leaky batteries! - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

1 Dec 2003

On Dec 1, 15:28, Marvin Johnston wrote:
...

 Pete Turnbull wrote:
 >
 > > For quite a while, I had a small bottle of Acid Flux that was
 > basically
 > > Muriatic Acid, and it worked like a charm.
 >
 > Actually, it was probably mostly zinc chloride, made by dissoving
 > granular zinc (or old battery cases) in hydrochloric acid.  Known here
...
   as Bakers
Fluid.  The raw acid would be too strong, and lose its
 efficacy too quickly. 
 No, it was Muriatic Acid according to the label. I went looking for it
...
  after I ran out (it lasted about 10 years) and when I
couldn't find it,
...
  I bought the Muriatic Acid. 
I'm surprised -- but I'm sure you're right.

...
  My understanding is that Muriatic Acid is
 33% strength Hydrochloric Acid. 
Sounds about right.  Concentrated pure hydrochloric acid is about 36%
w/v; left exposed to air it fumes and gradually loses HCl; common
concentrated acid is 32%-33%.  Muriatic acid is a technical (well,
industrial, really) grade and contains impurities as well as being
subject to loss.  Be careful with it; apart from its corrosive nature,
you know you're not supposed to store it in proximity to certain other
things, such as ammonia, bleach, etc?

...
  I used quite a bit of it for cleaning
 tin-lead plating when I still owned the printed circuit shop. To head
 off comments I've heard before, tin-lead gets plated (NOT solder), and
...
  the tin-lead later in the process gets fused to form
the solder alloy.

*I* won't argue with that description :-)

-- 
Pete						Peter Turnbull
						Network Manager
						University of York