Cleaning Urinal Salts
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I thought Muratic Acid ate that stuff up really well
we use it on occasion in older toilets and as long as you buy
the non smelly kind it works without stinking up the whole room
we use it on occasion in older toilets and as long as you buy
the non smelly kind it works without stinking up the whole room
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Be careful what you put in. Some of that stuff you have to ventilate the room and some stuff really stinks.
Here's a recent thread with some thoughts
Urinal with internal trap
I'm curious what people use as well. I haven't done any chemical products on urinals/drains yet.
Any concerns with some of these products corroding copper or cast iron?
Urinal with internal trap
I'm curious what people use as well. I haven't done any chemical products on urinals/drains yet.
Any concerns with some of these products corroding copper or cast iron?
Sizzle is good. I prefer Javelin though. Less odor.
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I use meuratic acid as well. Back in Wichita the plumbing supply houses stocked the brand calcisolve. Pretty it's basically the same thing.
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Copper shouldn’t be used for urinal drains.
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"Sizzle" is a 35% Solution of Hydrochloric Acid. Muriatic Acid is just another name for Hydrochloric Acid.
I keep a gallon of "Sizzle" on my van and yes, it's great for mineral buildup in urinals and toilets. That's mostly what I use it for. Pour it in, let it sit for 15mins or so, poke it with a long screwdriver to break up the minerals a bit, then flush it down with a bucket of water. DO NOT flush the Sloan valve at the normal setting with the acid in there, some may splash out. Wear Gloves and rinse everything off when you're done. Standard blue colored Toilet bowl cleaner is a 5% Solution of Hydrochloric Acid.
Hydrochloric Acid does NOT attack metal(Except sometimes potmetal/diecast/zinc alloys), it only attacks metal oxides aka rust. It MIGHT attack special finishes, but what I find more common is that it liberates Zinc from some diecast piece and then deposits the Zinc onto the finish, making it look like the finish was attacked. HOWEVER, because it attacks rust it will leave behind an etched clean metal surface that is ready to rust again. I use it for cleaning rust off old tools, then I dry them and coat them with an oil.
The short answer is that Hydrochloric Acid is just fine for a commercial bathroom with standard fixtures/piping/valves.
I run into a lot of copper urinal drains in the older buildings. They transition to cast iron at the floor.
I usually pull the urinals off the wall so I can be sure both the trap and the drain are clear. 1.5 hours to pull urinal, snake w/ water running, reset urinal and rebuild the Sloan, if everything goes smoothly.
For the money the customer gets a pretty thorough cleaning and maintenance of their flushometer, urinal, and drain line.
I can almost always clear the drain with snake, k50, or mini jetter. With water running you're pulling out a mostly clean cable.
Maybe the acid isn't really necessary in the drain line itself when the snake/jetters usually get it.
I run into trouble when it comes to the urinal traps , my 1/4" cable doesn't usually go through. Then I'm using screwdrivers or coat hangers to pry away at the buildup. I usually set it over a drain or bucket with water running through the urinal trap.
A dose of HCL acid to loosen everything up might do the trick. With lots of water to rinse afterwards so I'm not spreading acid everywhere.
I hate those tiny urinal traps.
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Yeah, copper shouldn’t be used for urinal drains. Urine is acidic and typically destroys the copper in short order.
Over 65 yrs ago a local sports stadium was built and they used copper for the urinal drains. They had to to be replaced within 3 yrs. My grandfather replaced them.
Agreed, copper shouldn't be used for urinals. Around here are lots of manufacturing plants and truck shops, old schools etc that are pre-PVC. Seems like I run into copper urinal lines on those buildings .
I'm wondering if they may have used thicker wall for those drains? I don't pay attention when I've cut into them but maybe they're type L.
We've definitely had our share of corroded copper urinal lines as well.
This is not true. If you look up chemical compatibility charts, most metals are rated "severe degradation, not recommended for any use" with hydrochloric acid.
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I completely agree, but I prefer to sell a new urinal.
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I'm just telling you what I have seen happen when I use it. I have been using it for years. I use it for work cleaning out minerals from urinals and toilets, unclogging drains, cleaning hot water coils, and removing severe lime build up from fixtures. I also use it at home to clean old faucets/valves/hose spigots/etc. that I am restoring/fixing.
What happens to a piece of pipe or a faucet for the 15mins that it's in contact with plumber's grade Hydrochloric acid is probably not the same as what happens in a laboratory. I understand chemical compatibility charts and look up that sort of information all the time. The jiggler siphon hose I use for transferring gasoline is Vinyl(PVC). If you look at the chart it says it has "Poor" compatibility with Gasoline. Yet, I have been using it just fine for years and so have millions of others.
https://webfiles.ehs.ufl.edu/Assurance.pdf
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They are completely different chemicals. "Javelin" is Sodium Hydroxide. I keep both the "Sizzle" and this powdered Sodium Hydrixide drain cleaner on my van. The powdered cleaner is no longer made/sold, it's very dangerous. It's powdered Sodium Hydroxide and a Carbonate. You start the water running down the drain and SLOWLY pour in a SMALL amount of it. As it goes down the pipe the Carbonate reacts with the water to give off Carbon Dioxide gas creating pressure.
I've accidentally poured too much at one time, then it ends up clogging in the trap for a moment, creating a lot of gas/pressure, and then bursting up out of the drain! If you get it on your skin it immediately starts dissolving YOU. We have several dozen bottles of the stuff. My Master used to buy in bulk when he could.
I'm not trying to bust your balls Skoro. Merely sharing some info that may not be commonly known, as I believe is one of the purposes of this forum.
You are correct. Recall I was an engineer before I became a plumber. Lab tests for compatibility check for chemical reactions that may not be noticeable with the naked eye.
It's really a question of reactivity. Muriatic (hydrochloric) acid is also used to clean concrete despite a strong reaction to the lime within.
The reason hydrochloric acid works on removing urinal salts and lime from fixtures without damaging most metal finishes is that it reacts with those other substances first. Prolonged contact would adversely affect the metals.
Per SDS, both are an unspecified concentration of hydrochloric acid with a few other things added.
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Sizzle will mess up your world,,,
I would be very careful with that stuff,,, it bubbles and stinks to high heaven...
try the muratic acid and just throw a garbage bag over the urinal to keep the fumes sealed
and we have used this on many toilets in the past
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I tried Javelin it worked well.
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Did you use it on a plugged urinal? Did it smell any in the restroom and how long did you have to wait for it to open up.
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