[[GQC] Tim]

Thanks to some posts on a previous thread by me, comparing Crystal Clear to MDR, I've been reading up a bit on acid cleaners such as Winsol Crystal Clear 550, which uses 3% Hydrochloric acid, and 3% Hydrofluoric acid, which is utterly nasty stuff, can seep into your bones, destroy any type of tissue etc. Using proper protective equipment such as gloves and goggles is should be allright. I'm not sure how dangerous Crystal Clear is at those levels of acid content, but if you read into those acids on wikipedia or anything it's quite scary.

What I can't figure out is if all double glazing units are still made out of float glass, if so it's melted on a layer of tin. Use Crystal Clear 550 or any acid cleaner, and it instantly smokes/hazes the glass. Appararently only one side has got a small amount of tin in it and can be spotted with UV light or digital tin detector. Is glass still manufactured this way?

"Hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids. Make sure you wear gloves with any type of harsher acid. Warning this will smoke/cook float glass. The chemicals in this product react with the tin in the glass. You can detect the tin/air side of the glass with a UV light or with a digital tin detector. CC550 will work safely on the air side of the glass. It is recommended to test the product on a small area of the glass to make sure you will not "cook" it before applying this product to the entire window. You want to work relatively quickly with this product if you are in hot areas."

I must say it's ridiculously quick and easy to remove even heavy staining of glass using Winsol 550, but I think I will stick to something like Viakal unless I absolutely have to.   


http://www.liv.ac.uk/safety/Hazard_A_to_Z/Hydrofluoric_Acid.htm

[Jeff Brimble]

Pilks stopped using tin approx 1974 and now float the glass on hot oil.

[Klean07]

Hiya Jeff hows it going me old mucka. Are you still posting on Peters forum?
Bullseye.

[[GQC] Tim]

Sounds good Jeff.

I send winsol an email regarding some of these questions, here's what it said :

It is true that Crystal Clear contains Hydrofluoric acid but it is a very small percentage (1 1/2%) and at a low concentration level. High concentrations of HF can cause health problems, however, this is true with almost any chemical. As you have noticed Crystal Clear does not ship as hazardous.
 
As far as the Tin Etch, it is true that it will attack the tin. Crystal Clear is designed to attack minerals ( tin is a mineral ) it is doing what you asked it to do. Crystal Clear and tin etch have been blown out of proportion, if the glass is installed improperly you may see some damage. Most glass installations (99% or better) are installed correctly. What window cleaners call tin etch is actually stage 2 corrosion. Stage 2 is glass that has already been physically changed by the corrosion on the glass, it is no longer glass as manufacturered. Stage 2 is a small part of damaged glass less then 5% of the glass that needs to be restored.
 
Crystal Clear is the only product that is recommended by the glass manufacturers and is bought by them to repair flaws in the glass that they manufacture. They would not recommend and/or use a product that was going to damage their glass
 
Please go to our web site  www.winsol.com  and go to glass restoration and click on Crystal Clear for more information.
 
Regards
 
Dave Schnell
Sales Manager
WINSOL Laboratories

[mistersqueegee]

Winsol is not using terms correctly. Corrosion (either stage 1 or 2) occurs inside a sealed insulated glass unit and is the result of several factors - moisture, stagnant environment (sealed), and rising Ph levels are a few.
Here in the states glass is still produced on the layer of molten tin as it has been for decades so we still deal w/ it.
It's understandable that Winsol would want to downplay the effects of Tin Etch Haze but to blame it on corrosion is very misleading.