Polymers are the plastic version of metal alloys. Different chemicals are bonded together in different
ways to give you polymers with different properties. Some have a stronger or "tighter" bonds than
others, making them proof against a broader range of acids and solvents. ( making them more
expensive of course ) Some are inert against some acids and solvents while being easily broken down
by others. In some cases they are only vulnerable to certain combinations, which is why you'll
get one cinnamon juice that does nothing to your poly tanks and another that etches the tank in the
first day.
When a tank is "etched" or "frosted", the acids or solvents in the juice have broken or dissolved some
of the bonds in the polymer while leaving the rest intact. An analogy would be mesas in a desert,
the land used to be flat on a level with the top of the mesa, but water washed away all the soil to leave
behind the solid rock of the mesa.
The polymer started out with a stable matrix until some of the chemicals were leached out because
of the broken bonds. While the breakdown may not continue at the rate caused by the juice that started
the breakdown, it will continue because both PG and VG are solvents.
I am not a chemical engineer, so I am not going to say whether or not the tanks are safe to use with a
milder juice, but common sense says the tanks are not expensive enough to take the risk.
Remember, we are using products that are "assumed" to be safe because the components have been
determined to be safe. But, no one has done any in depth testing on the combination or duration of
use that we put them to.
ways to give you polymers with different properties. Some have a stronger or "tighter" bonds than
others, making them proof against a broader range of acids and solvents. ( making them more
expensive of course ) Some are inert against some acids and solvents while being easily broken down
by others. In some cases they are only vulnerable to certain combinations, which is why you'll
get one cinnamon juice that does nothing to your poly tanks and another that etches the tank in the
first day.
When a tank is "etched" or "frosted", the acids or solvents in the juice have broken or dissolved some
of the bonds in the polymer while leaving the rest intact. An analogy would be mesas in a desert,
the land used to be flat on a level with the top of the mesa, but water washed away all the soil to leave
behind the solid rock of the mesa.
The polymer started out with a stable matrix until some of the chemicals were leached out because
of the broken bonds. While the breakdown may not continue at the rate caused by the juice that started
the breakdown, it will continue because both PG and VG are solvents.
I am not a chemical engineer, so I am not going to say whether or not the tanks are safe to use with a
milder juice, but common sense says the tanks are not expensive enough to take the risk.
Remember, we are using products that are "assumed" to be safe because the components have been
determined to be safe. But, no one has done any in depth testing on the combination or duration of
use that we put them to.
