You don't need to bubble with the lid off because fresh air
travelling through the tube is being introduced by the pump from the
outside.
Save your tools! I ruined a lot of expensive equipment a long time
ago by leaving an open bowl of Ferric Chloride out for a few weeks -
eveything metallic within a 5 foot radius was tarnished and rusted.
Have you tried adding hydrogen peroxide? See if that speeds
your reaction.
--- In
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "grantfair2001"
<grant.fair@s...> wrote:
> I had been aerating my CuCl etchant with a small vacuum pump used as
> an air source. I was bubbling in my Coleman cooler half full of
> etchant with the lid off, to ensure lots of air to aid with the
> etching of the copper wire I am using to make the etchant.
>
> I had heard that HCl fumes could damage metal in the proximity, but
> had not seen any sign of this with nearby steel stock or tools with
> the small vacuum pump.
>