Rusty tank?? Quickest clean ever??

[Guest]

Imagine a really nasty crusty rusty 30 year old tank. Imagine being able to get virtually all the rust it in 15 mins w/o much actual work.

1. Drain gas

2. Rinse with soap and water

3. Leave all fittings, petcock, fuel sender etc, in

4. Add a full package of Iron Out iron stain remover

5. Fill tank with hot water

6. Let sit for 5 mins, shaking occasionally

7. Leave cap on, turn upside down on top of 5 gallon bucket, let it sit again to get the top of the tank

8. Empty into 5 gallon bucket and use the liquid you dump out to clean your other rusty stuff, bolts, shocks, etc.

Tank will be virtually rust free. There may be a coat of white scale in some areas, which my guess is it's made up from the undissolved parts of the varnish old gas makes. Haven't gotten around to cleaning that up yet, just supper stoked the tank cleaned up so fast and so well.

[Gorminrider]

I like it! The supermarket shelves are a cornucopia of inexpensive chemistry....any chance you took some before-and-after pix?

[tkent02]

Wow, $4.11 on Amazon. Just bought a rusty old header today, I'm on it!

[hikermikem]

That stuff is essenfially dilute hydrofluoric acid...

Be careful with it, it will eat most metals & chrome.

Might be a good idea to neutralize with baking soda, or other base solution.

[wymple]

That stuff is essenfially dilute hydrofluoric acid...

Be careful with it, it will eat most metals & chrome.

Might be a good idea to neutralize with baking soda, or other base solution.

I think it is neutralized by plain old water.

[Nessism]

Wonder what the fuel sending unit looks like after soaking in this stuff? Acids eat zinc, outgassing during the process too. Oh well...

[Old guy]

This isn't an acid as far as I can tell. I don't think it converts to not either.

[Old guy]

MSDS INFORMATION

[Nessism]

Just for kicks, how about dumping some zinc plated hardware in this stuff and see what happens?

[Triam]

Just for kicks, how about dumping some zinc plated hardware in this stuff and see what happens?

+1

And film it.

[Nessism]

BTW, I believe the petcock body is zinc.

[tkent02]

Would a little citric acid hurt the zinc in a few minutes?

[Nessism]

I don't know about a few minutes. I do know that when you dunk zinc in muratic or phosphoric acid it bubbles aggressively as the plating is attacked. I soak hardware in phosphoric acid to strip the zinc before replating. Takes about one hour to completely strip. A few minutes will strip off the outer layer, where the chromate or sealing layer is. I'm not sure how aggressive that Iron Out stuff is, but if it strips out rust in a few minutes, you can bet it's darn aggressive. Not trying to talk anyone out of using the stuff, just cautioning against exposing the petcock, sending unit and gas cap to the stuff before doing a test.

[tkent02]

Just for kicks, how about dumping some zinc plated hardware in this stuff and see what happens?

Ed, threw one of the intake boot screws into it, they are zinc, aren't they?

Turned the screw black very quickly.

Didn't do a lot to my header, got some of the rust off but not all, it's been soaking a day and a half. I'll go up the concentration.

[Nessism]

Ed, threw one of the intake boot screws into it, they are zinc, aren't they?

Turned the screw black very quickly.

Didn't do a lot to my header, got some of the rust off but not all, it's been soaking a day and a half. I'll go up the concentration.

Hey Tom, a rusty header sounds like a good application for that stuff. Oxalic acid, often found in deck cleaner, works well too. You can fill up a plastic garbage can with water/cleaner and dunk the pipes. The bicycle restoration guys swear by that stuff because it's gentle on the paint, but eats rust.