Hi VM,

I guess it's not so much about what it is meant for but rather what it shouldn't be used for in todays twisted world, thus why I'm a bit surprised that its still just an over the counter product. It's used in swimming pools to lower the Ph but generally it's already in diluted form for that purpose and not "neat" as we call it at 99.9%

I'm seeing that Hydrochloric is now been used as the weapon of choice opposed to Sulphuric in production line pickling. The problem with this process is what is called "Hydrogen Embrittlement" which is induced into the steel and thus weakens things like nuts and bolts severely if the exposure is not monitored correctly and also if the concentration of acid is too high, thus it's not the best thing for hobbyists to use.

Here's a good page that explains it much more precisely.

http://www.columbiachemical.com/reprints/Reprint%20A%20Practical%20Approach.pdf



This rapidly becoming a chemistry lesson I feel so from here I'll stop as it's probably way over some people's heads.

Cheers,
BB.

I live a 24 Hour lifestyle, but every now and again I seem to fall asleep, well at least that's what my wife tells me.