Found the lug bolt in my yard. Dropped it in the vinegar a week ago. Took it out today.
No muss, no fuss, no chemicals.

You're really saving the earth if you then used the vinegar in your salad.

guess I will soak my back up gas tank then : )

What is suppose to work better is molasses and water 10:1. You need to soak it for a couple of weeks, but the results I've seen on youtube are amazing.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq5IUiYMhRM

Molasses and soy sauce. About 1 to 5. Soak your steak for about an hour, delicious teriyaki.

Supply sergeant in my company in Korea was from Hawaii, and he said that's how they did it on the islands.

Good morning, Mark.

The rust will come back as he said flash rust on the wet surface of the wheel.

It will need to be treated in some way, plating or paint. Maybe use compressed air to dry quick, light sanding then paint.

I want to dry to derust some small parts then zinc coat them with the electrolysis process. Need to find a cheap source of zinc plates.

Dave

try Home Depot or lowes if not local then online you can get zinc anodes for evaporative or "swamp" coolers for about ten bucks I think -these are pre wired with a copper wire running through the core of a zinc rod

Used the vinegar trick on an old rototiller gas tank, left it in about 4-5 days turning it occasionally. worked good, much better that I expected.

Yup Vinegar is my go to for derusting gas tanks. Works well.

Good morning to you Walter

I wouldn't use the molasses mix in the gas tank

I have a old garden watering can trying the vinegar right now.

Don't bother putting it in a gas tank until you have a phosphoric acid bath ready to put in after you dry the tank quickly with a hair dryer.

I've done it before and coat the threads and head with waterproof boat trailer grease.
Seems to work well.

If I was doing a gas tank I would rinse, dry and pour in some mmo - marvel mystery oil and make sure all the bare metal gets coated with the mmo

Old school for you "youngsters". Vinegar is an old trick for removing rust, etc. from metal including etching metal prior to painting. Not as good as what we have today but it does work except for the flash rust. Phosphoric acid 10% solution is a must to eliminate and prevent rust; oil or paint primer/sealer is a definite.

In the 1950's and living in rural Northern California, we did not have the facilities that cities had then; nor, did we have the paints, procedures, available as we do today. We had bondo, vinegar, sandpaper, lacquer paint, and lacquer paint thinner; we also had welding and rudamentary heat treating available. We did use acid base mixtures which could be very dangerous when mixing to control rust. Paints were also lead based.

Our cars? We did not have anything like in American Graffitti unless it was within five years of being new. We only had 1940s and 1950s cars; some 1930s.

Sorry, as the resident science geek, I have to take exception to the statement "no chemicals."

It certainly is a chemical. Diluted acetic acid.

Formula = CH3COOH, (also written as CH3CO2H or C2H4O2).

Class II Combustible Liquid: Fl.P. at or above 100°F and below 140°F.

Incompatibilities & Reactivities: Strong oxidizers (especially chromic acid, sodium peroxide & nitric acid), strong caustics [Note: Corrosive to metals.]

Lethal Dose:
5620 ppm (mouse, 1 hr)
16000 ppm (rat, 4 hr)

Exposure Routes inhalation, skin and/or eye contact

Symptoms irritation eyes, skin, nose, throat; eye, skin burns; skin sensitization; dental erosion; black skin, hyperkeratosis; conjunctivitis, lacrimation (discharge of tears); pharyngeal edema, chronic bronchitis.

Personal Protection/Sanitation:
Skin: Prevent skin contact (>10%)
Eyes: Prevent eye contact
Wash skin: When contaminated (>10%)
Remove: When wet or contaminated (>10%)
Change: No recommendation
Provide: Eyewash (>5%), Quick drench (>50%)

Acetic acid is the second simplest carboxylic acid (after formic acid) and is an important chemical reagent and industrial chemical, mainly used in the production of cellulose acetate for photographic film and polyvinyl acetate for wood glue, as well as synthetic fibers and fabrics. In households, diluted acetic acid is often used in descaling agents.

The hydrogen center in the carboxyl group (−COOH) in carboxylic acids such as acetic acid can separate from the molecule by ionization:

CH3CO2H → CH3CO2− + H+

Because of this release of the proton (H+), acetic acid has acidic character. Acetic acid is a weak monoprotic acid. In aqueous solution, it has a pKa value of 4.76. Its conjugate base is acetate (CH3COO−). A 1.0 M solution (about the concentration of domestic vinegar) has a pH of 2.4, indicating that merely 0.4% of the acetic acid molecules are dissociated.


YW

I'm not smart like that...but I knew the "no chemical" thing was incorrect....you could do some major damage with large enough spill or leak!

You are absolutely right. Still, a pretty safe and easy way to remove rust and not piss off the wife

I didn't know horse drawn carriages rusted?

16,000 ppm will kill a rat in four hours, same for a lawyer?

muriatic acid and water works better and faster. but be careful.

I tried the molasses dip, it worked great. I washed the parts with hot soapy water, dried them off real quick and sprayed them with gasoline to prevent flash rusting.

Cuda,
I clipped your response. Wanted to share the following, let me know what material is the end result of this;

I seen a youtube video showing someone repairing a guitar bridge where the string groove is worn down. What he did was with the string off, place some baking soda in the groove and apply drops of super glue.

I've tried both the gel type and standard super glue to baking soda, the more liquid type original works a lot better and makes a very hard fill. Very small repairs.

Warning...don't get the mix on your skin, makes a very powerful burn. You can guess how I know.

Dave

^^^ Yep, a common "trick" for small repairs that need a solid base.

Basically, the baking soda greatly speeds up the curing time for the super glue, and also it gets incorporated into the physical structure of the polymerized glue molecules, to add strength. I'm guessing that the runnier versions of super glue are able to more easily mix with the baking soda, which is why it's forming a harder structure.

Here's some of the simple chemistry involved:

Super glue, as a liquid, is a monomer (essentially a small molecule that can bind together with a zillion more of them to form a polymer).

For example, styrene is the monomer that binds together with other styrene molecules to form the common plastic styrofoam (a fluffed of version of polystyrene).

Super glue liquid is the monomer methylcyanoacrylate. When electrons are withdrawn, it can be polymerized with very mild nucleophiles such as Br, CN, amines or OH (hydroxide). The OH can come from all sorts of substances, including baking soda (properly called sodium hydrogen carbonate).

The monomer polymerizes when it comes into contact with a surface. The polymerization is usually initialized by the presence of water (the OH ions from water).

If you recall from school, another proper chemical name for water is hydrogen hydroxide.

If sodium bicarbonate is present, traces of water (from the air) will react and make NaOH (sodium hydroxide).

The chemical reaction is this: NaHCO3 + H2O -----> NaOH + H2CO3NaOH

It's an exothermic reaction, which is why the burn you mention.

Of course, there are lots of fun things to do with super glue. Stick some change to the floor in a mall and have fun people watching.

Sorry, Chemistry class is one course I never took. Your response is about 99.5% over my head.

The result is a glass like substance...is there a layman's term for the material?

Dave

"I did not know horse drawn carriages rusted?"

Mr. Mueller,

You made my day and I have been "laughing all day"; you did indeed make my day. The following is for yours and others info; LOL! LOL!

Horse drawn carriages do rust and they do move very quickly with 4-8 horsepower. The rims had spokes of oak and metal brackets/bracings; some even had metal spokes and they were painted a very bright colors. We even had the original "raked vehicles". Oil was used to preserve the wood and the leather.

Yes, we even had leather interiors. Have you ever heard of saddle soap? We even used it.

These are the vehicles we took on such things as "hay rides", parades and such. We even rode horseback but we could not use vinegar on them. LOL!

You really made my day, my friend.

Sorry for the thread being sidetracked by me.

Steve

Pretty sure the technical term is "goop."