Fountain Solution Maintenance

[jlind]

My good friend in the pressroom is experiencing algae or fungus amung us in his water system. He doesn't flush it every week, as that extinct trade association GATF used to recommend. Now it's a Friday afternoon, there's stuff growing in there, and he's trying to decide between the following, and he could use some best practices help.
1. Add bleach circulate and flush, leave dry over the weekend
2. Add hydrogen peroxide and flush, leave dry over the weekend
3. Add hydrogen peroxide and leave in tanks over the weekend
4. Follow another procedure suggested on this forum
Thanks in advance,
John Lind
Cranberry Township, PA
724-776-4718

 

[junker1984]

Fountain Maint

Fountain Maint

Simply flush with warm water and vinegar solution - rinse and replenish. Simple as that.

 

[meddington]

ran this by our pressman. His response below:

"Why would there be fungus growing in a circulatory system? Non refridegerated? The only time I’ve seen fungus is in a conventional damping tray. My answer would be A, with a really good flush. I still think It’s good practice to dump your solution every couple of weeks, except in parts of the country where they have strict pollution laws and you can’t dispose of it down the drain".

 

[Albert Noel]

if it's chilled, turn the chiller off and circulate a hot water and vinegar mixture for a bit then drain. rinse out with plain water after. we do this every Monday morning on start-up. it kills about an hour of production but keeps things in check. just make sure it's flushed well after the vinegar mixture has been dumped out.

once a month we circulate a product called Royal Flush from Prisco. fill the tank with water and dump in a litre or two of the Royal Flush. let it circulate for about 2 hours then dump and flush with water. you may need to dump and flush with clean water a few times until the water comes out clear, but it works very well. once every 3 or 4 months we pull the water pans right out and clean them of any buildup. IMO, maintenance on the dampening system is just as vital as greasing grippers.

also, Prisco has a product called Fungus Arrester that is for controlling abnormal growth in the fountain solution.