CW5000 chiller clogged up with green sludge
Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2022
Our CW5000 water chiller cut out in the middle of a laser session today. Turns out it was clogged up with organic sludge—presumably algae. I’ve found some good suggestions on additives to use going forward to keep this from happening again (mainly a few drops of aquarium algae inhibitor) but I have not found good suggestions from reliable sources on what to do to flush out the current gunk from the system. Some have suggested vinegar & water at 1:1 and circulate it through for several hours before flushing with water. I’ve seen other suggestions as well, but I don’t trust them without more info. I’m leaning toward just running the chiller with tap water going directly in and the outlet directly into the drain, though that wouldn’t do anything for any sludge in the rest of the system. Any suggestions from the group? Thanks!