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Soaking in vinegar vs Eastwood Zinc paint

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steveg

steveg

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FlasherRelayBefore_1.jpg


I soaked my rusty flasher relay cover in white vinegar for a week - with several vinegar changes - no buffing, merely polishing with paste to remove the oxide haze.

I painted the right side of the cleaned-up cover with Eastwood's clear zinc paint to see how it looked next to the original plating:

FlasherRelayHalfPaint.jpg
 
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Many years ago, house roof gutters were made of galvanized sheet steel which were soldered together, plus the end caps were soldered on as well. Vinegar was used quite heavily to prep them for painting, otherwise the paint wouldn't stick. Some people just let them weather for quite a while, months, and then paint them. Vinegar has more uses than most people realalize, quite a product! PJ
 
When I was about ten my parents built a house. The gutters/downspouts were galvanized. Dad let them age a year then it was my job to scour them with vinegar prior to painting. I remember being pickled.
 
HealeyRick said:
That came out great, Steve. Another similar thing I find interesting is using molasses for rust removal.
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Or Coca-Cola. Except for molasses--don't know the 'active ingredient'--all are acidic. Vinegar has acetic acid, Coke has carbonic acid, rhubarb and Naval Jelly (I think) has oxalic acid, muriatic (swimming pool) acid is hydrochloric acid, etc. Pretty much any acidic compound will dissolve rust, but don't use them on spring steel or structural parts, as they can cause hydrogen embrittlement. Hydrofluoric acid is great for dissolving bodies.
 
I use white vinegar to soak inter-cooler heat exchangers in. Cuts any scale, and breaks down any oil film that winds up passing through them (don't ask... :( )

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Bob_Spidell said:
Or Coca-Cola. Except for molasses--don't know the 'active ingredient'--all are acidic. Vinegar has acetic acid, Coke has carbonic acid, rhubarb and Naval Jelly (I think) has oxalic acid, muriatic (swimming pool) acid is hydrochloric acid, etc. Pretty much any acidic compound will dissolve rust, but don't use them on spring steel or structural parts, as they can cause hydrogen embrittlement. Hydrofluoric acid is great for dissolving bodies.
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Correction: A dormant brain cell came back to life, and I remembered: Naval Jelly contains phosphoric acid. Oxalic acid, I believe, is used as a rust inhibitor in anti-freeze.
 
When I was a kid (1 of 13) and we would go to the beach and get sun burned (pre sun protection) my Mom would fill the bath tub, add vinegar to it and have us soak in it. Seemed to take the sting out. Yet another use for vinegar.
 
Bob_Spidell said:
Correction: A dormant brain cell came back to life, and I remembered: Naval Jelly contains phosphoric acid. Oxalic acid, I believe, is used as a rust inhibitor in anti-freeze.
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I recall that oxalic acid is used to clean out rust in a cooling system, but should not be left in the system or it will continue to eat away at the system, usually the heater core.
 
stretchit2 said:
When I was a kid (1 of 13) and we would go to the beach and get sun burned (pre sun protection) my Mom would fill the bath tub, add vinegar to it and have us soak in it. Seemed to take the sting out. Yet another use for vinegar.
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My Mom used tea. As a kid, we went to the beach at Newport Dunes, CA and I got such a bad burn on the back of my legs I couldn't walk for three days. Lots of tea baths in the interim.
 
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