Cleaning Edison Price posts

[trombone]

Does anyone know how to clean Edison Price unplated copper posts? I used to use a refrigerant with 3% HCl, and it did the job. I can't get it any more, and every cleaner I've tried since (vinegar, vinegar salt past, Lysol bowl cleaner, etc) cleans nicely, but in a few weeks corrosion returns with a vengeance. With my old cleaner, the posts would just darken with time. Now they get heavy deposits of blue salt. It's as if the post is breaking down chemically, maybe from using that Lysol stuff, which is 7% HCl. Any ideas?

[Eli Duttman]

Try a cream type cleaner that's intended for use on Copper cookware. After carefully removing the residue, follow with either 91% or anhydrous isopropanol. Stay away from the corrosive stuff.

Hydrochloric acid can't attack elemental Copper, but it does react with the oxides and carbonates that form on an uncoated surface.

[HollowState]

Originally Posted by trombone

Does anyone know how to clean Edison Price unplated copper posts? With my old cleaner, the posts would just darken with time. Now they get heavy deposits of blue salt. It's as if the post is breaking down chemically, maybe from using that Lysol stuff, which is 7% HCl. Any ideas?

That blue colored salt is not good. It's cuperic chloride formed by the acidic cleaner you used. Have you tried Tarn-X. Its a silver & copper cleaner that works extremely well and is supposed to retard tarnish. And there is also something called Ellanar Silver Polish. A thick pink liquid which also contains a tarnish retardent that works on copper too. Both of these should be easy to find locally. Also "Google" Ellanar Silver Polish for more info.

[astouffer]

Try Tarn-X

Jelmar | We Clean More Than You Think

Part of their advertising is showing how fast it cleans a penny.

[Poindexter]

Hagerty's Coppersmith Polish. Around here, it's available in Longs Drug Stores. Fairly common stuff, and rilly rilly works.

Aloha,

Poinz

[TheGimp]

Neverdull! It is used by the NAVY on brass that is exposed to the elements including of salt water of all things.

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[c2cthomas]

Originally Posted by TheGimp

Neverdull! It is used by the NAVY on brass that is exposed to the elements including of salt water of all things.

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Man - we went thru cans of that stuff when I wuz in da Navy!!! Buuuuut we used it on brass!!! (Please note - we did not use it on "The Brass"....

Brasso works too.

[Arnulf]

Originally Posted by HollowState

That blue colored salt is not good. It's cuperic chloride formed by the acidic cleaner you used.

OT: Isn't it CuSO4 + 5 H2O that is blue ? I don't think chloride is blue in color.

[rhing]

The oxidation and corrosion of those Edison Price posts is virtually unavoidable. Switch to Pomona Electronics 3770 binding posts. They're reasonably priced and Gold plated to prevent oxidation and corrosion.

http://www.pomonaelectronics.com/ind...STS&getDetails=

I get mine from Mouser.

[HollowState]

Originally Posted by Arnulf

OT: Isn't it CuSO4 + 5 H2O that is blue ? I don't think chloride is blue in color.

Always a knit-picker in the crowd. Trombone's last cleaner contained HCi. That's hydrogen chloride, not sulfide. Being not a chemist by trade, I didn't realize that CuCl2 is brown at first and then turns blue-green when moisture is absorbed. (The way most of us see it.) Maybe later this evening I'll give myself a couple of lashes for not being exactly precise and perfect.

Copper(II) chloride - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia