Boiler Tip

[pockets]

I have talked to a few people who are apprehensive about building their own copper boilers because they don't like the idea of vorking with an acid pickle or they don't want it around because of pets or offspring.

Use Kool Aid...Grape or Orange work equally well. I haven't tried any other flavors. Buy a bale of the unsweetened product (omit the sugar) and mix it up about ten times as strong as the directions call for. It's not as fast as Sulphuric Acid, but it will do the job.

[cfoster]

Probably much, much cheaper than sulphuric acid, too http://bbs.livesteam.net//smile.gif

How did you come across this trick?

Craig

[pockets]

I was building heating coils for a peanut butter pumping machine ( don't ask ) and had a large number of copper fittings to clean, before they could be soldered. I remembered back to my navy days, where I saw the mess cooks polishing the coils in the steam tables. They used bug juice ( Kool Aid ).

After a little experimenting, to find a suitable mix, it worked like a champ.

[cfoster]

Neat http://bbs.livesteam.net//biggrin.gif

I've heard of pouring Coca-Cola over frayed battery cables in order to get enough juice to start a car, but I've never heard anything about Kool-Aid. I wonder what makes it work? Guess I'll have to check out the ingredients someday.

Craig

[GWRdriver]

Is there a citric acid content in Kool-aid? Citric makes a decent pickle but it can be hard to find in larger quanities and very expensive in small quantities at brewing suppliers. I don't see how, on a per-usable-volume basis, a packaged food product like Kool-aid could be cheaper than say a jug of battery acid.

[GWRdriver]

Re COKE . . . it's full of phosphoric acid, and it's carbonated, but how those two coexist within in the same liquid, and which one is working on the battery connections, I don't know.

[pockets]

It is citric acid and, yes it is pricey. It is, however, an alternative.

[softwerksaol]

Vinegar works well and I have no reason to recommend another. I buy it in bulk jugs from Wal-Mart. I add enough salt to saturate the solution. At room temperature, copper items come out bright pink after a coffee break. If you put a boiling pot of the stuff on the stove, a quick dip will pickle fine.

Careful not to leave brass items in too long. It is strong enough to leach the lead/tin out and the brass will turn pink!

And of course the stuff is not toxic.