Muriatic acid treatment on cyl video

[briantutt]

I got some muriatic acid and tried this process unheated. I went back and forth between the acid, rinse and 600 grit wet dry about 5 times. There is still two very small areas of aluminum deposit that I can feel if I run my fingernail over the area (about the size of a pencil point). If unheated, how many times roughly can I go back and forth between the acid and 600 grit without being in danger of going through the chrome or making the cylinder out of round? Ignore the blue spot, it's a reflection...

 

[roncoinc]

I got some muriatic acid and tried this process unheated. I went back and forth between the acid, rinse and 600 grit wet dry about 5 times. There is still two very small areas of aluminum deposit that I can feel if I run my fingernail over the area (about the size of a pencil point). If unheated, how many times roughly can I go back and forth between the acid and 600 grit without being in danger of going through the chrome or making the cylinder out of round? Ignore the blue spot, it's a reflection...

Of course you are taking ALL safety precautions i hope,rubber gloves,WELL ventelated,safe work area,i put my acid in a shot glass a little at a time and seal and put the big jug way away..etc..
a lot depends on how long you let it set on there..be carefull not to let any get in the soft metal porting are.i have let sit 10 min or more..wash dry,start over..make sure jug is level so acid puddles where you want it to stay.
dond sand until very last thing,i have done them with no sanding at all..if it makes you feel better sand lightly after it is gone..

i have done over 10 times before being carefull..
good luck..

 

[briantutt]

Of course you are taking ALL safety precautions i hope,rubber gloves,WELL ventilated,safe work area,i put my acid in a shot glass a little at a time and seal and put the big jug way away..etc..
a lot depends on how long you let it set on there..be careful not to let any get in the soft metal porting are.i have let sit 10 min or more..wash dry,start over..make sure jug is level so acid puddles where you want it to stay.
don't sand until very last thing,i have done them with no sanding at all..if it makes you feel better sand lightly after it is gone..

i have done over 10 times before being careful..
good luck..

Thanks for the pointers. I poured a bit of the acid in an old glass baby food jar. I did go buy a big box of nitrile gloves and a respirator just in case some bad fumes got created and even wore safety glasses. I did all of the work outside.

I hope I didn't goof anything up with the 600 grit. I will avoid that until the couple little spots are gone. I brought it to work today to view it under the microscope just to see what I can see.

Here is a better picture of what remains to be removed.

 

[briantutt]

How big of cylinder pits can you get away with? I now have the aluminum all etched away and it has revieled some minor pitting. You can tell they are pits unless you look under a micro scope. In the picture below you can see the area where the aluminum buildup was worst. When you view it under 40x you can see the aluminum colored streaks have pits in them.

 

[Mastermind]

Well if you've hurt your cylinder with 600 grit then I've destroyed several with 240. I have used up to 180 grit on a cylinder, and then progressed on down to 400 grit. I've not ever seen a reason to go smoother, after all you do want the rings to seat.

 

[briantutt]

Well if you've hurt your cylinder with 600 grit then I've destroyed several with 240. I have used up to 180 grit on a cylinder, and then progressed on down to 400 grit. I've not ever seen a reason to go smoother, after all you do want the rings to seat.

So maybe I should go in there now that all of the aluminum is gone and rough it up a bit with 240...Lab tech at work said they purposely put a 45 degree pattern in cylinders on plane engines so the rings seat...

 

[briantutt]

So maybe I should go in there now that all of the aluminum is gone and rough it up a bit with 240...Lab tech at work said they purposely put a 45 degree pattern in cylinders on plane engines so the rings seat...

bump...:monkey:

 

[chopperfreak2k1]

thanks for bumping this up. i have read that you can possibly get a slightly stronger muriatic acid at swimming pool stores and such. my question is my muriatic acid (haven't used yet) is 31.45% hydrochloric acid and 20% baume, do i want a stronger acid than this or is this strength acceptable? oh and WTH is baume if anyone knows? thanks!

 

[briantutt]

thanks for bumping this up. i have read that you can possibly get a slightly stronger muriatic acid at swimming pool stores and such. my question is my muriatic acid (haven't used yet) is 31.45% hydrochloric acid and 20% baume, do i want a stronger acid than this or is this strength acceptable? oh and WTH is baume if anyone knows? thanks!

Baume is a specific gravity scale, relates things to density of water.

 

[chopperfreak2k1]

thanks for the enlightenment brother, any thoughts on the strength of my acid?

 

[briantutt]

thanks for the enlightenment brother, any thoughts on the strength of my acid?

I would assume it should work faster but I don't know exactly how resistant the chrome is. At some point the acid would start to etch the chrome as well. That is why acid is always stored in glass or plastic.

 

[Whiteman]

Lots of good info here. Im going to be trying this out in an hour with my hopefully salvageable cylinder. Thanks for all the good input.

 

[roncoinc]

I'm surprised after i started this thread eight months ago people are still looking !
since the i have gone through a gallon of muratic acid..
use it to clean bars before painting also.
during the summer when the woodstve is not on and the OL home so i dont use the oven i take a propane torch to heat up the area i want to clean..
get it nice and hot and put the acid on and watch it smoke !!
do NOT use acid or attemt to do ANYTHING with it if you have not read all the safety issues .. breathing it can kill you..on your skin hurt forever..in your eyes blind you....
use ONLY outside with wind in right direction,safety glasses and protective gloves..i use LONG needle nose pliers to hold the Q-tip and lot of water handy..
read the WHOLE thread and then have at it if you feel comfortable..
good luck.

 

[CHEVYTOWN13]

Used "the trip" to clean up a 7900 cylinder today. Your trick of heating the cylinder first worked well Ron. It took off most of it, but 400 wet took care of the rest.

 

[bcsizemo]

Like ChopperFreak said it is commonly used in pools and such.

The local Home Depot and Lowes sell it by the gallon in the pool section (usually outside). I'm not sure if it seasonal or not (ie out of stock in the winter, unless you live somewhere warm.) Back in early fall Lowes was selling a box of two 1 gallon jugs on clearance for I believe $5. (Might have been $10, but I remember thinking it was a damn good price.)

I've been using it to clean rocks lately...

 

[bcsizemo]

As a side question:

Anyone ever thought about using a cylinder honing tool?

Like this:
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-8-eighth-inch-brake-cylinder-hone-97163.html

Or is that a bad idea....

Not that I've done it (unless it is a good idea, then yes, yes I did do it.)
-but that saw was already a lost cause before I touched it

 

[RTK]

No need to hone these coated/plated cylinders, just clean them up with a scotch bright pad and solven if there is build up other than aluminum

 

[roncoinc]

Used "the trip" to clean up a 7900 cylinder today. Your trick of heating the cylinder first worked well Ron. It took off most of it, but 400 wet took care of the rest.

Sometimes i have had to apply six or more times to get all the alum off..
the 400 wet i also do after to "blend" everything in.
glad it worked for you.

good to see you post

 

[Winn R]

These little bullets go on a dremel shaft and are the best I've found for that last little bit of wall cleaning.

 

[Philbert]

(Bump)

Muratic acid is everywhere. . . . Any hardware store should have it , or home depot, somewhere like that.

Muriatic acid is a common name for hydrochloric acid. And the above posters are correct; any decent hardware store will carry a supply, as would any plumbing supply house.

Saw muriatic acid in the paint department of a local home center today. 31.45% hydrochloric acid. $3 for a quart. $3.49 for a gallon (no, that is not a typo).

Philbert