[Shop-talk] Ammonia smell from spilled coolant?

[Lee Daniels]

You've probably used a coolant flush at some point, these sometimes use
ammonium citrate or ammonium oxalate. In contact with the (slightly alkaline)
concrete floor, these ammonium salts can convert to ammonia. So you need to
lower the pH of your floor. Unfortunately your concrete will dissolve in acid
- this is why you use a strong acid (muriatic, i.e. hydrochloric acid) to etch
your concrete before sealing or coating.

So I suggest scrubbing your floor with a mildly acidic solution. You can use
vinegar, or lemon juice, or something else. My favorite is oxalic acid - you
can get a really nice can of oxalic acid in the form of "Bar Keeper's Friend"
cleaner. I would just sprinkle the can of powder over the floor and scrub in
with water and a brush or broom. Let it sit for a day then rinse well. Oxalic
is a weak enough acid that it won't really etch the concrete, but it will
certainly react with any ammonia. If the ammonia is being released slowly, you
may have to do this more than once.

Lee


On Sun, August 5, 2018 11:00, Jim Franklin wrote:
> A rodent put a hole in my cooling system and all the coolant leaked into the
> concrete floor. Now (a moth later) the garage smells like a litter box. It
> goes away if I air it out but comes back strongly when closed up. Googling
> only returns lots of people asking the same thing :-)
>
> Does anyone know why this is? I'm trying to sell the house and fear potential
> buyers are being gagged into not making an offer.
>
> thanks, jim _______________________________________________