Metal Rescue

[Tightlines667]

A customer gave me a bottle of a rust remover product the other day.  I found an old rusty file in the water at my fishing hole, and decided to give it a test run.  I mixed it up 50/50 with water and soaked the file for 24hrs.  Here are the results...





After the soak, the submerged portion showed complete removal of all of the rust.  However, the solution and the treated part showed strong discoloration.  Everything turned black.  I may try to treat the blackened surface with naval jelly to see if I can remove the black anodizing.  This test shows it is best to test any new products before applying to expensive parts.  Notice that I did not follow the directions on the label which clearly states... promptly remove the part from the solution once the rust dissappears or darkening may result.

Just thought I'd share my findings.

Note:  I am not affiliated in any way with this product.

[Bryan Young]

John, can you try the other half as recommended?

[foakes]

Might consider just trying half of the remaining half --

That way we can see results -- done per specs, just original rust, overdone.

Best,

Fred

[Alto Mare]

John, can you try the other half as recommended?

Looks promising...you beat me to it Bri-Bri, I was going to request the same.
Thanks for doing this John.

Sal

[Reel 224]

Does that discoloration effect the files cutting ability? If not I would hit it with a file brush and be done with it.

Joe

[Tightlines667]

Guess, I have trouble following directions...or something...since I simply flipped it upside down and resubmerged the other half plus some that had already been treated.  I pulled it out after 15 minutes, and the rust was starting to dissipate but the other side appeared to be a mix of black or rusty metal.  I resubmerged the file and left it to head into town on buisness.  I will check it when I get back and post results after a 4-5hr soak at 50% concentrate.  I expect the metal will be rust free but show the characteristic black-colored anodizing.  Be interesting to see if the double-treated metal will be darker black, and if that that was treated at 1/6 the time will be equally black color.  

Looks to me like this is a safe biodegradable product that does indeed remove rust on badly corroded steel, but that it has a propensity to cause black anodizing to the raw metal underneith.

Maybe I can find some other corroded parts to experiment with?

[Tightlines667]

Does that discoloration effect the files cutting ability? If not I would hit it with a file brush and be done with it.

Joe

Nope.

The file seems to be functioning good as new.  I rescued it from the sea, and have given it a new life and unique look. 

[Reel 224]

Does that discoloration effect the files cutting ability? If not I would hit it with a file brush and be done with it.

Joe

Nope.

The file seems to be functioning good as new.  I rescued it from the sea, and have given it a new life and unique look. 

Well that it then, good as new with a little stile.

Joe

[Three se7ens]

Looks like the results of ospho.  But the no acids, etc claim is interesting.  There has to be a chemical reaction taking place, so Im curious what the active ingredient is.

[Tightlines667]

The stuff certainly seems relatively benign and only reactive towards oxides.  Wish I could remember my chemistry, guess I could check the pH B4 & after reacting, though I doubt I'd see much change.  Seems safe to work with and gets the job done.  





I ended up running the file over a brass brush on a grinder to clean it up a bit,





and I noticed there were some small nodules of rust remaining after a 4hr soak....




...yet other, less heavily scaled surfaces had already oxidized black.  Guess it would work well on parts that are uniformly rusted best.  



I prefer jelly though since it seems less likely to cause the black plating issue.  BTW marine jelly treatment does not seem to remove the black anodizing .

[broadway]

   It can't be too strong of a chemical reaction, as they recommend gloves but says they aren't necessary... never seen a claim like that on a rust dissolver that actually works.
Thanks for sharing your findings,
Dom

[Reel 224]

Well if it's recommend by Frank Fritz of rag pickers than that is got a be good!

Joe

[Keta]

Looks like the results of ospho.  But the no acids, etc claim is interesting.  There has to be a chemical reaction taking place, so Im curious what the active ingredient is.

I was going to say phosphoric acid (Ospho's active ingredient) but it is an acid.