boiler making

can anyone tell me how much to dilute sulphuric acid drain cleaner to make pickle solution . Bottle says 98% , but I cant believe its that concentrated ?

regards Phil

I poured about 2/3rds of the bottle into 1/2 a builders bucket of water which i keep a plastic wrapped piece of steel plate on top of as a lid (and it's out of the way in my locked shed). I keep a second bucket of fresh water nearby.

I also have an approx 4:1 dilution in a shallow lidded dish on the worktop for small items.

Hot copper items dropped in clean up in seconds (take precautions). Heavy flux residues can take 30-45 mins to clean off.

If your acid is 98% it should have an oily appearance. For pickle solution I only use about 5% solution which is reasonably safe. Even so I do wear heavy duty rubber gloves. So add 0.5 litre of conc acid slowly into 10 l of water. Have water for washing handy in case of splashes.

Russell.

I would have a packet or two of washing soda handy to neutralize the acid. The acid may be fairly harmless with high dilution, but if it is splashed the water evaporates leaving spots of concentrated acid, thats what burns holes in things, the front of my overalls when I was an apprentice, holding batteries against them while carrying them.

Ian S C

The 98% isn't on the label to tell you its concentration it is there for when someone tests it and finds 2% dead rat that fell in the vat they can say that they did point out it wasn't pure enough to use for laboratory use. The water in it is probably 99.9% water 'cos that is cheap. The concentration is probably waaaaay down cos if it isn't someone else will buy some, dilute it, and resell it still as 98%.

If you look at the more common hydrochloric acid sold as brick cleaner etc every now and then one of them does actually mention the concentration and you can see how the cheaper versions are made to con people who look at price not value.