Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Rust removal methods

Since I do not have a good air compressor yet I cannot use my sandblaster, but instead use muriatic acid to remove rust. I have gotten some criticism for this as people insist that it will cause more rust later. I dip in acid, wash rust and dirt off, acid again and then rinse. The parts are then submerged in water agitated with lime or baking soda overnight. This is now I did my ECO air stand 20 years ago and it has sat outside under a tree the whole time.



There was a rust hole in the front cover I did not have time to weld and finish with lead. Believe it or not, it never rusted further. Does anyone else use acid or is sandblasting the method of choice? I always wondered how you can get to rust behind double panels with a sandblaster.

I have never found an efficient way to remove corrosion from aluminum alloys. The newer ECO units seem to corrode as seen on this one I built for my parents home in 1990:





This was a unit that was run over by a car and left in the bushes to rust. I did de-rust and paint the steel components and put another plastic face because the original one was destroyed. If I ever get ambitious I am going to find or make a faceplate and put chrome trim and a light inside. The unit has been functional since 1990 and has received no maintenance other than a yearly water drain. The valve is worn but I put a spring inside as a rig and it has worked beautifully to this day. The base it sits on is a homemade casting that sits on a 4" water pipe.

I have also used acid to remove rust & it does get into areas that a sandblasting can't.
NEVER put aluminum, zinc, pot metal, magnesium, galvanized iron in acid. It will dissolve it.

So far I have used vinegar to clean aluminum. Is there something better?

So far I have used vinegar to clean aluminum. Is there something better?