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Vinegar rust removal.

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I'm sure everyone has heard about using vinegar for derusting tanks and other parts. I can testify that after a few days of straight white vinegar, the tank looked remarkable inside. It doesn't have that shine you see with a good tank, but it is back to gray/silver metal. :D

I poured the left over vinegar in a 5 gallon bucket to use again. After draining my tank and rinsing it, I noticed the petcock(old and needing a rebuild) looked like a battery terminal on an old car. You know that white corosive looking stuff.:confused: Well I brushed it off and noticed the there was some rusty areas from where the reminants of the interior rust was leaking out.

Well I figure to just put the petcock in the bucket for a few hours and let it do it work. One thing or another hapened and I forgot about the petcock being in the bucket. 5 days pass and I'm moving the bucket out of the way and see someting floating in this dark grey solution that used to be semi clear vinegar. It's a petcock filter, :eek: I forgot all about the petcock in the bucket. I remember one of my sons asking why it was bubbling, so I said it was left over rust in the bottom of the bucket. NOT!

Well just so everyone can learn from my mistake, here is a photo of what I dug out of the bottom of the bucket. And what one looks like before goofing up.

130504_0001_zps783f6703.jpg
 
I once left a harmonica reed plate (brass) in a dish of vinegar overnight, it was fragged by the next day. An hour or two gets them nice and shiny though!
 
Wowwie! I let some steel bolts sit in a jar of vinegar for 3-4 weeks with no ill effect. Had no idea it would do that to aluminum.

Might have something to do with the volume of liquid too? I'll bet a jar of the stuff can get "used up" a lot quicker than five gallons of it.
 
vinegar will corrode aluminum components, 20-30 minutes and its nice and clean, any longer then that, it starts disintegration
 
Aluminum oxidizes must faster than iron. We don't typically notice it. Iron oxide is red, so we see it immediately. It is also very soft, porous and flakes off easily. That exposes fresh iron. Aluminum oxide is almost transparent. It is hard (used for abrasives) and forms a non porous layer that protects the surface.
 
Is the petcock aluminum? I thought it was pot metal, possible heavy on zinc? Not sure.

I don't think aluminum would disappear in five days of vinegar. Looks like the center of the diaphragm may be aluminum, for example. Interesting thread...may the metallurgy experts enlighten us.

Your evaporated petcock looks like it's been functioning as a sacrificial diode.

S.
 
Have to try that with lug bolts for a Pear lsnare drum I picked up at the thrift store for about $25.00. Sounds great but need TLC.
 
Try feed grade molassis 50-50 with filtered water..Let it sit lightly covered for a few weeks before putting parts in it.. Then soak the parts a week and the rust just washes off with no damage to any metal I have tried it with. Smells kinda funky, so you will want it outside under cover. It may take time, but it's worth it.

If you fill a tank with it be sure to leave the cap off and cover with a clean rag.

The molassis and water create an acid that loves to eat rust, but not clean metal.

Do a web search on Molassis rust removal. There are a ton of vids out there.
 
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I used vinegar for some parts. Did remove rust but had other undesirable effects. Eat some stuff, stinks and left a odd film on a few parts. I used the rust remover and much prefer that. I will never use vinegar again.
 
+1 on the aluminum damage. I left a gas cap on a tank full of vinegar and it ate the two aluminum pegs/cogs that lock the cap on right off!
It also affected the lock innards and the cap barely cam off with a key....it took a ton of jiggling and turning for the key to JUST work.
Wont do that again.:o
 
I keep a relish jar filled with vinegar on my workbench and throw in small bits for a couple of days. I recently used it on chrome plated handlebar mount bolts. The bolts had surface rust and one was pitted. After a few days I popped them out and the pitted bolt had the entire chrome plating lifted off.
 
HamamatsuSuzi said:
I keep a relish jar filled with vinegar on my workbench and throw in small bits for a couple of days. I recently used it on chrome plated handlebar mount bolts. The bolts had surface rust and one was pitted. After a few days I popped them out and the pitted bolt had the entire chrome plating lifted off.
Click to expand...

Rust works its way underneath the chrome plating. Once that dissolved, nothing held the plating to the bolts.

For a trick, see if you can mike the thickness of the plating!
 
themess said:
Rust works its way underneath the chrome plating. Once that dissolved, nothing held the plating to the bolts.

For a trick, see if you can mike the thickness of the plating!
Click to expand...
...............................hi guys years ago i used 4 litres in clear vinegar in my old gs tank ,,,then went and made a coffee ,,came out to the garage and saw little sprays of vinegar coming out of all the pin holes along the left hand side ,,it just made my day ,,,i don,t think ,,put it down to experience regards oldgrumpy
 
oldgrumpy said:
...............................hi guys years ago i used 4 litres in clear vinegar in my old gs tank ,,,then went and made a coffee ,,came out to the garage and saw little sprays of vinegar coming out of all the pin holes along the left hand side ,,it just made my day ,,,i don,t think ,,put it down to experience regards oldgrumpy
Click to expand...

Better to find out for the price of vinegar, than to coat the inside and find that the coating isn't enough.
 
Not sure why this would be surprising to anyone who had an 8th grade science class. :confused:

Didn't everyone do the experiment where you put bits of zinc or aluminum in a bottle, add vinegar, then collect the hydrogen gas in a balloon?

Maybe I was the only one paying attention.
 
bwringer said:
Not sure why this would be surprising to anyone who had an 8th grade science class. :confused:

Didn't everyone do the experiment where you put bits of zinc or aluminum in a bottle, add vinegar, then collect the hydrogen gas in a balloon?

Maybe I was the only one paying attention.
Click to expand...

Darn near. Nerds, all of us.
 
bwringer said:
Not sure why this would be surprising to anyone who had an 8th grade science class. :confused:

Didn't everyone do the experiment where you put bits of zinc or aluminum in a bottle, add vinegar, then collect the hydrogen gas in a balloon?

Maybe I was the only one paying attention.
Click to expand...


We must have been hit w/budget cut backs. They just sat us down and said "this is what's supposed to happen, trust us." course my science teacher drove a Porsche, so Hmmm, what happened there....lol
 
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