Mop bucket heating tabs, for at the end of the night; "did the dishwasher used up the hot water" and its luke warm? A lot of things can happen to slow you down at the end of the night at restaurants especially, don't let this be one! Its harder to clean without hot water so heat it up in one minute. Just like the hand pack heaters. Water soluable and can be ordered with grease cutting detergent, just as safe and "earth friendly" as your regular floor cleaner. just drop into water to activate. It's that easy! disclaimer- -not reccomended for use by children under 15 years of age. -not intended for human consumption.-- abadon, Nov 08 2007 I think we need a bit more chemistry here. What is in the hand-pack heaters? How much will it heat a bucket of water? Will it leave a residue when the water evaporates from the mopped floor?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 08 2007 the hand warmers contain iron powder, water, salt, activated charcoal and wood. What happens with em is when exposed to air, the iron starts oxidizing very rapidly and the reaction creates heat. I dont know if it would work when dropped in water.-- rascalraidex, Nov 08 2007 well they work like handpacks. but more like a chemical reaction with water. (I learned in hazardous materials class, many elements react violently with water) We want it safe though, and am sure it can be done. if you can, look up potassium water combos for the most out of controll examples and we will try to mellow it down or use more subtle elements. thanks for your input. P.S. I'm new to the internet but will try to figure out how to get some links to basic science experiments that can back this idea.-- abadon, Nov 08 2007 cool, I'm assuming [abadon] works in food service. Good idea-- evilpenguin, Nov 08 2007 //and am sure it can be done.// Well, yes, that's quite possible. However, without a decent idea as to the chemistry behind this chemical idea, it's not really an idea. If you go for potassium/water, or indeed any metal/ water reaction, you've got the problem that you'll wind up with a strong solution of the hydroxide. This might be great for cleaning the floor, but it'll leave a deposit.
Also, you'll need a lot of the metal in question. If you go for potassium/ water, you'll get about 5kJ of energy for each gram of potassium. If your mop bucket holds 10 litres of water, and you want to raise its temperature by 40°C, you'll need about 400kJ of energy, or 80g of potassium.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 08 2007 411 kJ released per mole of Sodium Choloride formed by combining Sodium and Chlorine; final weight 58.4g. Sounds about right for heating water, non-toxic and non-coloured byproduct, and both sodium and chlorine are much cheaper than potassium. Chlorine gas is hard to handle; but can be evolved in-situ by mixing most acids with bleach. Ammonia works well too. Bleach is probably already in the mop bucket; so we add acid (say vinegar) along with a sodium tablet encapsulated in something which dissolves rapidly in water.
Pure sodium can be obtained quite easily by electrolysis of table salt at about 890C, suitable for cottage industry production. Perhaps powdered, you could mix it with chalk powder and then compress it into a tablet.-- vincevincevince, Nov 10 2007 Maxwell you are the man! And VinceVinceVince! But bleach doesen't have to be involved, I cut grease and mustard with dish soap. Thanks evilpenguin for your support. Its hard to research too much, working two food service jobs and taking care of my little guy. I'll try some experiments with a respirator; kinda shy about mixing chems.-- abadon, Nov 10 2007 UGh, mopping... As a former member of the Navy, and the food service industry, I can honestly say that I hate it with a passion, and the water never stays hot enough long enough. Sometimes it never even starts out hot enough. A mop bucket heater is definitely needed.
Might I suggest using electric heating coils under the bucket. Using electricity around water is becoming a good deal safer these days. I've seen places where they leave their mop buckets to dry in the sun, and if this were done, they could be solar powered, with no exposed wires. Of course, they'd probably run out of power rather quickly. I don't imagine that light bulbs would be able to keep them running, but I suppose I could be pleasantly surprised.
Using large heating packs separate from the water that slide into slots in the bottom of the buckets would allow you to avoid any chemical residue concerns, chemical design concerns, or electrocution concerns.-- ye_river_xiv, Nov 10 2007 We could probably make a mop bucket with a heater coil very inexpensively. But allas I have found that the mop buckets in my region are abused frequently and anything combigning High wattage coils and water could be unsafe. My main concern is a fraying cord. we would have to streamline things very smooth. -gosh I like the idea of a carpeccino machine but would have to get it in'car'porated in to an optional stearing wheel and floorboard heater, and use the heat for a power supply and in-board frigerator and even a in-dash half-bakery to support your eating and driving habbits. ye_river_xiv, the side slot idea + conductive plating might be the ticket if hot enough -kudos.-- abadon, Nov 10 2007 Concentrated hydrochloric acid or sodium hydroxide will heat it up quickly. They both make excellent cleaners as well.-- Aq_Bi, Nov 11 2007 <ancient reference> Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, Oh, what a relief it is!</ancient reference> +-- csea, Nov 11 2007 The ovens in your restaurant have been on during the service period. A simple "hot rock" modular unit (or several) that is (are) placed in the oven prior to service is (are) heated during the normal course of events. After service you could place a unit in your mop bucket, and clean away. If it cools, remove and replace with another unit from the oven. Viola! Hours of hot water.-- 4whom, Nov 11 2007 4whom has got the everyday fix but anyone can drop hot metal into their mop bucket, how do we get a patent for that. And for muriatic acid, well insurance purposes, some dishwashers moppers are under the age of 18.-- abadon, Nov 11 2007 random, halfbakery