Soaking in vinegar
- Thread starter tothna
- Start date
use it straight if you want to get the job done. What gets the job done is vinegar's super low pH (less than 1.0, if I remember correctly). Tap water has a pH around 7.0-7.8 and as you know is useless for removing calcium deposits. If you go with a 50/50 mix, you end up with a solution around 3.0-3.5. What that does is greatly reduces vinegar's cleaning ability. Vinegar stinks so take the tank outside or have a fan and an open window handy.
Howdy,
you can use it straight out of the bottle - then it's faster. If you intend to soak it, you can dilute it. It will get the job done just as well, it just might take a bit longer.
Not quite ... regular household vinegar has a pH value of around 3 (2.5-4). Furthermore, the pH value is on a logarithmic scale: The difference between two numbers is not two-fold but 10-fold. That means if you dilute vinegar (pH 3) with tap water (pH7) in a 50/50 mix, your resulting pH is 3.3. You have to mix vinegar/water=1/9 to increase the pH by one (i.e. from 3 to 4). Thus, even diluted mixtures still work.
Just a liitle chemistry
HarleyK
you can use it straight out of the bottle - then it's faster. If you intend to soak it, you can dilute it. It will get the job done just as well, it just might take a bit longer.
Not quite ... regular household vinegar has a pH value of around 3 (2.5-4). Furthermore, the pH value is on a logarithmic scale: The difference between two numbers is not two-fold but 10-fold. That means if you dilute vinegar (pH 3) with tap water (pH7) in a 50/50 mix, your resulting pH is 3.3. You have to mix vinegar/water=1/9 to increase the pH by one (i.e. from 3 to 4). Thus, even diluted mixtures still work.
Just a liitle chemistry
HarleyK