cleaning aluminum

jaudio · 26th May 2006, 11:00 PM

I need to clean some aluminum and need some suggestion the easier the better

Thanks

poobah · 26th May 2006, 11:03 PM

Can you elaborate? a bit?

bulgin · 26th May 2006, 11:48 PM

Hi

Depending what it is you want to clean, you can give it a 'chemical polish' by dipping whatever it is in phosphoric acid at 100degrees centigrade.

Disclaimer: Entirely at your own risk! This stuff is dangerous in many ways and corrodes amost anything. Wear protective clothing and breathing apparatus + rubber gloves. Ensure good ventilation.

This method is used prior to anodising.

If you're crazy enough to try this, be very careful and heed the disclaimer.

bulgin

SY · 26th May 2006, 11:49 PM

This is goggles and heavy rubber gloves stuff, lots of ventilation. It should NOT be done by anyone without experience handling corrosives!

infinia · 26th May 2006, 11:55 PM

Yikes you guys are hcore around here. Must be another way to "do it".

poobah · 27th May 2006, 02:49 AM

Good ole' Coca Cola is a milder way of getting at some phosphoric acid. It WORKS on aluminum.

Old college trick: never pour half-finished Coke down the drain; put it in the toilet and let it sit. Cuts down on maintenance!

infinia · 27th May 2006, 03:14 AM

Castrol "Super Clean" followed with MAAS metal polish and a little elbow grease.

cpemma · 27th May 2006, 01:06 PM

Stewing rhubarb in an aluminium pan leaves it very clean. I've used it to clean up the pressure cooker, though it may be wise to discard the cooked fruit.

Quote:

http://www.alzscot.org/pages/info/aluminium.htm
Rhubarb cooked in an uncoated aluminium pan or pressure cooker can, for example, pick up 4mg of aluminium per 100g serving.

gmphadte · 1st June 2006, 05:42 AM

bulgin wrote

Quote:

Depending what it is you want to clean, you can give it a 'chemical polish' by dipping whatever it is in phosphoric acid at 100degrees centigrade.

How do u clean the aluminium that suffers from corrosion due to this acid.
I can't wash some of the parts as they are parts of a sample handler in a mass spectrometer.
Any chemical that will stop/revert the reaction.

Thanks in advance

Gajanan Phadte

inteificio · 1st June 2006, 07:00 AM

Any acid will attack the oxide layer changing the shape of the metal. as soon as the clean metal comes into contact with air it will start to oxidise this will takes ~2s.

So jumping back, What do you want to clean and why?
What do wish to clean off it?

How did it get dirty in the first place.

26th May 2006, 11:00 PM	#1
jaudio diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2004	cleaning aluminum I need to clean some aluminum and need some suggestion the easier the better Thanks

26th May 2006, 11:48 PM	#3
bulgin diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2006	Cleaning Aluminium Hi Depending what it is you want to clean, you can give it a 'chemical polish' by dipping whatever it is in phosphoric acid at 100degrees centigrade. Disclaimer: Entirely at your own risk! This stuff is dangerous in many ways and corrodes amost anything. Wear protective clothing and breathing apparatus + rubber gloves. Ensure good ventilation. This method is used prior to anodising. If you're crazy enough to try this, be very careful and heed the disclaimer. bulgin

26th May 2006, 11:49 PM	#4
SY diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Austin, TX Blog Entries: 1	This is goggles and heavy rubber gloves stuff, lots of ventilation. It should NOT be done by anyone without experience handling corrosives! __________________ “Listening to records is like ****ing a picture of Brigitte Bardot.” - Sergiu Celibidache

26th May 2006, 11:55 PM	#5
infinia diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Californication	Yikes you guys are hcore around here. Must be another way to "do it". __________________ like four million tons of hydrogen exploding on the sun like the whisper of the termites building castles in the dust

27th May 2006, 03:14 AM	#7
infinia diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Californication	Castrol "Super Clean" followed with MAAS metal polish and a little elbow grease. __________________ like four million tons of hydrogen exploding on the sun like the whisper of the termites building castles in the dust


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26th May 2006, 11:03 PM	#2
poobah diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2005	Can you elaborate? a bit?

27th May 2006, 02:49 AM	#6
poobah diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2005	Good ole' Coca Cola is a milder way of getting at some phosphoric acid. It WORKS on aluminum. Old college trick: never pour half-finished Coke down the drain; put it in the toilet and let it sit. Cuts down on maintenance!

1st June 2006, 07:00 AM	#10
inteificio diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: York	Any acid will attack the oxide layer changing the shape of the metal. as soon as the clean metal comes into contact with air it will start to oxidise this will takes ~2s. So jumping back, What do you want to clean and why? What do wish to clean off it? How did it get dirty in the first place.

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