Cleaning a sintered bronze filter

[The Wanderer]

I have a Vax 5150 or several years vintage. It doesn't get used very often, just an occasional bout of carpet cleaning.

The water take-up pipe in the cleaning reservoir has a porous bronze filter, which also acts as a weight to keep the take-up pipe down at the bottom of the reservoir.

By a process of trial and error elimination, I've found that the filter is pretty much clogged up, presumably with a mixture of dust and old dried-in detergent solution.

Any thoughts as to a suitable means of de-gunking? I've tried three or four changes of boiling water, switch cleaner (which evaporates almost on touch) and a quick immersion in cellulose thinners, all of which have only made a marginal improvement.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Soak in something aggressive like petrol and BLOW the shit BACKwards out of it.

If that don't work, ditch it.

>

[Tabby]

A standard quick cleaner would be caustic soda and boiling water. You cant really use HCl here.

If that fails, the most powerful cleaner of all is a long soak in warm bio washing powder - by long I mean days.

NT

[Graeme]

In message , The Wanderer writes

I would try running it through the dish washer, or perhaps the washing machine, on hot. For the latter, perhaps put it in a sock, closing the end with a plastic clippy thing, as used to seal half eaten bags of crisps etc.

Works well with grubby Lego, inside a pillow case :-)

[Dave Liquorice]

Good soak and backflow, how much "suck" is there in use? You probably need to match that with the "blow".

[Tabby]

You could probably replace it with no fines concrete. The cleaning solutions are alkaline.

NT

[John Rumm]

Could it be hard water scale? In which case a descaler like Fernox DS3 (or just leave it in a cup of vinegar overnight)