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[Breakin Away]

Hi all, I'm OK paying $31 for a gallon of Rydlyme. But $17 for shipping? Not so much!

Is there a brick and mortar place that sells this near me (Philadelphia area)?

Also, am I correct that Rydlyme can be used for cleaning both the raw water side of a HX (clean in place without having to remove, as Ron Hill does with Lime-a-Way), as well as cleaning/flushing the EG freshwater side (presumably for descaling cylinder liners and the outsides of the HX tubes without disassembling)?

If I can't find an acceptable source for Rydlyme, I see that Lime-a-Way is available at my local Home Depot for $5 for just under a quart. However, I've read the arguments against Lime-a-Way because it is claimed to be strong enough to cause damage to the metals. Has anybody looked over the SDSs from these and come up with a dilution formula? If not, I'll consider doing some calculations myself:

Rydlyme 5-9% HCl, pH "Unreadable, generally < 3":
http://www.rydlymemarine.com/assets/1/7/RYDLYME_MARINE_SDS_1112017.pdf

Lime-a-Way "Toggle" version 5-10% sulfamic/sulphamidic acid CAS 5329-14-6, pH 2 to 2.2:
http://www.rbnainfo.com/MSDS/US/Lime-A-Way%20Cleaner%20-%20Toggle%20EN%20GHS%20US.pdf
Interesting Wikipedia article that mentions Lime-A-Way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfamic_acid

If nobody had done this, I'll do some molarity and pKa calculations to see what dilution of Lime-a-Way might create a similar activity as Rydlyme.

I'd gladly bypass all this and just buy Rydlyme if I could find a suitable local source. If not, it sure looks like Lime-a-Way could be diluted down to an idiot-proof (or even sailor-proof) level of activity, and the convenience of running down to Home Depot may be tempting.

[KWKloeber]

Give em a call (website) and they’ll give you the local distributor. I know mine but not yours!

Or, get muriatic at a big box and CAREFULLY dilute down to rydlyme.

[Dale Stone]

I have the same challenge. I called them APEX Engineering yesterday and decided to get it from Amazon. That is until I saw the enormous shipping cost. I'm calling them again. The good news is APEX was very responsive and the tech support is very good.

[KWKloeber]

APEX USED to have the distributors listed on the website, which is how I found my local one.

Maybe mention that they should restore that!?!

[mark_53]

I've use Lime-Away to clean barnacles off my prop and rudder straight out of the bottle.  Seems to work great.  Did not damage the metal on my bronze prop.  Got it at HD.

[Breakin Away]

I called today and the nearest Rydlyme dealer is on the Jersey shore, 2 hours away. The guy told me that Philadelphia is "too land-locked" for them to have a dealer nearby. He told me to "buy it on Amazon." I'd gladly buy it on Amazon with free Prime shipping, but Amazon does not actually sell Rydlyme. Their company is the one selling it using Amazon Marketplace as their portal, the they are the ones who choose to charge over $17 for shipping. When I pointed this out to him, he acknowledged that Amazon does not actually sell their product.

[KWKloeber]

The last I bought for a project was 5 gal; $103 $/ 18 UPS (fairly local.)  There's probably a chemical special handling surcharge on it.
Would Carrier Enterprise UPS it to you?

I'd mail you some of what I have but I'm 700 mi away!

The local industrial pump service shop uses it for descaling -- maybe call around and find a shop local that will part w/ a gal?

[KWKloeber]

Try ProcessFlo in Wilmington - on the way to the boat.  Maybe the pump service manager will sell you a gal.

[Breakin Away]

Try ProcessFlo in Wilmington - on the way to the boat.  Maybe the pump service manager will sell you a gal.

FWIW, I called them awhile back. They've never heard of Rydlyme.

[KWKloeber]

Odd.  I was sure they were listed as a dealer or distributor.

Call rydlyme (Apex Engineering) and ask for the nearest dealer?

There are other safe alternatives that you can get mail order, and just as expensive as RL!!
Sapher is one.

Basically google safe boiler scale remover or synthetic acid scale remover. 
RL is the only one I've used (besides big box store muriatic acid) but I need to use something this summer on a huge descaler project (below pic) so I might try another product.

Google Ecoclean Solutions and Factory Direct Chemicals for boiler descaler alternatives. 

Last resort if you can find it locally - Amazon it -   Try to avoid the $$$ marine version - it's the same as regular boiler descaler Rydlyme. 
https://www.apexengineeringproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/HeatExchangersVertical.pdf
Or there are other Rydlyme sources online.



 



 

[Breakin Away]

I did all that a year ago. I called them, and the nearest dealer was in Brick, NJ, 2 hours away from me. Amazon shipping is ridiculous - like $20/gallon for shipping alone, on top of $37/gal purchase price.

My engine is holding temperature fine. This is just PM that I want to do while I'm replacing the coolant. I don't think I need a heavy clean, or multi-day soak, or anything like that. There is no discoloration of my coolant to indicate corrosion. When I shine a flashlight in the reservoir bottle, there are a few little white flecks suspended, which I want to make sure to rinse out and start fresh.

I'm thinking I'll just do a water rinse and not bother with Rydlyme. If I could get it easier, I'd do it out of caution, but perhaps it's best not to risk it since you never know if you'll eat through something or clean away some scale that's preventing a leak.

[KWKloeber]

RL is 7%-9% HCl (+ other ingredients)
Use the green version of muriatic (15% HCL), cut 1 to 1 with distilled water (add acid to water, not water to acid.)  It has virtually no fumes, but still - wear a mask good for such vapors (well ventilated) and proper PPE.

[Breakin Away]

Here's my thinking as of now:

I've decided to just do a water rinse of the freshwater cooling system before filling with new coolant, since there's no evidence of corrosion and there's lots of downside to using too strong an acid inside the motor. So far as I can tell, this motor has never had the problematic Dexcool in it, so hopefully there's no "death gel" to get rid of. I might use the Prestone Flush solution, which is not acidic at all. Sodium citrate is actually a mildly basic buffer, presumably to neutralize any trace acidity from the used antifreeze, so it can't hurt.

I opened the end plates of my HX today. The insides of the tubes are not blocked, but looking through them shows some evidence of mild scaling (looks like a dirty trumpet leadpipe), so I think a quick acid flush would be useful. I've confirmed that the plug threads for the zinc pencil are 1/4" NPT, for which I have a nice hose barb attachment. So I will connect tubing and a funnel, and hold it above the HX to gravity feed just enough acid to do some mild de-scaling for 10-15 minutes, then drain and remove the end plates, maybe push a snake through each tube (if my trumpet snake is small enough), followed by a copious rinse by running the motor with tap water from a bucket. I'm thinking of using cleaning vinegar for the acid rinse since I have it already and it's less intimidating than diluting the muriatic acid. (KWKloeber - I've seen what happens if you add water to muriatic, so I'm very aware of the importance of adding acid to water instead. But I'm still a little intimidated about using it.)

Anybody want to talk me out of this, or strongly suggest another acid?