MURATIC acid.Can it be used effectively to unclog plumbing

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Timbuktu

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My sink's waste water plumbing travels 8ft under the cabin's concrete.it is cloggged and takes several hours to drain on its own. Ive not been able to effectively snake it as I reach an obstruction. Its highly doubtful anything other than hair and soap are the culprits as no one uses the sink but my wife and there are only the two of us.

Will muriatic acid work at cleaning out organic clogs without eating the pipes up/out ? Thx
 
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You have nothing to lose with off-the shelf chemical store products. Do not use raw ingredients or your own cocktails.

You have the option of hand snakes, hand augers, and powered augers.

The "obstruction" is usually an elbow. An experienced professional will be able to deal with this.
 

Reach4

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Take a look at a Brasscraft drain bladder. If you could feed one on the end of a hose toward the clog, it may be able to open things without chemicals.

In addition to other hazards, large amounts of strong chemicals are bad for the needed bacteria in your septic system.
 
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Dana

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Using muriatic acid corrodes metal drain plumbing, but plastics tolerate it. Still, DON'T.

Muriatic acid (dilute HCL) also reacts violently with the most common chemical drain cleaners, which are primarily (often completely) sodium hydroxide. If you mix them it may clear the clog with the explosion, but it can also blow your plumbing fixtures apart and give you a hot lye shower.

Sodium hydroxide by itself usually works pretty well at breaking down hair, skin, grease, etc, but it can take a while (hours) for it to do it's job if the offending clog is far from where you can put it in.

Don't even think about using chlorine bleach in conjunction with sodium hydroxide, as the outgassing is sometimes lethal.
 

Timbuktu

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Using muriatic acid corrodes metal drain plumbing, but plastics tolerate it. Still, DON'T.

Muriatic acid (dilute HCL) also reacts violently with the most common chemical drain cleaners, which are primarily (often completely) sodium hydroxide. If you mix them it may clear the clog with the explosion, but it can also blow your plumbing fixtures apart and give you a hot lye shower.

Sodium hydroxide by itself usually works pretty well at breaking down hair, skin, grease, etc, but it can take a while (hours) for it to do it's job if the offending clog is far from where you can put it in.

Don't even think about using chlorine bleach in conjunction with sodium hydroxide, as the outgassing is sometimes lethal.
 
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Smooky

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Liquid Plumber is made out of bleach (sodium hypochlorite) and lye (sodium hydroxide) so I would not think mixing the two together would be a problem. The Clorox Company makes Liquid Plumber. There are many chemicals and drain cleaners that should not be mixed with bleach but I don't think lye is included.
Problems occur when you mix bleach with ammonia or acids. Many liquid drain cleaners contain acid as were mentioned above and if they were mixed together chlorine gas can be given off. Bleach reacts with some oven cleaners, hydrogen peroxide, household cleaners that contain vinegar and some insecticides etc.
 
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Timbuktu

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Liquid Plumber is made out of bleach (sodium hypochlorite) and lye (sodium hydroxide) so I would not think mixing the two together would be a problem. The Clorox Company makes Liquid Plumber. There are many chemicals and drain cleaners that should not be mixed with bleach but I don't think lye is included.
Problems occur when you mix bleach with ammonia or acids. Many liquid drain cleaners contain acid as were mentioned above and if they were mixed together chlorine gas can be given off. Bleach reacts with some oven cleaners, hydrogen peroxide, household cleaners that contain vinegar and some insecticides etc.
 

Dana

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Liquid Plumber is made out of bleach (sodium hypochlorite) and lye (sodium hydroxide) so I would not think mixing the two together would be a problem. The Clorox Company makes Liquid Plumber. There are many chemicals and drain cleaners that should not be mixed with bleach but I don't think lye is included.
Problems occur when you mix bleach with ammonia or acids. Many liquid drain cleaners contain acid as were mentioned above and if they were mixed together chlorine gas can be given off. Bleach reacts with some oven cleaners, hydrogen peroxide, household cleaners that contain vinegar and some insecticides etc.

The correct proportions matter.
 

Smooky

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Could be, I have not mixed the two together.

Here is a study that was done to determine the Stability of sodium hypochlorite in solution after adding sodium hydroxide. Lye is added to bleach as a stabilizer. Lye slows the decomposition of bleach at some concentrations evidently.
http://www.antenna.ch/en/medias/Stability-of-sodium-hypochlorite-in-solution-after-adding-sodium-hydroxide_eng.pdf

The most common method for producing sodium hypochlorite (Bleach, NaOCl) is to react chlorine (Cl2) with sodium hydroxide (NaOH, lye, caustic soda). The reaction by-products are sodium chloride (salt, NaCl) and water (H2O).
1) Cl2 + 2 NaOH >>>  NaOCl + NaCl + H2O + HEAT

http://www.oxy.com/OurBusinesses/Chemicals/Products/Documents/sodiumhypochlorite/bleach.pdf
 
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Timbuktu

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Ok now back to muratic acid . Its HCL Hydrochloric acid 14% .I googled muratic on this sites past posts and it has several entries. Ill read up on those .
 
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