vinegar dissolves water deposits??

[mm]

IIRC vinegar dissolves water deposits. Is that right? And is wine vinegar as good as white vinegar? Apparently I used the bottle of white stuff.**

My humidifier that goes into the heating duct wasn't working, and all that seems wrong is that the inlet screen is clogged. I couldn't get the whole thing apart, so I have a little bigger part soaking in wine vinegar! Is that as good as white vinegar?

**(I don't know how since I barely cook. Must have been to dissolve something else.)

[mrsgator88]

I use white vinegar to disolve water deposits underneath the water dispenser in the fridge.

S

[David Nebenzahl]

mm spake thus:

Yes, vinegar, being a mild acid (acetic acid) dissolves all kinds of mineral deposits. Most people prefer white vinegar, as it's cheaper and doesn't leave any stains.

Since it's relatively weak acid, time is your ally: if the stuff isn't coming off right away, just let it soak some more.

[Steve B]

I live in Las Vegas. Here, the water is hard, and white scaly stuff gets all over the handles and spouts. Soaking in white vinegar is a good way to dissolve that stuff without taking off the finish. It is also good for those little screens and most plumbing parts that have a white accumulation.

I also take the shower heads off and soak them for overnight, rinse a couple of times, then do it again. It dissolves that white crud that forms on the inside of the plastic sprayers that you can't clean out any other way.

Steve

[mm]

Well, I put the humidifier back in place, so not so much hot air is coming out of the duct into the basement.

And I'll let it soak until tomorrow, probably tomorrow night.

I've decided that wine vinegar is more sophisticated than white vinegar. I think it is made from grapes or ruined wine, instead of from wheat.

[Frank]

Does not matter what it is made from. The active ingredient in any vinegar is ~5% acetic acid. For household use, buy the cheapest you can find. Frank

[kellyj00]

Vinegar is really neat stuff, I use it to kill weeds in my sidewalks, clean my tile floors and the leftover can be used to make pickles.

Walmarts got it for $2 a gallon. I have about 20 empty jugs of the stuff in my laundry room waiting for a worthwhile use.

[Tom The Great]

I don't have a induct humifier, but a warm mist one. Vinegar, works to a certain level of minialization. If it's bad, you might want to have a service contract with the same people who do yearly service on your furnace.

good luck,

tom @

[George E. Cawthon]

The main ingredient of any vinegar is acetic acid and white vinegar is just dilute acetic acid so it is cheaper that the fermented product (wine or apple cider vinegar). Depending on your deposits, vinegar may work poorly or very slowly. Try using CLR, if the vinegar doesn't do the job.

[mm]

CLR sounds like a good idea. But the vinegar did work. The copper screen which showed no signs of moving, fell part way out after 24 hours of soaking in the vinegar. And the screen holes were clear.

And it's installed and working now.

I bought this about 22 years ago, very small (so it fits) and cheap, and I think it didn't cost more than 20 dollars 22 years ago, mayyyybe

1. Now it is 97 at the maker's site and something like 79 somewhere else, all plus postage. That seems to me a lot more than the rate of inflation, (but I really don't know.)

They used to sell repair kits too, including I think the part I cleaned, but no more. Or did I just buy a whole new one when they were still cheap? Anyhow, this cleaning should work well for a few more years. The life of the rubber diaphagm, that pushes on the metal lever that closes the valve, is the limiting factor. It looks fine now, what I can see of it. It's pretty thick. And maybe I can even replace it if I have to. I threw away a big office swivel, tilt desk chair, last week, and I took these thick elastic rubber straps off the bottom. I have had the chair for 30 years, and it was worn at the end of the arms when I got it. So it was 10 or 20 years old then. And yet the elastic was still fine after 40 or 50 years. I saved it. Not sure if it is wide enough to make a new diaphragm, but it also means the humidifier might have 30 more years left in the rubber parts.

Thanks all.