dried. And the same with roofs,..back then I rinsed roofs,.whereas these days I don't rinse much. As far as DS'ing,..I'm actually gonna give that a try to see how it works out. I think you can mix it up to a 1lb. per gallon,..so it would actually be a higher percentage than what I mixed up a few days ago.

I never hurt vegetation when using it that I'm aware of,..but that doesn't mean it won't,...it is said not to be as harsh. But I have nothing to go by.

What else I know is the HTH I used from Walmart is only 56% CH,.You can get it as high as 73%. Another thing I noticed,..is although it is still gonna leave a film on anything it DRIES on,..there wasn't near as much heavy bodied "crap" to strain out. I may mix up a 50 gallon batch using 50 lb. of CH,..let it sit and then pump it out from the top down to the garbage at the bottom. I know the other day even when it dried on the painted blue deck there wasn't any noticeable haze,..but that wouldn't be the same on windows I'm certain.

I will be starting to use it on certain applications to get my feel for it back. And although it works on black mold as well,...I know it seems to be really deadly on green algae you see on siding.

Christopher,..I will give you a call later today and tell you what I know about it.

*I am simply playing around with this again because I want too,.not endorsing the use of it. I do this because I didn't have a good source for 12.5% SH,..and was using the powder because I didn't know any better,..but I never had real issues with it back then,..again because I didn't know I was supposed too have issue with it,Ha,Ha,..I just learned using liquid was more convenient.

If anyone remembers the '9 Days" thread from RCIA you know that had used it successfully,..in fact if you would search the Grime Scene for my posts around 2004,.you'll see I was using CH back then. So,.I'm not just now jumping into this.

Jeff



Jeff
 
Thanks for the call Jeff, great to talk to you. Great information.
 
No problem Christopher. Good to talk to you as well!

I mixed up a pound in 1 gallon of water yesterday,..when it was first mixed it looked like milk,..and is why I said years ago,...that the recommendation buy others to keep it in suspension by mixing while using it was a BAD idea. It took a long time to completely settle,..unlike when you mix it in larger volume of water.

But it did settle out and I now have a gallon of fairy potent and relatively clean CH. On using it,.. It will still leave a haze on anything it dries on,..but so will SH if it's not rinsed. And as I mentioned to you on the phone,..way back when I was using it on a regular basis I wasn't even adding soap,..so now my thinking is with the addition of soap is,.. that along with obvious dwell time, it may also treat the calcium as dirt and help keep it suspended and able to be rinsed away with other dirt that were washing from siding?

Way more involved than SH for sure,..but I'm just playing with it in my spot sprayer and watching what happens,..but I am going to DS some as I normally would with SH and see how it works.

Jeff
 
Thanks for all the experimenting and sharing this with us.
Next week I plan on buying some and trying out a few things I just thought about.

Thanks again.
 
Ok,..for those who may be interested in Calcium Hypochlorite,..here is a picture of a test spot I did on a shed roof on a property today,..I was doing the whole house roof,..which was huge,..and while I was waiting for the roof to dry from the heavy fog we had here this morning,....I decided to hit a spot on the shed roof with Calcium Hypochlorite.

The mix was this: It was HTH from Walmart,..56%. I mixed 3 lbs. into a 5 gallon bucket of water and let it settle overnight,..then pump off the clean CH from the top,..letting the slurry of lime lay on the bottom. I use a small 12V 1 GPM pump for this because I don't want too much suction for fear of drawing the crap from the bottom. For testing I pump it into 1 gallon jugs to use in my 12V hand held spot sprayers I made.

So with my clean CH,..I added a basic soap,.Lauramine Oxide,..(AKA) Ammonyx Lo. I sprayed the spot you see in the picture and it turned this way in 5 minutes or less. Letting this stuff settle REALLY solves alot of the issues with all the hazing. Allowing it to settle and then use as you would a standard mix does work. I did it years ago and had been wanting to dig it back up again. And this is how I remember it working. Oh,..and this wasn't rinsed at this point.

The recommendation on keep mixing it is severely misguided information! And having to buy activators and all isn't necessary. Anyone buying all those filters and tanks with agitators are really just wasting their money. It isn't needed. This is a simple mix I used,.with CH from Walmart.

I do know that all isn't made the same,..some use a different carbonate in the mix " Lanthanum carbonate" And is said to leave pools more cloudy if used as opposed to standard CH? Zappit 73% is the brand that has this Lanthanum carbonate.

Either way,..letting it settle gives a fairly clear,..yellow liquid,..stick your fingers in it,..rub them together and it smells like regular SH.

I will be further testing the use,.and may buy 100 lb. drum of 65% from Univar. Univar is changing their ordering minimums and CH may come in handy for some people.


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Jeff
 
CL Scott said:
If it aint broke... SH is like Frank's Red Hot - put that ish on everything!

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Yea,.but it's like any tool we use,..when it does break it's nice to have a spare.
And I don't have any intention on switching,.but if I have to I know I could get by with CH and not have to find another way to make money.


Jeff
 
CL Scott said:
That's why you should keep plenty!

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No,.I always have plenty as long as it's available,.but,.the secretaries at my local Univar are talking about a possible shut down for this branch,..that's what I mean by broke.

They think they'll likely stay,.but to a guy like me who really depends on them,..it makes me get plan "B" in place,..at lest for the interim.

This is the ONLY place local for me to buy 12.5% And it's about 45 minutes away.

Jeff
 
That's definitely broke! 45 minutes is better that ch though. How long will it take to return and TRY to remove thst white film & residue it leaves. Buy sh by the tote!

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You're not getting it,..the supplier that is 45 minutes away is fine ,..I don't mind driving it at all. They are the ones talking shut down,..and there is no other local supplier.

Yea but you were,'t around years ago,..If you were you'd know I have used CH in the past with success,..and I don't get that film near as bad as others because I let it settle out after mixing it. I used it for about (3) years,..with success,..on houses and roofs. And when AC was selling it,..I warned against keeping it agitated,..biggest mistake you can make with the stuff. No one listened,..well,..some did. My biggest dilemma with it isn't the white,..it is the fact that it can't be DS'ed.

No,.I DO NOT WANT TO USE CH,..but I know I can if I have too.

*I never had to go back and rinse white haze.

Jeff
 
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