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thinwater · 29-05-2014, 07:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by weavis

I just feel terrible that a chemical engineer is pointing out that my vinegar and soda is not a good idea. Im not questioning his knowledge or abilities but I do have the cleanest drains I ever had using them....

I stand humby corrected. There is some logic. However, recognize that when chemists sees monoxide confused with dioxide, well, that's like confusing up with down.

This is a case where quoting the sorce would have been better.

Clean Your Drains With Baking Soda and Vinegar - Surprise! | Crunchy Betty

There are a few things here that are different for a drain vs. a tank:
1. Just dumping the baking soda in a tank with only a little liquid in it will result in a mound of baking soda; your going to have to disolve it in water.
2. This is only going to touch the bottom of the tank. Adding enough to treat the whole tank is actually dangerous and certainly messy. I think this is not a practical method for tanks.
3. Use this aproach on small diameter pipes in the fresh water system, same problem; it might hold to gether, or something might blow. A large diameter kichen or shower drain is a different matter.

But I can see some applications. The mechanisim, for those who have not read the link, is that the baking soda lossens the grime, and then when the vinegar finds it, in the constrained space under the crud, it blows it off. Plausible for some applications, where the dirt is hard to reach and cannot be physically scrubbed, but not so constrained as to make a bomb. There may also be cases where the reverse order makes sense (in a kitchen drain it is grease we are removing, in many marine applications it is scale).

This is one that requires great care if used in constrained places. I can see someone using this aproach to clean sanitary lines and blowing either the head or the holding tank! I once viewed the aftermath of a driver unloading lime slurry into and acid tank (3/8" steel). A new tank and new driver were required.