Camp Water Pump Preventive Mtce

[sawbill]

I have a Honda GX120 water pump for use at camp. I set it up in the spring and remove it the fall. Our lake is high in iron and each year the scale builds up inside the pumphead.
Have you any opinion on spraying the inside of the pumphead with vinegar or something like a CLR product to remove this scale?
One season it was so bad the pump was actually seized right up and I had to send it off for cleaning so the issue is fairly serious.

[JMatthews]

Vinegar should work and it's natural so you don't have to worry about it in the pump, It's also very cheap! I would just make sure that it's rinsed well after.

[B Wilson]

Go to home hardware and buy some "Iron Out" and make up a solution of that and let it soak in

[patvetzal]

Vinegar should work and it's natural so you don't have to worry about it in the pump, It's also very cheap! I would just make sure that it's rinsed well after.

Just because a product is not made in a lab does NOT mean that it is not reactive. Our well water is so acidic that we cannot use aluminium water dishes for our dogs or livestock. An aluminium pump housing will pit and corrode yet it is just natural "surface" water. Even our copper water pipe dissolves after a number of years.

[Sinker]

Can you hook it up to a barrel, so that it is pumping water out, and back into the barrel?

If so, mix a solution of CLR in the barrel and let it run through for a while. Rinse when done, and put away for the season. May as well change the oil, and add stabilizer while your at it.

S.

[Species8472]

Go to home hardware and buy some "Iron Out" and make up a solution of that and let it soak in

This^^. Vinegar or CLR will work but both vinegar and CLR are corrosive. Also probably not good for things like shaft seals.

[sawbill]

The presence of any seals was my biggest concern. And Honda provides minimal information regarding their pump. Engine-yeah! Pump--No!
I didn't want to pull the pump head but it looks as though I'll have to.