Rob Morley wrote:
In article , "Timothy Murphy"
says...
stuart noble wrote:

If you suspect heavy pipe scaling pour a half gallon of brick acid down
it and wait a day till it stops fizzing.

Neither of which will have any effect on the typical household blockage
which, as in this case, is only partial. The chemicals will just flow past
it a little slower than normal.
Caustic unblockers are designed for people who pour things like cooking
oil down the loo. A lot of cellulose based products actually swell in
alkali. And scale sufficient to block a soil pipe? Jesus, that *would* be
hard water.

I've had two blockages in two different loos in the last 3 months,
both with slow dispersal.
Both were cleared with chemicals from the local hardware store -
the first was caustic soda, and the second was sulphuric acid.
Both had very clear instructions (wear goggles, etc) on the container.
They cost about 6 euro each.
The sulphuric acid seemed to work more quickly.

Incidentally, what is "brick acid"?

Either phosphoric acid or "muriatic" (hydrochloric) acid.

Where in the UK can punters like ourselves buy such delicacies, as
industrial-grade chemicals in their own name (ie not as constituents of
some other product like toilet cleaner); at sufficient concentration to
be capable of doing something; in sensible quantities (eg a litre); and
at sensible prices?


--
Ian White
Abingdon, England