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Painless
10-08-2008, 09:02 AM
Is anyone buying their potassium hydroxide at Lowes?

If so, what product are you buying that is 100% KOH?

My initial supply from Cosmetic Grade ran out and they don't sell it any more, plus I need to get some in a hurry. I'm also not convinced about the consistency of their flaked KOH product.

I can't use sodium hydroxide as there is PVC in my setup.

Thanks!

Russ.

hydrotinkerer
10-08-2008, 12:22 PM
Is anyone buying their potassium hydroxide at Lowes?

If so, what product are you buying that is 100% KOH?

My initial supply from Cosmetic Grade ran out and they don't sell it any more, plus I need to get some in a hurry. I'm also not convinced about the consistency of their flaked KOH product.

I can't use sodium hydroxide as there is PVC in my setup.

Thanks!

Russ.

I never found 100% KOH at Lowes. Found a mixture of KOH and Naoh. Thats just in my area. Might be different in other parts of country.

Jaxom
10-08-2008, 01:18 PM
Same here. You can try this website (http://www.braintan.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=1&Category_Code=Materials) but you'll have to wait for it to be shipped to you.

DOUBLEL
10-08-2008, 03:56 PM
why can You not use sodium hydroxide with pvc?

Atm0spher
10-08-2008, 04:12 PM
its 100% lye or 100% sodium hydroxide that is at lows both are on the bottle. it is heavy duty drain cleaner. i have been using the lye with black pvc and haven't seen any problems.

Painless
10-08-2008, 04:28 PM
I read a link, that I kept in my bookmarks, that had a compatibility matrix for various catalysts and plastics. It said "no" for PVC and NaOH, I just went back to that link:

http://waterfuel.t35.com/own_electrolyser.html

...but as you can see, the page is no longer up.

I've just been googling to see if I can find some similar information, but everything I've found so far says it's not a problem.

Big Shrug.

DOUBLEL
10-08-2008, 05:11 PM
the drain cleaner is used in pvc drain pipes, Iknow it isnt used all the time like in your gen, but I wouldnt think it would hurt anything. are You worried about the shower liner or the tank?

Painless
10-08-2008, 05:18 PM
Both really, but I think the link I read was misinformed to be honest.

I just ordered some lab grade KOH from here:

http://secure.sciencecompany.com/Potassium-Hydroxide-500g-P6511C670.aspx

Seems most of the stuff around is 90% pure, like the last lot I had, but I had some inconsistent results with it. Going to give the 99+% a shot and see if it's more consistent. 500g (1lb) was $13.95, with shipping it came to $25. Hopefully, it will be worth it.

When the KOH is 90% pure, one has to wonder what the other 10% could be.

M Bell
10-08-2008, 05:34 PM
Just thought I would pass on information. I recently purchased 100% NAOH at Wal Mart. It was the cheapest drain cleaner they had.
:rolleyes:

toxic281
10-13-2008, 05:54 PM
I went to Lowe's today, could not find the "Roebic 100%" stuff. They did have 1 bottle left of sulfuric acid. Bag was leaking, black liquid all over the place and got it on my hands.
So I then went to Home Depot. Found a product called "Instant Power" (drain opener), label said it contains concentrated lye. So I called the toll free number while in the store and they stated that this product contains 77% sodium hydroxide, 3% potassium hydroxide and the last 20% is water. Does anyone see a problem using this product?
How much of this liquid product do you think that I would need to add for an HHO container that holds 40oz. of water?
Thanks and this is my first post here!!!

Painless
10-13-2008, 06:57 PM
Welcome to the forum toxic :)

I'm not sure if there would be any issues of having both KOH and NaOH in the same electrolyte. You would want to be sure that the water was distilled or similar or you will get gunk in your gen.

DrBrown
11-25-2008, 10:45 PM
See the new thread about Lowes and Roebic, they no longer sell it due to it being used to make meth....BOOO! Just leave it to the *********s to ruin everything. I cant get the good Sudafed when Im sick unless I get it from the pharmacist now as well. I hate stupid people sometimes!

ANYWAY, I will attest to NOT using something with caustic soda or other miscellaneous checmicals. Stick to KOH or NaOH only. Otherwise you will have a poop pit in your cell container.

coffeeachiever
11-26-2008, 09:47 PM
I am using the Instant Power blend. I put it in my new unit two days ago when I found it at Tractor Supply Co. during my "great electrolyte hunt". So far it is working great. I'll report back in a week or so and let you know if I have any problems with it.