why not use vinegar as your acid when pH too high?

[CarlD]

Gee, Evan.

I agreed with EVERYTHING but the last statement. Vinegar is a fairly strong acid--if you have granite or marble counters or floors you NEVER let vinegar land on it--it will eat the stone away!

My son has suffered from asthma and you sterilize the parts for the portable machine with white vinegar diluted with distilled water.

White vinegar is a very effective cleaner--I used it to soak the strainer for my Polaris 165 (the Dolphin's gone to the shop ) which was crusted with deposits. While it probably won't burn you on your skin the way muriatic will, the acetic acid in it quite diluted, whereas muriatic is usually 30%--plus hydrochloric acid ranks as the most acid on the pH scale, slightly more than sulfuric acid which is actually more corrosive.

[waterbear]

vinegar is only 5% acetic acid. It's pH is around 3. However, the reaction of an acid with a carbonate or bicarbonage material such as marble or limestone is not really that dependant on pH. Even very mild acids can damage them.
Lemon juice has a pH of about 2.3. It is actually a stronger acid than vinegar if you just look at the pH but this is not really accurate!
Chemically even glacial acetic acid, a very corrosive substance, is classified as a weak acid, while muriatic acid is chemcially classified as a strong acid. It had to do with the way it dissociates in water.

[mwsmith2]

Gee, Evan.

I agreed with EVERYTHING but the last statement. Vinegar is a fairly strong acid--if you have granite or marble counters or floors you NEVER let vinegar land on it--it will eat the stone away!

Marble, yes. Granite, no. There is a huge difference in the chemical makeup of those two materials. As for vinegar being a fairly strong acid, compared to muriatic, it's not even in the same ballpark.

Michael