Salt washing chemicals.

[oldboot]

We have seen the treads on saltex (all over the place)

But it seems the cat is out of the bag, and there are quite a few other brands offering some sort of salt neutralising wash.

Now what I want to know....is what is in the stuff.

they all seem to claim the same things and discribe their operation similarly.

so it is something that reacts with the salt suposedly "neutralising" it and some sort of waxy residue "protective" is left behind.

It has to be some sort of reasonably redily available chemical.

anybody got any clues.......some sort of glycol perhaps......PEG ( poly eythelene glycol) is waxy when solid.

Anybody with a chemical background or bent want to take a stab at it.

cheers

[Kondo 1]

Hey Mate,

No idea what is in them, I use the Staun Salt Assualt stuff, seems to work ok - the fiml left behind isn't waxy though - more like dry powdery film...

Be nice to know what is in it.

[Noelm]

I guess you could always look at the label and see what the ingredients are, they will have to be there, although maybe not exaclty as we know them.

[FNQCairns]

things like this are all snake oil on a par with fuel additives for water but it does come in a bottle, do a litmus test...will tell you LOTS! water dissolves salt like nothing else on the market and residues are easy to engineer in even for a backyarder.

Fabric softener is another in a bottle additive, CLR is another and so is Hydrochloric acid in the correct dilution V time, the last 2 will help rid the engine of 'salts' (salt (salts) complexes, scale) which are the only true engine demons not 'salt' which fresh water will simply flush away every time.

cheers fnq

[Roughasguts]

Heres something learnt remove the peel of a potatoe and stick it in the pot of overly salted soup or stew or whatever and the Potatoes will soak up the salt.

So maybe if you mash up spuds and turn it in to potatoe juice ! you could use that to remove the salt from your motor, Strange that would leave a white residue wouldn't it. Hmmm maybe starch will do the same.

All the same I reckon hot soapy water is the only thing thats going to remove salt.

Cheers.

[oldboot]

I dont think you will get any clue off the label...the MSDS does not give away any clues either.

Now now.....these products do seem to work ( by all accounts)...but the issue is the high cost.

I doubt that it will be an acid.......because that would promote corrosion....Hmmm

starch is unlikly because it works by absorbtion.

these products are also reported to cleanly react with corrosion.........yeh..salt complexes.

yeh clean water in theory should remove salt......but hose your boat down and you still have residue where that salt spray dried on the screen.

and in complex structures the water simply dilutes the salt in voids and crevices....where corrosion ( salt complexes) grows.

the MSDS says...its more or less harmless, non poisonous and can be freely washed into the environment.....reports as largly, odourless clear liquid, with a viscosity close to 1.

I havn't coughed up for a bottle so I cant poke or prod it.

PH would be a good start.

borax...is a common, anti corrosive & PH buffer used in radiator fluid.....but that corrodes metal like a beauty if allowed to dry into a salt.

Hmmmm

cheers

[Roughasguts]

The MSDS says the ingrediant is Sodium carbonate, and that is somehow related to pot ash, which is related to Potassium.

And guess what has one of the highest amounts of Potassium.... Potatoes kinda makes sence.

let us know when you work it all out.

Oooops yeah so it's probably washing Soda! just a wetting agent.

Cheers

[oldboot]

I missed the sodium carbonate...um washing soda
Um no potasium in that that I can remember....... but it does have anti corrosive properties

and it does have a detergent action.

I have used it in an electrolisis bath to remove rust......must try it without the electrical current.

HMMM......we might be onto something here.

without a waxing agent..it would leave a white powdery film.

HMMM

cheers

[Roughasguts]

Yeah I was looking at removing salt from water years ago, you just reminded me that I hadn't found the solution.

All I found so far is Potassium removes sodium (salt)

And Sodium removes Potassium so I guess it neutralises everything and balances out.

But then I read that onlt 2/3 of the salt was removed with that process which may be enough to call it a product that removes salt................Dunno.

There as two othe chemicals but there used to reduce salt in blood so just maybe there thrown in to reduce the salt to zero.

[Roughasguts]

This is pretty confusing stuff.

Sodium carbonate = washing soda And washing Soda!! is also a pool cleaner or clarifier for adjusting the PH in your swimming pool when you have to much acid in it.

That product for the pool is "Soda Ash" and here is what it does for your coffee machine or boiler.


Keeping the coffeepot clean and running well is another task that soda ash can help with. Over time, repeated use of a coffee maker or an espresso machine will result in buildup in the boiler section of the machines. Running a solution of soda ash and water through the system from time to time will help prevent the buildup and keep the machine functioning at optimum levels. This means your machine will last longer and produce a good tasting product consistently.

So in other words it removes the salts and other calcium build ups.

[FNQCairns]

Ha! well there you go! Still nothing is new these days once the packaging is removed, I have used it for cleaning boat parts in the past, the litmus test still needs to be done to ascertain just how caustic the mix is, then it's a relatively simple matter to make a batch up for flushing, the stuff sells for like $12 per 2 kg in the pool shops...that should make like 40l of flush!! then use fabric softener to do a final coat.

When using it for parts I needed to boil them in the soda for it to work well enough, i now use Hydrochloric acid as it rips the 'salts' away in just seconds and this is a weak mix that doesn't impact other bits in the time given.

Whatever, if it cleans the bathroom tiles and the toilet bowl it will clean the engine.

baking soda is close to the same stuff just weaker - too weak actually but it will work to loosen the salts on parts given a few days.

cheers fnq