11 degrees and frozen lye

J

Jeffrey R.

Well-known member
Winter is here, and my 10 gallons of lye does not like the 11 degrees outside. Has anyone tried Non-Toxic Anti-Freeze or auto winter windshield wash to the water. On my sawmill I use auto winter windshield wash in the lube mizer so things will not freeze.
I moved my set up into the greenhouse for now, as it was 40 degrees inside 23 outside today.

At the same time for those that have Electrolysis set ups, what do you do in the winter?
 
I do know that lye will work very slowly when the solution is cold. If you warm or heat it it can work much faster. I've put my lye bucket (steel) on my kitchen stove when I needed it to deal with some heavily encrusted and stubborn carbon. Heated it up to maybe 150 deg. A lye hot tank will work wonders if you do a lot of lye cleaning. I wouldn't bother with a lye tank in cold weather. Bring it in the house where it's warm and let it work well. Trying to play beginner chemist by mixing chemicals with the lye I think is a bad idea.
 
Play Chemist Yeah!!! 2nd thought I do not want a lye bath. Steve, I use lye all the time to clean things year round. This year I have 10 - 15 gal bath. To much for in the house, it gives off fumes that are not in the do it in the house safety book. Wife would have me outside with the lye. looks like the greenhouse will have to do for now.

---------- Post added at 08:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:45 PM ----------

Ty, How about an oil dip stick heater:icon_rofl:
 
Submersible aquarium heaters are sealed, so there shouldn't be a problem. Be sure to let it sit in the bath at least a half hour before plugging it in and turning it on or it will crack if air temp inside the tube is too different from the water temp when the element first turns on. You'll probably need a 250 or 300 watt.
 
Yes, the greenhouse. My lye bucket has spent many days in the greenhouse in winter. There are other submersible heaters than aquarium heaters. Those could have a component that might? be harmed by the lye. Something to consider.
 
Food for thought. The *ACTIVE* ingredient in antifreeze for boilers is LYE. Lye keeps the pH of the antifreeze up around 9-10, which prevents corrosion. If you get the engineering specs for Dupont's antifreeze, and dig around in it, it says as much. They say Sodium Hydroxide, which is LYE.
 
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