Adding common washing soda, available in the detergent aisle, does the same thing. The idea is to get the solution to near neutral Ph for chelation. I’ve been using both a mol***es solution and the washing soda / citric acid methods. The citric acid method is faster, and thus does a better job. Next question is what do I do with forty pounds of powdered mol***es that I still have?
Todays citrus accid works on 392 heads. But its allot of work, 2-3 hotbath with soda then accid. Laser is fast but waterjackets is the case so the okd work must go on.
For mild surface rust…sure hard to beat C-L-R. Readily available…your wife might have some in the cabinet!
I believe that the process "chelation" is very effective. I just had a problem trying to convince some people on this board that the COMBINATION of materials is NON-ACIDIC! It is a neutral solution. TOM
Offer it to anyone raising cows or cattle to mix in with the feed. I can definitely see benefits to using distilled water. If you have a lot of iron in your tap water, it can cause immediate flash rust. And I hear you about the combination of ingredients having a neutral pH level. It's just hard to understand how it can work if it's not acidic. But I'm going to look further into it. Maybe even try it. I've always used only citric acid. I've got an idea. I'm going to experiment with applying thick axle grease to the machined surface of a casting and immerse it in a good strong solution of citric acid and see if the grease absolutely protects the machined surface. Not to dispute your method. Just to see what can be done. Or not.
No proof, but I've read the Gibbs product as opposed to WD-40 is said to be paint friendly after stripping with the usual paint metal prepping procedure.
Yep, WD-40…NO, NO, NO. Gibbs oil for the win…degrease the surface as normal before painting…but it’s really paint friendly.
You kind of answered your own question. How does it work if it's not acidic? It works on a different principal. The citric acid and other chelation additive both have a CHEMICAL attraction to strip the rust. The boiled down explanation for someone like me is this: The citric acid is a double whammy- Whammy#1 is that it's an acid, and many acids remove rust. Whammy #2 is that citric acid is different than other acids because wants to chemically BIND to the rust and take it away from the base metal (similar in results to how electrolysis kind of electroplates the rust OFF metal). So it's an acid that ALSO chelates: If you neutralize the acid, you still get the 2nd whammy action from the chemical nature of the ingredients. But without the acidic downside. Theres a great youtube video on it posted to the board on it. -rick
Clean cast irion is just so nice ! -This came up today, and one near got a tear in eye, Ha ! Problem I has if not a warm summer day and sun is shining and 30C and superhot water pressuare and direct blow off it get very fast darker especially if I’m using citrus accid. Good fresh caustic is better but a bath don’t last long, but it do last long to remove dirt, grease, paint but say after 2-3 dipp it will not remove the rust. -Tom, a question, how does the metal react after the method you show ? Is it critical on day/time of year and if you use cold or warm water ? Most metal/parts that I can use a brush I use my machine ( but hard do it on a block, well Ok a hand machine ) But I know, after brush it keeps rust away ( atleast in my shop )
It still works at lower temperatures, just slower. Probably won't freeze cuz citric acid lowers the freezing temperature of water quite a bit.
I’m not talking about time here. To clean parts is always a bad business if one like to get rich. I do it as I like it, so one can say I pay to clean. It’s not possible to explain to many customer how much time it is to clean a ex a V8 block and to remove all plugs etc. If one tell a price they all say, Ok I do it myself, so I heard this at decades. Then when I get parts ( before machine ) few or non get it clean. Back in my days we had a big bath ( big as for trucks diesels ) always hot 7 days/week and all parts went down there if customer like it or not. I guess boss added in price but it was most industrial $ but my work there was racing parts and clean/linebore/balance. ( same as I do now but that shop is closed, owner is dead and all machines long gone ) -When I use caustic I use 150 F and for the citric I use that cold and 1/10 and 1 day in bath. If parts is clean but has some rust the citric will remove all rust. But the issue I has over the years is as explanined if not a very hot day and hot water pressuare the surface goes darker direct. Its supernice out of bath but at fall and cold water its still clean but not the ’new cast irion look’. When I do cranks etc in shop I can use caustic to clean up before grinding but it can be rust on ends etc. Normal customers dont care but therefore I bought a laser cleaner as I care.
I think there's a good argument that cleaning the parts first will save money for the customer in the long run, it just makes the repair work a lot easier if you aren't dealing with a greasy, rusty engine.
I’ve done this with sodium carbonate (washing soda) and citric acid. Works awesome. There’s a great YouTube video that details the ratio. I’ll try to find it.
Here is the link. https://youtu.be/fVYZmeReKKY?si=jkKS1yFCe4nrQ1X0 I will try the OP’s recipe next time, might work better using deionized water. Seems to be precise on the pH also.
Read all of these. I have a t coupe and want to remove rust from sheet metal, then prime immediately, any good ideas Thanks in advance.
Read all of these. I have a t coupe and want to remove rust from sheet metal, then prime immediately, any good ideas Thanks in advance. I would use "Ospho", it is phosphoric acid that I use a spray bottle to apply. Used correctly and rinsed with water it works very well. Keep it out of all seams! Tom
Phosphoric acid not only helps remove the rust (iron oxide), but it also leaves a thin iron phosphate crystalling surface which is beneficial to either holding oil on the surface for corrosion protection, or for paint to provide some mechanical tooth to adhere better.
The Jalopy Journal
