jim wrote:

George E. Cawthon wrote:

jim wrote:

Alpha Two wrote:

I got a TR5 steam cleaner that has 65psi, 240-270 operating temperature and
1700W. But the steam alternates between wet and dry every 1 to 3 seconds or
so. When it is wet, it's like spraying water ruther than vapor. Is this
normal?

Thank you
i got an industrial steam cleaner that works off of Propane Gas and is
used for cleaning all kinds of stuff(not inside the house) like car
engines, poultry processing places, restaurant kitchens.. you name it
and it gets the place real clean.. i also have a small hand held plastic
plug into the wall thing that you add a spoonful of salt to the water
and it steams up and get the wrinkles out of your clothes if you can
wait for it to work...its plastic and you cant expect it to get too hot
or it will melt in your hand... but it works.. the water steams up at a
lower temp. due to the salt being in the water.....
maybe you need some salt???

Whoa jim. Basic chemistry/physics says that adding ions/molecules
raises the boiling point just as adding ions/molecules lowers the
freezing point. So adding salt will cause the water to boil at a
higher temperature.

You add the salt in your little steamer to increase electrical
conductance. These type of machines (including hot vaporizers) pass
electricity throuh the water to heat it. The more salt, the better it
conducts electricity and the better it heats.
thats what the instructions said and thats what i did.. i think you mean
that with salt in water it does not freeze at the lower temperature..
like the salt trucks in the north east that have streets full of
snow,ice... but we did a thing in HS science about 35 yrs. ago and it
seemed that we put salt in the water to get it to boil away quicker???
may be wrong, but then i am getting old and its OK if i make a mistae
sometimes... just yesterday i thought i made a mistake, but i was wrong
and never made one...

Nope. You are wrong. Old people frequently get confused. I
frequently have to look stuff up because I'm not sure if I remember
correctly. If you did that experiment in science, and I'm not saying
you didn't, then your teacher was incompetent, which also is not
uncommon.

Freezing point depression and boiling point elevation are two parts of
the same phenomenon. Notice that your antifreeze also increases the
boiling point. If you want to be specific the elevation is 0.512
degrees Centigrade for each mole (58.44 grams) added to 1000 grams of
water. Since salt dissolves into two parts the elevation would double
or 1.024 degrees Centigrade.