sodium bicarb users (2-part)
 

For those of you that use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) as part of your "DIY" 2 part solutions...how the heck do you keep this stuff in solution? Mine seems to come out of solution (not precipitate, just doesn't dissolve). I'm using the recommended 2 1/4 cups or whatever it is per gallon. Am I doing something wrong? Does the water need to be warm to mix it in? I'm getting about an inch of slurry on the bottom of my 1gal milk jugs.

Previously I was baking the baking soda but it was preciptating in my tank. At least with the unbaked stuff I don't end up with a mountain of it in my sump.

kind of wondering myself, but i believed i used more along the lines of 2 3/4 cup per gallon. Mixed everything for days and even brought the temp up to that of tank water.

I came to the conclusion I had a saturated solution, and transferred it to another container through a coffee filter.

Havent used it yet however so im not sure, the alk kinda fixed itself during the time I was making it.

I will be following to see what the answer is here ,

I never worry about what didn't dissolve. I give a slight bend to the stiff tubing I use in the bottle so it doesn't suck up the sediment.

I warm up the water a little bit. Actually I mix the baking soda in a pot on the stove with the burner on low. Also, I don't stir to mix I use a hand blender, so much easier than stirring because if you stir you have to poor in the two part very very slowly for a long long time.

kien, it sounds like you're quite the whiz in the kitchen :wink:

You guys are still using the 2 cups per gallon then? I'll have a go at that heating/mixer thingy

I use 2 cups/G. I mix up 4G at a time but adding all the water and baking soda to a 5G salt bucket and through a power head in. I let the power head go and mix it over night. Don't have any problems will anything coming out of solution

J

If you don't bake it, the recipie only calls for 1 1/8 cup per gallon. that might be why you're having trouble getting it all to dissolve. thats what i use too and i have a hell of a time just getting 1 1/8cup to dissolve.

2 - 1/4 cups for me, I boil a gallon of RO/DI in the kettle then pour half of that into a Pyrex bowl and add the baked baking soda very slowly. Once added together I add the other half gallon to the slurry. I use a whisk to mix it in as I go. The key is to add very small amounts at a time whilst mixing. Too much at a time and it clumps. And it's not so much a clumping issue, and even though it's not really a precipitate either, but it's stuck somewhere in the middle. Ie., once clumped it will never dissolve. I sometimes get all ticked and then mix it in a blender and I seem to get a slightly higher yield but the vast majority ends up as a undissolvable supernatant still (just pulverized into powder).

I have about a 75% success ratio nowadays when I mix the stuff ("success" meaning "no supernatant") but it boils down to how patient I am at the time. They key is going slow, ..... but the problem is I hate how long it takes. :lol:

yeah I noticed that on randys recipe #2 and was wondering if I was attempting to supersaturate the solution or something. I think I'll either heat or try a powerhead and see how it goes :biggrin:

Oh you're doing the unbaked, right, sorry. Yeah, I dunno. I found that the half recipe mixes in eventually but it just takes forever. Better off just putting a powerhead in the reservoir and let it mix forever and ever and it'll eventually dissolve in.

It's the baked baking soda that reacts too much when added too much at a time and once it's done that, it's done forever.

I still don't really know if one method works better for me or not.