How lethal is Greased Lightning?

[philagothos]

My poor wife was all alone in the bathroom... defenseless. Then she saw it! :eek1: A monstrous, lethal, all-terrifying wasp! :eek2: It was crawling on a mop bucket on the bathroom floor. Being terrified out of her mind she knew she had to act quickly; only one of them could leave the bathroom alive.

She had no weapons on her, not even a shoe. Her eyes scanned the room frantically. There was only one hope. Just out of reach was a spray bottle of Greased Lightning cleaner. The evil menace watched her with its beady little eyes. She stretched for the bottle and in the same movement leveled the bottle on her target. BANG! :uzi: She hit it with her first shot. :fun2: The force of the blast sent the wasp reeling into the bucket. Unsure of whether she had killed it or only stunned it she continued firing. BANG! :uzi: BANG! :uzi: BANG! :uzi:

She came running from the bathroom, terrified that the wasp might come after her. She asked me to go finish the job and ensure that it was dead. When I entered the bathroom the battlefield was ripe with the strong smell of death (or was it Greased Lightning?).

Then I saw the scene of the wasp's death. It was the bucket that I had used to store ALL of my spare powerheads while I cleaned them.

So... how deadly is this stuff to my tank? I can replace them if I have to, but is there anything I can clean them with to be able to use them again? Would running them in muriatic acid or vinegar solution for a day or two be sufficient? Or are they toast?

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What ingredients does it list?

 

[philagothos]

I have not been able to find the bottle, so I looked up the MSDS online. It only lists sodium hydroxide < 10% & 2-butoxyethanol < 10%. The other ingrediants are not listed.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would not worry about airborne traces of either of those.

 

[philagothos]

Airborne is one thing. In the ensuing shots my equpiment was soaked with it. Still no worries?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Those things are not highly toxic, so as long as she didn't pour a lot into the water, it should be OK.

Did the skimmer go whacko?

 

[Hobster]

Which "flavor" was it?? Here is a link to the MSDs.

Enjoyed the story.

http://www.greased-lightning.com/products/Default.aspx

 

[philagothos]

There was no water in the bucket at the time. The equipment was sprayed directly. As far as "flavor" I have no idea. I can't find the bottle at the moment.

They need cleaning anyways, so I guess I will just run them in some vinegar & water for a couple days, clean as usual, and hope for the best.

Thanks Randy!

 

[wetWolger]

jsut make sure everything is rinsed inside and out and you should be alright.

 

[philagothos]

I just found the bottle. It is "Super Strength" Greased Lightning. On the bottle it says "Caution: contains alkaline detergent". Ingredients other than those listed earlier are: glycol ether, soap, alkaline, and surfactants. Any of these cause any more concern? I've got everything running in vinegar water right now. I'll probably leave that running for a couple days.

Thanks for all the help,
-Kevin

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Soaps and detergents are, in general, not good. That's why I asked about the skimmer. They will cause it to foam more than usual. But they need to be present at reasonable concentrations to cause a problem.

 

[philagothos]

They have not been placed in a tank with a skimmer yet. These are backups so they don't get used much. It sounds like I don't need to be too concerned.

Thanks for the help,
-Kevin

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It sounds like I don't need to be too concerned.


I agree.

You're welcome and good luck.