[Amps] LYE

[Barrie Smith]

Larry:

That's nowhere near the concentration I use.  I'll have to look it up, but I
think I use about ten times that amount of sodium hydroxide for that amount
of water.

You must start with cold water.  Add the sodium hydroxide slowly, with
constant stiring  (or the stuff will form a "pile" on the bottom of the
container).

Use an inert (glass or rubber is good) container and stiring device.

Never add water to dry sodium hydroxide.  It can and will explode.  Add
sodium hydroxide slowly to water.

Due to the chemical reaction with the water, the solution will be very hot
when mixing is complete.

Wear long gloves and face-protection.

73, Barrie, W7ALW

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry" <larry at w7iuv.com>
To: <rbonner at qro.com>
Cc: "'Amplifier- List'" <amps at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 11:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Amps] LYE


> Robert Bonner wrote:
> > We used LYE to clean melted aluminum off steel cylinder sleeves on Top
Fuel
> > Dragster engines.  You could toss the sleeves into the lye and not worry
> > about the steel cylinders but watch the aluminum bubble away.
> Wow, Bob, I can't imagine what the concentration of that solution might
> be. No matter what I do here, I can't get it to "bubble away" aluminum.
> Could it be accelerated by the presence of steel? An electrochemical
> process? Been way to long since my last chemistry class!!
>
> I usually mix about 2 tablespoons of sodium hydroxide to a quart of
> water. More or less depending on what I'm doing. If I'm in a big hurry,
> I'll use water from the hot water tap. Even so, I can leave 0.015"
> thickness sheet aluminum in the solution for an hour without being able
> to measure any difference in the thickness of the sheet.
>
> Also as stated, it's important to move things around in the tank.
> Leaving parts just sit on the bottom will cause undesirable consequences.
>
> 73, Larry
>
> -- 
> Larry - W7IUV
> DN07dg
> http://w7iuv.com
>
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