I was thinking of cleaning my domestic coil on my woodgun. Can I use hardware store muriatic acid straight out of bottle (30% strength) or should I dilute it? I am aware of all the dangers, but don't want to eat through the copper coil, does copper even react with hydrochloric acid?
Acid cleaning domestic coil
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hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
The Effects of Muriatic Acid & Copper
- Resistant Metals
- Copper is often associated with noble metals for its resistance to non-oxidizing acids like muriatic (hydrochloric) acid. Copper is a not a noble metal per se like mercury, sliver, or gold, though it displays some of their properties in that copper will resist the degenerative reactions of muriatic acid in the absence of a catalyst. The catalyst in this case, is oxygen which bonds
with copper to form copper oxide. Once bonded, the presence of oxygen enables muriatic acid to attack copper and over time dissolve it.
- Copper is often associated with noble metals for its resistance to non-oxidizing acids like muriatic (hydrochloric) acid. Copper is a not a noble metal per se like mercury, sliver, or gold, though it displays some of their properties in that copper will resist the degenerative reactions of muriatic acid in the absence of a catalyst. The catalyst in this case, is oxygen which bonds
maple1
Minister of Fire
Have you ever had your water tested?
My old boiler went 17 years with no coil issues. Leaky coil gaskets yes - but the coil seemed to work the same all those years. Just thinking it may not be needed - my water is slightly acidic, with some iron & manganese but not enough to worry about according to that last guy I talked to.
My old boiler went 17 years with no coil issues. Leaky coil gaskets yes - but the coil seemed to work the same all those years. Just thinking it may not be needed - my water is slightly acidic, with some iron & manganese but not enough to worry about according to that last guy I talked to.
We have hard water, I am am noticing much less flow with straight hot water than when it was new.
hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
Have you disconnected the cold water where it enters the heat exchanger , the build up may be at the fitting where the cold water meets the hot water at that first connection , not through out the entire coil .
maple1
Minister of Fire
If it does have a build up, I might try recirculating some CLR (or similar?) thru it. That's what I had in mind when I plumbed a couple of boiler drains into my dhw hx setup anyway - have yet to do it though. Try hobbyheaters suggestion first - at least see what it looks like in there.
hobbyheater
Minister of Fire
It's pretty nice that it's biodegradeable. I will probably have to do an initial flush on a new boiler, but don't know where to dump the stuff.
cityboy172
Feeling the Heat
NE WOOD BURNER
Minister of Fire
- Dec 30, 2012
- 754
Dawn dish soap cleans out radiators and heater cores the best. in automotive applications. I wonder how it would do here.
If it is a hard water build up a mild acid is the way to go. I have used Hercules Sizzle on both boilers and domestic water tanks and coils. Also to clean toilet bowls that have stained from hard water leaking into them. Follow the dilution instructions.
Those tankless water heater flush kits make it a simple task. It is best to recirculate the fluid for awhile. I would guess after it has cleaned the hardness it is safe to dump down the drain or outside.
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