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Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 14:48:44 -0700
From: Dale Rogers <dale.r@cox.net>
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To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Subject: Re: [FlyRotary] Re: Fw: Lead Solvent or Cleaner
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Ed,

   Re:

> Thanks for the report, Dale.  You make a good point about degree of 
> adherence.  I am uncertain the mechanism of the lead crystals 
> attaching to the ceramic cone.  But, the wife came back with Hoppe #9 
> and when I looked at the ingridents on the lable - there was only one 
> - Kerosene!
>
> If that is all it contains then that tells me is a mild cleaner and 
> lubricant but not a solvent of lead
>
   Hate to say "dunno", but the issue is slightly complicated.  I
think they have to list the kerosene, for hazmat requirements. 
The actual formula - when it was produced by Penguin Industries -
was a closely-guarded trade secret (like the formula for Coca-Cola.)

   I have been told the formula was changed, either while the brand
was owned by Brunswick, or since it was acquired by Michael's of
Oregon (big supplier of shooters' accessories).  I'm still working
off a supply I bought in the early 1980s, so I don't know if the
new formula is an improvement (probably not, from Web reviews).

   The "solvent" designation probably originated from the early
days (Hoppe's is over 100 years old) when gunpowder - including the
then new "smokeless" powder - left a very hygroscopic and *corrosive*
residue.  The solvent was a much more convenient method of preventing
bore destruction than the traditional "scrub with soapy water, then
oil" method in use since black powder first was used to launch ball
downrange.

   Okay - strictly speaking, it wasn't the powder, but rather the
mercuric compound in the primer cap that left the corrosive salts
in the bore.

   Anyway, unless Michael's has really gone cheap on the shooters,
#9 is not _just_ kerosene.

Dale R.