Save Your Cymbals.....Call a Plumber!!!

[Mapex589]

So let me share this tale with you so it does not happen to you. I should tell you I am very particular about my cymbals and I clean them about once a month....this is just a personal thing but I like them to shine. Thursday night our drain backed up in the house, not the main line but a secondary line that feeds to the main. I went to Lowe's and bought a drain line cleaner that contained suphuric acid and poured it down the clogged drain line. This never did clear the line and the smell of sulphur in the air was pretty heavy. I was down in my basement (my woodshed) to do a little work on my laptop when I smelled alloy in the air. I decided to smell my cymbal to see if that is what I was smelling and to my horror....the bell of my K Custom Hybid splash had turned purple!! My A Customs were turning orange and purpleish red and my hats had turned totally orange. I freaked!! I ran them all outside and immediately began cleaning them with Groove Juice. This worked!!....but by morning they were all orange and purple again. I was just sick over this.
The good news: by Friday morning the plumber came and cleared the drain line and the slowly the sulphuric smell began to disipate. I went to my local drum shop and bought two bottles of Groove Juice and poured them both into a plastic trash can lid diluted them with water and began scrubbing. After two hours of cleaning the cymbals were shining again and I am happy to say they are back on my set and still shining. I really thought $1400 in cymbals were toasted. I know they would still be playable but like I said I like my cymbals to shine.
Moral of the story.....if you are a drummer do not use any drain line cleaners that contain sulphuric acid for you could be putting a hurtin on your cymbals. I wonder what would have happened had I not smelled them in the first place. I just wanted to share this story because I had never heard of anythink like this happening before. So save yourself the trouble and the stress and call a plumber!

[brittc89]

Did they sound bad, like were the oxidizing, or just changing color? Cause if they were just changing to those crazy colors, that sounds pretty awesome to me. But, Im glad you got them all back to normal, I doubt turning orange is good for a cymbal.

[Mapex589]

Originally Posted by brittc89

Did they sound bad, like were the oxidizing, or just changing color? Cause if they were just changing to those crazy colors, that sounds pretty awesome to me. But, Im glad you got them all back to normal, I doubt turning orange is good for a cymbal.

I did not even give myself a chance to listen to them I got them out of my house so fast after I smelled them. The fact that I was smelling them, to me was bad enough, there was definitely a chemical reaction taking place. They sound fine now...no change.

[fijjibo]

Thats some scary stuff right there.

I cant even imagine what orange K's look like....

EDIT: Oh, wait - maybe something like this:

[That Guy]

Great story! Never heard that one before. I shall keep it in mind.

I'm alittle confused...why would the drain cleaner have any affect on your cymbals? Were they near pipes in the basement and fumes from the sulphuric acid oxidized them?

[T.Underhill]

Yeah, this story doesn't make the most sense. So you poured some stuff down the drain and it changed the color of your cymbals?

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by T.Underhill

Yeah, this story doesn't make the most sense. So you poured some stuff down the drain and it changed the color of your cymbals?

The ever evil unseen airborne chemicals. Have you ever put your face near ammonia by accident? Thats pretty much what happened. You didn't know it was there... BUT IT WAS.. and you reacted to it... lol.

Originally Posted by That Guy

The ever evil unseen airborne chemicals. Have you ever put your face near ammonia by accident? Thats pretty much what happened. You didn't know it was there... BUT IT WAS.. and you reacted to it... lol.

That's still strange that he poured some down the drain and the smell and fumes wafted to from the pipes into the rest of the basement. Sounds like he might have a leak somewhere or something.

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by fourstringdrums

That's still strange that he poured some down the drain and the smell and fumes wafted to from the pipes into the rest of the basement. Sounds like he might have a leak somewhere or something.

That was my original thought as well. But, those airborne chemicals are lighter than air and can float up out of the original opening of the drain that it was poured into.

Originally Posted by That Guy

That was my original thought as well. But, those airborne chemicals are lighter than air and can float up out of the original opening of the drain that it was poured into.

Well if they float up, then how would that affect cymbals in the level below him in the basement?

[Jeff Almeyda]

I actually work with sulfuric acid in my day job. (aluminum anodizing). It's fumes are heavier than air and would tend to sink down in the basement. There must have been some place for the fumes to escape near the cymbals.

I'm surprised that you were able to hang in that area without choking. If it was concentrated enough to oxidize brass then it would irritate your mucous membranes as well. It must have wafted right over to the exact spot.

Be careful with that stuff. Never use it on cast iron pipes as sulfuric eats iron/steel for breakfast.

Originally Posted by Jeff Almeyda

I actually work with sulfuric acid in my day job. (aluminum anodizing). It's fumes are heavier than air and would tend to sink down in the basement. There must have been some place for the fumes to escape near the cymbals.

I'm surprised that you were able to hang in that area without choking. If it was concentrated enough to oxidize brass then it would irritate your mucous membranes as well. It must have wafted right over to the exact spot.

Be careful with that stuff. Never use it on cast iron pipes as sulfuric eats iron/steel for breakfast.

Ok that makes more sense.

I rarely find that drain cleaners ever work. My wife's hair sheds more than a cat (It's a wonder she's not bald! *lol) and we're constantly getting clogged and slow drains in our bathroom sinks. The liquid stuff never works, and I usually have to remove the drain stop or open the trap to remove it myself. Yes, a plumber is going to royally screw you on the price, but if you go with a local guy instead of a say RotoRooter or one of the big companies, the price will be a bit more manageable.

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by fourstringdrums

My wife's hair sheds more than a cat (It's a wonder she's not bald! *lol)

I feel ya Rob! I am always cleaning my drains from my wifes hair.. lol. Hey Jeff, thanks for that bit of info. It really puts light on the subject.

Originally Posted by That Guy

I feel ya Rob! I am always cleaning my drains from my wifes hair.. lol. Hey Jeff, thanks for that bit of info. It really puts light on the subject.

Thank god, I'm not the only one. Between the drains, the bathroom floor, the kitchen floor, her car....I'm going to start saving them and donate them to Locks of Love :)

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by fourstringdrums

Thank god, I'm not the only one. Between the drains, the bathroom floor, the kitchen floor, her car....I'm going to start saving them and donate them to Locks of Love :)

Wow, ya.. the list does go on and on.

[DreamTheater4life]

Originally Posted by Mapex589

So let me share this tale with you so it does not happen to you. I should tell you I am very particular about my cymbals and I clean them about once a month....this is just a personal thing but I like them to shine. Thursday night our drain backed up in the house, not the main line but a secondary line that feeds to the main. I went to Lowe's and bought a drain line cleaner that contained suphuric acid and poured it down the clogged drain line. This never did clear the line and the smell of sulphur in the air was pretty heavy. I was down in my basement (my woodshed) to do a little work on my laptop when I smelled alloy in the air. I decided to smell my cymbal to see if that is what I was smelling and to my horror....the bell of my K Custom Hybid splash had turned purple!! My A Customs were turning orange and purpleish red and my hats had turned totally orange. I freaked!! I ran them all outside and immediately began cleaning them with Groove Juice. This worked!!....but by morning they were all orange and purple again. I was just sick over this.
The good news: by Friday morning the plumber came and cleared the drain line and the slowly the sulphuric smell began to disipate. I went to my local drum shop and bought two bottles of Groove Juice and poured them both into a plastic trash can lid diluted them with water and began scrubbing. After two hours of cleaning the cymbals were shining again and I am happy to say they are back on my set and still shining. I really thought $1400 in cymbals were toasted. I know they would still be playable but like I said I like my cymbals to shine.
Moral of the story.....if you are a drummer do not use any drain line cleaners that contain sulphuric acid for you could be putting a hurtin on your cymbals. I wonder what would have happened had I not smelled them in the first place. I just wanted to share this story because I had never heard of anythink like this happening before. So save yourself the trouble and the stress and call a plumber!

dude that really sucks. but you shoulda taken pictures. they must of looked cool haha

[Mapex589]

Boy this has brought on much discussion. Let me elaborate a bit....my house is not a very big one, almost shotgun style (1000 sq. ft. on a good day)and the kitchen was added on at some point and has it's own seperate stack. After 30 minutes of that stuff being in the drain line my entire house smelled and the neighbors even commented on the smell. There was a heavy concentration of fumes at the cleanout plug which is about 12 feet or so from my set and the set is in the basement. This was a freaky deal trust me. After I got the cymbals out of the house I drained the stack which really sent the fumes into the basement but the cymbals had already changed color. I really just wanted to give people a heads up on this. I would have never thought this would happen. It is obvious that airborn sulphuric acid fumes do react with cymbals. Like I said, I only discovered this because I could smell alloy(my cymbals) in the air.

[Mapex589]

Originally Posted by Jeff Almeyda

Be careful with that stuff. Never use it on cast iron pipes as sulfuric eats iron/steel for breakfast.

The plumber said the same thing. He said if it did that to your cymbals imagine what it was doing to your pipes. This was not "Liquid Plumber" it was a more industrial strength stuff from Lowe's but I don't remember the name of the stuff. The whole experience really sucked though. I will never use the stuff again that is for sure. I will spend the $100 buck on the plumber from here on out.

[Aquamaroon]

You know, if you're going to pour strong acids or bases in your drain pipes it's highly advisable to place a bowl upside down over the drain so that the fumes remain relatively contained.

[DamoSyzygy]

Could you not have just opened a window?

[Mapex589]

Originally Posted by DamoSyzygy

Could you not have just opened a window?

Had every window in the house open. The basement windows do not open.

[Ironcobra]

you know, this is quite the interesting thread. but theres still one thing im wondering.......if there were SO MUCH chemicals in the air that it was changing the colour of your cymbals, why were you not affected at all?, i think theres a missing factor somewhere along the line, but either way, it happened, and we will all think twice about our cymbals before we put drain cleaner down the sink;) lol

[Mapex589]

Originally Posted by ironcobra

i think theres a missing factor somewhere along the line, but either way, it happened, and we will all think twice about our cymbals before we put drain cleaner down the sink;) lol

And that is why I posted the story. No missing factors, no need to start disecting what happened.....I just wanted to share the story so it does not happen to anyone else. It was a real bummer.

[Ironcobra]

do you have any before an after shots of your cymbals? there has to be SOME noticeable difference, i kinda wanna see

[hawk9290]

Originally Posted by ironcobra

you know, this is quite the interesting thread. but theres still one thing im wondering.......if there were SO MUCH chemicals in the air that it was changing the colour of your cymbals, why were you not affected at all?, i think theres a missing factor somewhere along the line, but either way, it happened, and we will all think twice about our cymbals before we put drain cleaner down the sink;) lol

manly men do not run out of the house when smell comes, we investigate and linger to show that we can take it no matter the loss of brain cells...until it damages our property and then we take the damaged item out of the environment, return, and continue our investigating. more than likely, all the other guys in the neighborhood will eventually come over and discus the problem and each individual solution.
Hey, if we couldn't stand the emission of potentially dangerous gasses, than why do men collectively find farts to be so amusing, right???


Yeah, drain cleaner can be some nasty crap, especially industrial grade stuff. That sucks about what happened to you, but it does give us all a lesson well learned. Are you sure you used the right amount of that stuff, because that sounds like a lot of stench, or your pipes had a nasty reaction of their own.

Ventilation? What ventilation? :)

I learned the hard way while spray painting some chairs in the my basement that even with close contact and a plastic tarp, spray paint dust will cover everything if it's not covered, even if you think it's not even near the area that you're spraying....and ah yes, the fumes *lol*

[maddrummr]

Originally Posted by fijjibo

Thats some scary stuff right there.

I cant even imagine what orange K's look like....

EDIT: Oh, wait - maybe something like this:

WHOA it totally erased the d in zildjian.
thats crazy :)

[Mapex589]

Originally Posted by hawk9290

Yeah, drain cleaner can be some nasty crap, especially industrial grade stuff. That sucks about what happened to you, but it does give us all a lesson well learned. Are you sure you used the right amount of that stuff, because that sounds like a lot of stench, or your pipes had a nasty reaction of their own.

I thought I used the right amount...anyway like I said I am done with that stuff. Bad move on my part. That is why there are plumbers out there. Thanks for the comments though. And yes I consider it a lesson learned.

[fijjibo]

Originally Posted by maddrummr

WHOA it totally erased the d in zildjian.
thats crazy :)

Sorry, Its kind of hard to spell Zildjian at 11 o'clock at night.....

[Halidman]

Ouchies man. that sucks, thank god you were able to get them shining again :P

[razorx]

i had that same problem at my house. when we poured the sulferix acid down the drian it melted a hole in the pipe and it spilled all over the place. luckily the drums were up in the atic.

[Melvin]

Whoa! Multicolor cymbals, that sounds beautiful! Imagine that, it reminds me of those crazy looking Ufip cymbals!

[Deathmetalconga]

Those UFIPs look incredible! How do they sound?

You know, if the fumes don't alter the sound, you may have stumbled on a cool way to refinish them. It would be neat to do some experiments and post the results in the thread about recreating cymbals.

[fijjibo]

What like Colour-Sounds by Paiste that sound good?

[k3ng]

damn those UFIPs look wicked!!

[baz]

...I am no chemist, but I would bet the discoloration was probably caused by a reaction between the airborne gas from your drain and residual chemicals from your cymbal cleaner.

On the bottom of my 16" HH thin crash, I have a small discoloration that showed up the first time that I cleaned my cymbals with Groove Juice. This has never gone away, and I think it is due to a flaw in the metal. I also think that this flaw is what makes that particular cymbal sound so damn sweet.

Barry