Punk - 9-7-2006 at 03:46
Since Red Devil has been banished from store shelves a few other brands drano/zep ect. still sell lye but they added 2 more ingredients to help with
the desinger drug problem in the US and to help bust clogs in the drain a little better.
The bottles say "contains sodium hydroxide" but when you open it there are green crystals [sodium nitrate] and small tear drop shaped non-magnetic
metalic pellets [aluminum] in there along with the usual tiny white balls [lye]
Useing this crap directly in a/b extraction means nasty emultion with the posability of contams or maybe even poisoning???
Not to worry, if you mix this stuff in hot water the lye and green crap will quickly disolve then you can pour this mix off of the aluminum pellets
that are sunk to the bottom before they start their violent reaction. Then just pour the nasty looking green lye solution through a coffe filter to
remove 100% of the green particals and your left with a clear to cloudy white probly impure lye solution that ive found to work just fine in many
chemistry experaments.
[Edited on 9-7-2006 by Punk]
12AX7 - 9-7-2006 at 07:38
Sodium nitrate is colorless. :confused:
YT2095 - 9-7-2006 at 08:14
it`s probably some sort of Dye added, and more than likely for no other reason they add dye to denatured alc.
the condensed alu though???
that sounds more of a liability than and asset, esp if a container gets damaged in transit/shipping 
lead poisoning
Punk - 9-7-2006 at 09:26
I forgot to mention there are zinc particles in there also. Ive read something in the past stating some type of lead byproduct coming from the sodium
nitrate anyone framiliar with this?
YT2095 - 9-7-2006 at 09:53
Lead from Sodium Nitrate... I`de like to see that 
)
not only that, but I can`t see what Zinc would do to Lead that Alu wouldn`t, where would the lead ions come from to start with anyway? unless it was a
poor manufacturing proc or maybe something to do with lead water pipes (that are banned in most civilised countries).
enhzflep - 9-7-2006 at 20:21
Pressumably the different components have different particle sizes and densities.
Personally, I'd be tempted to seperate them mechanically first, in a somewhat similar fashion to that used to pan for gold - albeit it without the
water.
Failing that, NaOH is soluble in ethanol IIRC. But that still leaves you with the possibility of dissolving the green contaminant also. I've no idea
on the reactivity of Al with NaOH dissolved in EtOH though.
squick - 10-7-2006 at 23:37
Yeah, i say the best option is to skip the store bought drain cleaner, and look for some root remover or the like at the hardware store. or maybe
try a little soapmaking on the side?
Punk - 11-7-2006 at 01:22
Ive never seen root stuff that contained lye just copper salts and potassium salts.
But as stated above Ive found this new formula to work just fine in the a/b extractions and its ready to use in a "drano bomb" just add water.
Organikum - 12-7-2006 at 01:07
Why don´t use sodium carbonate or bicarbonate? Washing soda and baking powder are still available I suppose.
/ORG