# Virgin Sulfuric Acid?



## Chumbawamba (Oct 22, 2009)

So what is it? An acid that has not yet been ravaged in bed, or perhaps it's supposed to be pure H2SO4?

After scouring the local hardware and automotive stores, I managed to find several products with sulfuric acid of varying quality.

Kragen (also known as O'Reilly's, Shucks, Checker, Murrays, through various mergers ["CSK Auto, Inc., operating under the brand names Checker Auto Parts, Schuck's Auto Supply, Kragen Auto Parts and Murray's Discount Auto Stores..."]) was the first place where I found some, but they didn't know how to charge me because the barcode on the box it was packaged in wouldn't come up on their register. I helped them search their computer and found only one sulfuric acid product at $4.29 for a 1L bottle, so I bought 2 in desperation.

Yesterday I went into my local Napa auto parts dealer and got 1.5 gallons for $13. A much better deal. Here's the product:

http://www.schollechemical.com/25x15gazpak.html

The Qual brand says it has a specific gravity of 1.265, while the stuff I got from Kragen says 1.28. I tried to figure out how this converts to concentration but determined I didn't have enough data, as in the specific gravity doesn't necessarily tell you the concentration. When people tell me to "boil it down to a 3rd of volume", I like to know why. Still searching for the answer.

In the meantime, I found many "drain opener" type products containing sulfuric acid.

There's Hitec Laboratories Liquid Lightning Drain Opener, which comes in two varieties, apparently. There's the "Red Label" @ 44.25% concentration, and the "Blue Label" @ 94.19%.

Red Label
http://www.liquidlightning.net/Wal-Mart%20Red%20Label%20%28Black%20Bottle%29%20MSDS%20Sheets%2012%2004%2007.pdf

Blue Label
http://www.liquidlightning.net/LiquidLighting_MSDS.pdf

The "Red Label" variety indicates it's sold through Walmart, so it might be a good substitute if you can't find any other source, but you most probably want the Blue Label type.

Then we have El Diablo Drain Cleaner, boasting "concentrated sulfuric acid". I found it for $29.79/gal at Orchard. So far I haven't been able to locate an MSDS online.

ACE Hardware sells "Floweasy Drain Opener", which says it contains the mythical "virgin sulfuric acid", also boasting a "94.19%" concentration of sulfuric. Here's the product page, linking to the MSDS:

http://www.floweasy.com/template.php?go=msds

Does anyone have any experience working with the higher concentration drain openers? I don't imagine they need to be boiled down like battery acid? If not, what, then, for informational purposes, is the concentration of the sulfuric in battery acid?


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## goldsilverpro (Oct 22, 2009)

The 1.265 SG, H2SO4 is about 35-36%. The 1.28 is about 38%.


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## Platdigger (Oct 22, 2009)

You only need to boil it down if you want concentrated sulfuric for say, a gold stripping cell.

Or, for certain recipies of making nitric...etc


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## Chumbawamba (Oct 22, 2009)

goldsilverpro said:


> The 1.265 SG, H2SO4 is about 35-36%. The 1.28 is about 38%.



Great info, thanks! Is the concentration derivable from the specific gravity? I tried to do the math but got stuck


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## Palladium (Oct 22, 2009)

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=342&p=2792&hilit=specific+gravity#p2792


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## Chumbawamba (Oct 22, 2009)

Thanks, Palladium!


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