safety of climbing rope left near sulfuric acid container

Keith Wood wrote: How much is a life worth? How much is a new rope? Easy decision.

You have to measure this in cat-lives.  I have already used 3, I think I would still be good here

However, in order to have some measure of safety and in the name of science, I would be willing to bungee my bastard cat on the rope just to make sure my hypothesis will land on its feet

Marc801 C wrote:

My reading of the quoted label is that the product isn't 90% H2SO4 - the sulfuric acid it contains is at 90%. We actually don't know the concentration of the product. However, even lead-acid battery fumes can damage nylon, and the acid concentration in that kind of battery is typically between 15% and 35%.

Based on the reported density of 1.837, the drain cleaner appears to be concentrated sulfuric acid with some additive (i.e., the "special inhibitor"). Concentrated sulfuric acid is 97-98% sulfuric acid.

Tim Stich wrote: I've seen a climbing rope that was exposed to acid from a car battery in a hatchback trunk. It created a fuzzy hole that when you picked at it, fibers easily came out in clumps. Just so you know what to look for. We discovered this damage at the crag right before leading a route, too. 

Yep, had this happen with a fairly new Beal rope. Damage was likely from exposure to high-molar HCl, though I could never confirm direct contact. Kind of scary 

Eugenel Espiritu wrote:

Happened at the Touchstone Gym in Sacramento: http://caves.org/section/vertical/nh/52/RopeBreakagefinal.pdf 

Thanks for posting the link. Lots of good stuff there.

Mal

You guys are slipping!

YYYYYYYYYYYYYGGGGGGGGGGGGDDDDDDDDDDD!

Alex Lombardo wrote:

Yep, had this happen with a fairly new Beal rope. Damage was likely from exposure to high-molar HCl, though I could never confirm direct contact. Kind of scary 

Big difference. HCl produces copious fumes. Sulfuric acid does not.

MSDS's advice for this situation is "DON'T FUCKING DRINK THIS".

Marc801 C wrote: Keep in mind that it wasn't actually sulfuric acid, but a product that contains sulfuric acid:

A lot of that industrial stuff is basically lab grade in concentration, and we’ve used it for making stock solutions in a pinch because any other ingredients are usually inert.  Also, you don’t ever really get “pure” sulfuric acid, as the stuff we call liquid acids are actually solutions of the acid with water and would be gases in pure form.

Gunkiemike wrote:

Big difference. HCl produces copious fumes. Sulfuric acid does not.

Yes it does - concentrated H2SO4 (fuming) releases sulfur trioxide, which converts back into sulfuric acid inside your lungs when you breath it in.  Nasty stuff.

Ted Pinson wrote:

Yes it does - concentrated H2SO4 (fuming) releases sulfur trioxide, which converts back into sulfuric acid inside your lungs when you breath it in.  Nasty stuff.

Why on earth would you breathe it in?  Why would you keep drain cleaner near a rope?

All of this has left me anxious and paranoid that there was once a car battery in the bed of my used pickup, and that all my ropes are now junk.

Cosmiccragsman AKA Dwain wrote: I hear cat piss is worse than gas.

A cat pissed on my rope and I had to wash it many times to get the smell out. Gross but not dangerous, as far as I know. Cat piss is less acidic than beer.

Eli W wrote:

A cat pissed on my rope and I had to wash it many times to get the smell out. Gross but not dangerous, as far as I know. Cat piss is less acidic than beer.

But what if your cat drinks beer?

C'mon guys, we are talking a closed bottle of acid which is just in the same room as the rope.  In addition, the room is described as 'drafty,' meaning goog air circulation.  The exposure of this rope to acid is negligible.

Looks like the stuff is 90% sulfuric acid, mixed with thiourea and formaldehyde (not sure why that is there-- any chemists want to guess?)

If I had to take a guess, it would be to stabilize it to make it less flammable/explosive, although it could also serve an active rooting function.

Buck Rio wrote:

Why on earth would you breathe it in?  Why would you keep drain cleaner near a rope?

All of this has left me anxious and paranoid that there was once a car battery in the bed of my used pickup, and that all my ropes are now junk.

Any time you work in close proximity preparing solutions, performing experiments, etc. It reacts exothermically with water, especially if you break the cardinal rule of adding water to acid.  Not a big deal if you have a working fume hood, but ours has been broken for the last 3 years. 

Ted Pinson wrote:

Yes it does - concentrated H2SO4 (fuming) releases sulfur trioxide, which converts back into sulfuric acid inside your lungs when you breath it in.  Nasty stuff.

Fuming sulfuric acid is not the same thing as concentrated sulfuric acid. What is labelled concentrated sulfuric acid is about 97-98% H2SO4, and odorless and colorless (although commercially available concentrated sulfuric acid often has impurities that tinge it yellow or brown). Fuming sulfuric is concentrated sulfuric acid to which sulfur trioxide has been added.

I agree with Sam.   I work with Sulfuric acid regularly in the lab.   Closed bottle of drain cleaner in same room.....I’d whip.  

But agree with rgold.  Get a better storage system.  Shouldn’t even have to worry about stuff like this.  And if you’re gonna think about it in the back of your mind,  just get a new one and retire this one or donate for testing to confirm you never had anything to worry about. 

Still offering to drop tower this thing

Same subject but dont mean to highjack the OPs thread.  So my partner (in a plutonic way) is 6’4” 220 lbs and lactose intolerant. Thankfully I am generally lead but would his off- gassing potentially damage my rope? He is sometimes upwind when I rack up but usually keep him down wind on approach? Am I gonna die?