Prestone Driveway Heat as Randy's Calcium Part 1???

DeathWish302

DeathWish302

Clown Hoarder
I know Randy suggests DOWFlake and Peladow for the Calcium portion, but does he specifically say Prestone Driveway Heat is a suitable "Peladow" in ALL cases in any previous posts or articles. The Lowe's near me has about 8-10 tons of the 50lb bags and I want to snag one if the Prestone brand is ok. Is there a specific "produced & packaged by" company on the Prestone package I should look for? Is there a FCC, USP, or BP number on the Prestone product, and if so where should it be located.

Thanks
 
The Prestone brand is likely all Dow, but more recent batches of Dow calcium chloride products might have high levels of bromine. I'd probably get calcium chloride from Tetra, or perhaps an online vendor like twopartsolutions. The Prestone product might be safe enough, though.
 
The Prestone brand is likely all Dow, but more recent batches of Dow calcium chloride products might have high levels of bromine. I'd probably get calcium chloride from Tetra, or perhaps an online vendor like twopartsolution. The Prestone product might be safe enough, though.
Click to expand...

If Prestone Driveway Heat, DOWFlake, and Peladow are all produced by DOW, doesn't that mean they could ALL potentially have high bromine levels? twopartsolution.com has "Dow Food Grade Anhydrous pellets" but if you review the following link you'll find that all bromide levels jumped regardless of Food Grade classification or not.
http://www.reefwerks.com/media/August2005.pdf
Looks as though food-grade anhydrous calcium chlorides will only make certain that heavy metals, arsenic, and other nasties are kept to a minimum.

Any others using Driveway Heat with no adverse effects? What lot numbers of product are you using if it is marked on the container.

Thanks,
 
Yep, all of the Dow products are suspect. I thought twopartsolutions was using a different source. Sigh!
 
I've used Prestone Driveway Heat with good results, but when it sits in the jug for a couple days, a brown residue forms on the bottom. What could that be? :confused: Its like a tan brown powdery substance.
 
hmm that sucks. im using the anhydrous calcium chloride i bought from twopartsolutions.com havent dosed it yet... whats the risk of that?
 
bertoni:

Man, I'm really not trying to be a pain and dispute your claims. I've been out of the hobby for awhile and trying to catch up on all the new trends such as the Randy Low-Buck, 2-Part Additive system. So don't think I'm trying to cut your advice/experience down. Just didn't want you to think I was nagging with the constant responses to you replies.

What I have below is an excerpt taken directly from twopartsolution.com.

"One Gallon (7 pounds) High Purity Calcium Chloride

Starting at: $14.99

One Gallon (7 pounds) High Purity Calcium Chloride.

Dow Food Grade Anhydrous pellets. Passes the extremely stringent FCC food codex for human consumption.

*note* You only need two cups of this per gallon of Two Part.

Current lot was produced in 2006"

As noted in my previous post, Dow has stated as of Dec. 31, 2005 the bromide removal will conclude. I'm not paying the premium for twopartsolution.com to send me the stuff I can get at Lowe's/HD PLUS a ridiculous amount for S/H.

Where can i get Tetra online? I really dislike trying to pry for retail vendors by contacting larger producers of items like this, b/c they always seem to tell you to go to the local hardware chain (Lowe's/HD) and they tell you they will order a pallet IF you buy the whole pallet. So any leads to Food Grade Dow/Tetra products would be appreciated. If s/h is outrageous and they are not close to the east coast, guess we're using the Prestone and will monitor the bromide/bromine content.
 
VaderWS6:

The link where Dow states they will no longer reduce bromide content, also states that bromide chloride was a rediish-yellow color. Been awhile since Chemistry from college, so I'm uncertain of the required conditions for oxidation to occur but this may be what is happening.

Has Randy chimed in on this topic in the last couple years about the safety of using the food grade versus the grade3 & grade2 variants? I'm really at a loss right now. I'm thinking that any anhydrous calcium chloride (Kent Turbo included) will have this problem unless they have their own production facility. I'm thinking Kent might, but would it be feasible on their end when they could repackage a FCC Codex grade? I'm swaying more towards the "Heat" more and more. Can't be worse than the synthetic salt, processed foods, and mystery elixirs that many put in with little to no visible side-effects for a mulititude of years.

I'm just thinking too hard about this or too paranoid OR BOTH.......
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11177757#post11177757 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DeathWish302

Any others using Driveway Heat with no adverse effects? What lot numbers of product are you using if it is marked on the container.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

I don't see a lot number on my jug. The only thing I see is a UPC tag 9749686008. I dint think that will help but thought I'd post it anyway.

I get the prestone Driveway Heat in the 9.5 Lbs jugs. I've been using it for a long time with no bad effects. However I got my stuff last winter.
 
There are some threads discussing the bromine issue, and Randy has expressed concern. I am not sure exactly what to advise.

Salt products like the Kent aren't necessarily based on Dow products. The Tetra products are very clean, for example, and just as available. They produce a variety of calcium chloride grades, using an entirely different process. I have no idea what product or products the aquarium manufacturers are using.

I don't know of a vendor for the Tetra products, since I got my Dow Flake a long time ago, and haven't had to restock.
 
In another thread about the bromine issue, twopartsolution.com commented saying there current inventory of Dow CaCl is from before Dow changed their production process, thus is the old stuff. I think they said their current inventory is from early 2005, but don't quote me on that. This is the only reason I ordered from twopartsolution, they still are using the old stuff. I believe the twopartsolution stuff is safe for the time being.

They also stated that once this inventory runs out, there are other companies that make CaCl without the bromine issue and they will be switching to those brands.
 
I think they said their current inventory is from early 2005, but don't quote me on that.
Click to expand...

Directly from twopartsolution.com "Bulk Calcium" section of their website it states:

Current lot was produced in 2006
Click to expand...

If they told you 2005, even more reason for me NOT to trust this guy. Seems repackaging existing materials and charging out the ying-yang for this "product" and then absorbing expensive s/h costs due to weight, just doesn't put a vendor high on my list. I guess I must be too cheap and cynical:rolleyes:
 
I bought my jug early last winter - no problems to report. I used some calcium hardness increaser from Leslies pool supply before that (were anhydrous pellets that I believe I traced back to Dow)... seemed to be a bit stronger (more calcium) then the driveway heat

@Deathwish.... they wouldn't be selling it if they couldn't make money doing it... I don't think they claimed to be a non-profit ;)
 
Spuds -
I understand the purpose of that business is revenue. No distaste with that. I just do not want to buy some "pure" Dow material that still has the bromide issue when I can purchase it locally for much cheaper. That's my only and final point. :D
 
I bought the 9.5 gallon jug of Prestone Driveway heat yesterday... Am I correct when I read Randy's article that we should be using %20 less of this, than, say, the Dow Flake...so instead of 2 1/2 cups we should use only 2 cups to make our gallon??

Thanks!
 
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