clean bronze with salt and vinegar??

[contessaman]

Right, got my jabsco pump apart. the inside is pretty good. Got some new shaft seals and impellor on the way.

in the meanwhile, the body externally is all green and oxidised. I have been hard at work with brasso and scotchbrite but its slow going and becuase the body is cast the outside is not smooth so im only polishing the raised bits, the valleys are all still green.

I seem to remember putting copper coins in a solution of salt and vinegar when I was a kid - they'd come out all shiney like new.

Would this method work for my pump body? I dont want to eat away too much material. especially inside. what if I thickened said solution to make a paste that I could paint on just the outside?

if this is inappropriate, are there any other lazyboy methods to give me a shiney looking pump?

I have a question about the face plate too but thats for another thread...

ta in advance as always

 

[CreakyDecks]

Vinegar can have some odd effects. I used it to clean brass clock parts in my ultrasonic bath and they went purple.
I found out on the internet that rinse cycles using baking soda solution and then clean water prevents this.

 

[l'escargot]

I cleaned up some bronze rigging screws by putting them through the dishwasher. Didn't come out shiny or polished but got rid of all the gunk.

 

[SHUG]

Full strength Coca Cola???

 

[Piers]

Althugh expensive, I've always used this from Consefvation Resources in Oxford. Eats verdigris and works a treat.

http://www.conservation-resources.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19&products_id=568

Piers

 

[nauticalnomad]

Full strength Coca Cola???

I second that...
Put old coins in a bowl of coke for the evening,
Theyll be shiny in the morning

Just dont drink the coke....

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

I've been cleaning a lot of verdigris off recently, and have found a scrub made from lemon juice and salt has worked very well. I've just used bottled lemon juice and household salt. Cheap and effective.

 

[uxb]

Smear a thick layer of HP brown sauce all over it, leave over night, rinse off in soapy water then polish up.

Tommy-K works too but that's just a waste.....

 

[alant]

Full strength Coca Cola???

Use the cheaper Tesco Cola.

 

[Lady Campanula]

Use the cheaper Tesco Cola.

So what's the ( highly ) active ingredient in Cola that strips paint, corrosion, antifouling and stomach lining...?

 

[RobBrown]

I think coke and most carbonated drinks have carbonic acid and probably citric acid. Coke reputedly also has phosphoric acid, but I wouldn't imagine any of them are in any substantial concentrations.

When I cleaned upsome heavy verdigris on brass lamp fittings, I used a mixture of salt and lemon juice and subsequently Brasso, but the really effective treatment was using a Dremmel with a polisher and Autosol paste.

 

[SHUG]

So what's the ( highly ) active ingredient in Cola that strips paint, corrosion, antifouling and stomach lining...?

Isn't that cocaine?????

 

[Epsilon]

clean bronze with salt and vinegar

So what's the ( highly ) active ingredient in Cola that strips paint, corrosion, antifouling and stomach lining...?

just Phosphosric acid

 

[boguing]

I've mentioned it before, but Persil clothes liquid has softened and removed everything, with one exception, that I have tried it on.

In the case of brass (a valuable aircraft compass) it took the paint off and left it such that a very light Metal polish was all that was needed.

It has removed all paint - including Hammerite - 100% long soak (24+ hours - but not a time-critical job) for plastics. Leave it for a week and push the paint off with a fingernail or toothbrush. 50% at 100C takes less than an hour on metals.

Will use it on solid wood, but would be fearful of using it on ply/veneer because it would probably wreck the glues.

The one case (so far) that it didn't work in was an Aluminium primer overlayed with the correct paint.

So far, the approx 1 Litre bottle has done all sorts and still works. Bit manky but doesn't smell bad. I'm guessing, but wouldn't be far short of £100 in Nitromors etc. so far.