OT - What are you doing now? (2026)

alaskanassasin

Do you guys have harbor freight? It’s great for stuff like this

zaphod

cool, thanks.

looking at the manual, it seems to draw from the bottom - perfect for one of the 3,452,654 5 gallon pails I have around the house.  

there is an all in one kit sold at HD from eccotemp (the "EZ-flush") but it is all encased so you can't judge when the outflow clears and you need to use their special fluid not vinegar. you just run it for 45 minutes or so.

but the EZ-flush and the manual for my Bosch both describe using a filter on the inflow to the heater. Makes sense - do you have a way to filter the vinegar before it gets recycled back into the pump? some screening perhaps around the bottom where the inlets are located? or maybe wrap the whole bottom of the pump in cheesecloth?

zaphod

alaskanassasin said:

Do you guys have harbor freight? It’s great for stuff like this

I'd have to scoot across the 49th to Bellingham. Not really doing that these days. Used to pop over there for a spontaneous supper I'm so close to the border. That was a long time ago.

alaskanassasin

zaphod said:

alaskanassasin said:

Do you guys have harbor freight? It’s great for stuff like this

I'd have to scoot across the 49th to Bellingham. Not really doing that these days. Used to pop over there for a spontaneous supper I'm so close to the border. That was a long time ago.

I was just checking out princess auto, that place looks cool!

Canugghead

@alaskanassasin Princess Auto is our closest thing to HF although their selection and price is usually not as good. Their promotion flyers are addictive. It's 100% Canadian owned and operated, their return policy is arguably as good as Costco's.

Canugghead

Just looked at the HD EZ-flush kit, you pay extra for the fancy enclosure!

The heater should have an inlet pre filter that you have to clean periodically, mine was clean before the flush and caught some debris in the process. Great idea to wrap the entire bottom of pump with cheesecloth, I wrap it with landscape fabric when using in rain barrels but forgot that when descaling, duh 

btw, sounds like your service agreement does not include descaling?

zaphod

I have made it many years successfully not asking questions I don't want the answer to. Because the heater was replaced under warranty I don't want to ask about previous aspects of the service I had done. Deniable plausibility and all that.

But moving forward, I'll get pricing/confirmation on descaling as a part of the service. If it is too much or not done, I'll do it myself. I like working with plumbing, always have.

zaphod

Canugghead said:

@alaskanassasin Princess Auto is our closest thing to HF although their selection and price is usually not as good. Their promotion flyers are addictive. It's 100% Canadian owned and operated, their return policy is arguably as good as Costco's.

oh yeah, +1 on that @Canugghead I toss the other flyers, put aside the weekly newspaper and dive into the Princess auto flyer when it arrives. In person their Surplus section is fantastic - well worth leaving your wallet behind.