This is from another site and it works well as long as you are CAREFUL. There was a discussion as to whether Drano or Drain Out were the products needed. I agree with the prognosis, Drain Out is better.
Drano will work but has to be hotter and dipped longer.
MSDS for Drano shows the same stuff as Drain Out
others have said you don't have to wait for them to be disolved. once you have the salts up to temp, you are good to go.
You will wait for them to be consumed, guaranteed, and in fact you probably would not want to go near it while this is going on! :-D
The mix will react VIOLENTLY until the Aluminum is consumed, it will foam, splatter and boil over if the tank is not deep enough and I couldn't imagine anyone attempting to blue parts in the solution while all that is going on, however all this only lasts just a few minutes so it's really a moot point. As far as the Drano being the same I am not sure what the difference is but I know two who have tried Drano with very poor results, both times it came out a grey mottled mess with traces of a white residue sticking to the metal.
One more warning about the reaction, nothing seems to be happening at first and a person might think the reaction does not amount to much BUT, it will start after a short time and escalates rapidly when it does and at that point it can get exciting if someone is not prepared for it.
