Shoutout to the old timer who told me to try a 5% vinegar flush on my cutter head

I was dealing with a lot of clay buildup on my suction dredge in the Missouri River last month, and after three days of slow progress, I gave his weird tip a shot. The vinegar broke down the clay way faster than just running water, and we cleared the head in under an hour instead of taking it apart. Has anyone else tried a mild acid flush for sticky material, or is there a better trick?

3 comments

3 Comments

oscar_hunt616d ago

Claire already touched on it but how long do you typically let the vinegar sit before flushing with water? I tried this on a cutter head once and left it on for maybe 20 minutes then rinsed, still got good results but wondering if a longer soak would do even better on really thick clay. That citric acid idea Kelly mentioned is interesting too, might have to test that side by side next time I'm fighting rust scale.

clairepark1mo ago

Honestly, it's a solid trick for the toolbox. We keep a jug of white vinegar on the service truck for exactly this. Used it on a pump clogged with that chalky scale from hard water, saved a whole afternoon. Just don't get lazy with the water flush after, or you'll be replacing seals.

kelly_coleman611mo ago

That trick works on more than just clay. I've used a weak citric acid mix on iron oxide sludge in well water systems. The key is getting the mix right, too strong and you risk eating gaskets or seals. Always run clean water through after to flush it all out. It's saved me a few full teardowns on pumps I really didn't want to rebuild.