Muriatic acid color and product purity?

[jblizzle]

I bought mine from the same Leslie's I usually do ... this last time they had the clear "desert version"
I have not seen any fumes like I often did with the yellow. Tempted to take a whiff and see what is going on

I should start making a monthly trip to E-konomy.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I bought mine from the same Leslie's I usually do ... this last time they had the clear "desert version"
I have not seen any fumes like I often did with the yellow. Tempted to take a whiff and see what is going on

I should start making a monthly trip to E-konomy.

Yeah, they changed locations and are now a little closer to me. $4.75/gal on a 4-pack carrier with a one-time $6 deposit (fully refundable). Not a bad deal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chiefwej]

HD here in Tucson now has both the weak stuff and the 31% in the pool section. Two gallon cartons, about $10 for the weak stuff and $12 for 31%.

 

[stev32k]

It does not take much iron to turn HCL yellow. Before I retired I was involved in the design of three chlor/alkali plants. It was a joke in the plants that some customers thought a yellow color in the acid meant it was stronger so the plant would drop 4 or 5 16d nails in a tank truck of acid to get the strength up.

 

[Mjg1482]

The non-technobabble reason for yellow acid is.. because of the iron content. Often times the muriatic acid bought by pool stores is second hand. Meaning it was used to clean things like industrial equipment, then re-bottled after some degree of a purification process. From time to time we find yellow acid in a case at my job. It's just as good, and usually put in the trucks for the guys who have pool cleaning routes because the customers see it and go "ew."

Best answer ever.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Best answer ever.

Maybe, but 7 years too late

 

[Jejunum]

Appreciate this thread. Just got some no refillable hasa 31 % muriatic acid that looks like I'm dehydrated urine. In Tucson AZ

 

[JamesW]

Often times the muriatic acid bought by pool stores is second hand. Meaning it was used to clean things like industrial equipment, then re-bottled after some degree of a purification process.

Where do you get this information?

 

[Darin]

I guess we get a good deal on it here in the Midwest. Go to Menards paint section and it 31% (20 baume) is $4 or $5 regular price.

 

[SoDel]

Interesting old thread brought back. I’ve used a lot of MA for cleaning masonry work back in the day and it was always a deep yellow. The stuff I get now at Ace Hardware (Transchem 31.45%) is water clear. When I first saw it, I thought there was something wrong with it. Did not match the mental image of what MA looked like. It reduced pH as predicted so I just didn’t think much more about it. Now I know lol.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

The color of pure reagent grade HCl (muriatic acid) is clear. The stuff you get in the store is not reagent grade but rather an industrial grade. When HCl is manufactured, a lot of the processing and handling equipment is made out of a grade of stainless steel that is resistant to acid corrosion. However, the HCl will pickup trace amounts of iron. It is the iron that gives the MA it’s yellow color. It doesn’t take much iron at all, a few ppm in a gallon to make it turn yellow. If the MA you purchase is clear, then it’s gone through additional steps of purification to reduce iron concentration to ppb levels.

 

[an1vrsy]

It is the iron that gives the MA it’s yellow color. It doesn’t take much iron at all, a few ppm in a gallon to make it turn yellow.

This begs the question, is there enough iron in yellow MA to cause staining down the line? If sometimes yellow MA, sometimes clear MA is used, over a year we use gallons of MA to control pH.

 

[an1vrsy]

Never mind, I read up thread and it was answered in post #3.