On Sun, 24 Mar 2013 15:28:07 -0400, Joe Gwinn
wrote:
In article , Ed Huntress
wrote:
On Sun, 24 Mar 2013 14:47:18 -0400, Joe Gwinn
wrote:
In article , Ed Huntress
wrote:
On Sat, 23 Mar 2013 19:38:08 -0400, Joe Gwinn
wrote:
In article , Ed Huntress
wrote:
On Sat, 23 Mar 2013 12:37:28 -0400, Joe Gwinn
wrote:
again. Thanks again.
Welcome. Good luck. Keep us posted.
[snip]
Joe, problem solved. Thanks for your help.
It was the result of a change in detergents. About five months ago my
local supermarket stopped carrying Finish powder, so I switched to
Cascade. I didn't think that could be it, since the Cascade seemed to
work fine for all those months.
But I talked to another friend who used to be a repairman for Sears.
He said it was almost certainly the detergent. So I bought some of
those fancy Finish capsules. I've run the dishwasher twice since then
and everything is sparkling clean. It even seems to eat off the lime
from stainless pots that already had a coating. I saved a couple
without giving them the vinegar treatment, just to see what would
happen.
Finish? That was the stuff I was trying to remember, specifically
Finish Glass Magic. Finish Quantum PowerBall too. The magic
ingredient is phosphate.
Finish, used to be Electrosol. I used the Finish Quantum packets.
So that appears to have been it. Now I can relax and fix the tub drain
in my bathroom. d8-)
Boiling lye, to dissolve the hairballs?
Not the problem. The problem is 90-year-old cast iron pipe that I was
having to auger out about once a month. The lye quit working 10 years
ago. Sulfuric acid stopped working 5 years ago. It's time to bite the
bullet.
I used a cast-iron pipe cracker and I've cracked the pipe at both
ends. Now I have to work fast and replace it with PVC. If my wife has
to bail the tub after showering during the work week, my ass is grass.
g
The PVC pipe is noisier than cast iron, so you may want to wrap it in
something to keep toilet-flush sounds down. At the very least,
vibration isolate it from the joists and studs.
Ok, but this is a horizontal stretch that drains only the tub.
Actually, what I do is to put a pile of straight lye in the drain and
pour in about a cup of water, and let it work for awhile. Don't forget
to rinse it all away later.
That's the way I did it. I was using a pound per shot at the end,
before it just quit.
Joe Gwinn
I was getting really good at that, buying my lye in bulk from these
guys:
http://www.essentialdepot.com/
They have frequent sales.
Good source of supply. Thanks.
Thanks to the sulfuric acid, my next job is to re-finish the tub with
two-part polyurethane. Ugh. d8-(
This cannot be a vitreous enameled cast iron tub, which would laugh at
anything save hydrofluoric acid.
Joe Gwinn
Yes, it is a vitreous enameled cast iron tub, probably 60 years old.
And yes, the sulfuric flaked the enamel off the surface. It's like
white sand in the bottom of the tub after you take a shower. And it
wore right through at the drain.
--
Ed Huntress