Does anyone have a favorite rust remover that can be used for removing rust due to water damage from a metal enclosure, but which wont damage any lettering on the enclosure?
Also, what about rust residue on PCBs? I've used WD-40 and a toothbrush in the past, followed by a trip through the dishwasher (after removing sensitive parts) and it seemed to work OK, but I don't know if this is the best option.
My favorite is a product called EvapoRust. It is neutral pH and won't dissolve oil and grease, so I doubt it will harm lettering. Soak overnight at room temperature, or heat to 150-180 F if you are in a hurry (but that might soften and damage lettering). Web site is
----- Regards, Carl Ijames
Does anyone have a favorite rust remover that can be used for removing rust due to water damage from a metal enclosure, but which wont damage any lettering on the enclosure?
Also, what about rust residue on PCBs? I've used WD-40 and a toothbrush in the past, followed by a trip through the dishwasher (after removing sensitive parts) and it seemed to work OK, but I don't know if this is the best option.
what's in it?
NT
I usually use Naval Jelly, but that's phosphoric acid, and so probably not nearly as gentle. Have to get some Evaporust.
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
-- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 160 North State Road #203 Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net
I've had great success with Whink Rust Stain Remover. BUT, BUT It says, Use only on white porcelain. I didn't follow the rules, I didn't have any negative consequences for my uses. It's kinda magical, rust just disappears on contact, no scrubbing. Your experience may vary, pretest. Use only according to directions. Or else... Available at Walmart.
Mikek
-- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com
There's a lot of very convincing stuff on Youtube about using molasses, but AIUI it takes a couple of weeks.
Cheers
-- Syd
The MSDS and SDS claims it's a non-toxic chelating agent. This article claims it might be ethylenediamine as a chelating agent: I would be more inclined to guess a food safe acid, such as citric acid, oleic acid, or possibly oxalic acid. I could probably work it out knowing the concentration is
Is that oxalic acid (what's found in rhubarb leaves)? It's been the traditional anti-rust stain compound of choice for a very long time.
I used Corrosionx rust remover recently. Worked great. Not sure about the lettering issue. You can order directly from their web site
-- Chisolm Republic of Texas
The MSDS and SDS claims it's a non-toxic chelating agent. This article claims it might be ethylenediamine as a chelating agent: I would be more inclined to guess a food safe acid, such as citric acid, oleic acid, or possibly oxalic acid. I could probably work it out knowing the concentration is
I dunno about the name. Looking at the ingredients, it seems more of a lubricant and rust preventer, than a rust remover. Severely Hydrotreated Base Stock: 5 mg/m3 (oil mist) 65-75% Mineral Oil: 2 mg/m3 15% Hydrocarbon Solvent: 100 ppm (vapor) 7-10%
-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Hydrofloric acid. Will etch glass. Awful stuff to get on your skin.
Dan
Have you tried a pencil eraser? If you have an eraser shield and a Bruning electric eraser, you can make almost any surface rust just vanish...
To expand dcaster's response, Whink Rust Stain Remover contains Hydrofloric acid. Here's an MSDS.
It's a bit scary. Do as I said, "Use only according to directions. Or else..."
Mikek
-- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com
Awful being the understatement of the century - untreated in a very short time and it can permeate the skin and cause bone damage leading to amputation or cardiac arrest or a number of other nasty problems.
Places working with HF have treatment stations containing calcium gluconate or other neutralising agents.
There are several different products.
Whink Rust Stain Remover (brown bottle) is dilute hydrofluoric acid; some versions seem to have denatonium benzoate as well.
Whink Rust and Iron Stain Remover (white bottle, blue label) looks fairly gentle by comparison... sodium bisulfate, sodium hydrosulfate, salt, sodium carbonate, and citric acid, or similar combinations depending on version.
Whink Rust Oxy (white bottle, lighter-blue label) is similar to Whink Rust and Iron Stain Remover, and adds boric acid. It seems odd that they'd be advertising a "supercharged oxygenated" formula for getting rid of rust stains, since rust is oxidized iron... IIRC you usually want a reducing agent to deal with rust stains (hence, citric acid).
All I can say is that it worked for me. I used it on some tractor parts. I've used their corrosion prevention stuff before.
-- Chisolm Republic of Texas
Oh, I saw a video where... (I can't recall her name, a geeky women how hacks stuff) used something like that to etch the oxide off of Si wafers and make devices.
George H.
Jeri Ellsworth, I assume
-Lasse
Although steel contains carbon, it does not contain it in chemically pure form. I don't know what ends up from dissolving cementite (Fe3C) [1].
But, the other half of this observation seems to suggest the clue: the stuff doesn't work well on magnetite, Fe3O4. Which is a quite stable form of iron oxide, a dense and strong crystal (of the spinel group), which easily forms in the reducing environment between crusty red rust and underlying metal. This also explains why it doesn't work well on scale, which is predominantly magnetite (or a mixture with iron -- FeO can form at high temperatures, but it actually disproportionates into Fe and Fe3O4 when cooled without quenching).
A mixture with a chelator or acid that *is* capable of dissolving Fe3O4 would seem to be suggested... but whether this is possible (without just blasting the shit out of it with very low pH, as is the conventional approach in steelworks), I don't know.
It's noteworthy to begin with, that ferric iron (as oxide or hydrate) can be dissolved much at all, with anything besides strong acid. On the scale of soluble materials, Fe(OH)3 is in the ten-to-the-minus-thirty range. So insoluble, its salts are mild acids to begin with, and form a turbid solution in water.
[1] It would appear the reaction is generally complete:It's also noteworthy that nanotubes and buckyballs (and hybrids thereof) have been reported from certain alloys, e.g. supposedly a characteristic of the famous Damascus steel. One would suppose, in whatever form the carbon is held already, it retains its carbon-carbon bonds, while all the now-vacant bonds to iron atoms have been either hydrogenated, hydrated, left hanging (and folding back to form additional C-C and C=C bonds) or oxidized (as with nitric).
Tim (amateur metallurgist in a previous life)
-- Seven Transistor Labs Electrical Engineering Consultation Website: http://seventransistorlabs.com
ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.