Seadog
Save the planet. It's the only one with rum!
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You should have used meths. Cellulose thinners is immiscible with water, as far as I recall.
- Thread starter Kayos
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You should have used meths. Cellulose thinners is immiscible with water, as far as I recall.
ok never thought about the reaction with the zinc, knowing little of chemistry. had a quick look at it, and apparently it can also form hydrogen, so you did right not to use it... think I'll do it in two stages, rattle it first remove the worst, empty it then try the acid on it's own.I didn't want to use normal nuts as the zinc plating would react with the acid & partially neutralise it.
After the acid I rinsed the tank well with water followed by a baking soda mix to neutralise any remaining acid then a final rinse with hot water. I sloshed around some cellulose thinners to get rid of any water followed by some petrol. Unfortunately the tank did flash rust slightly so maybe a rinse with phosphoric acid after the citric would prevent this?
all good stuff to think about..
Ross365
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I usually wipe with IPA to try get rid of water and avoid flash rusting, but some steels really want to rust.
Re flash rusting, and the other issue of the citric beginning to attack metal after it has taken off the rust; I've been wondering about whether having a corrosion inhibitor present might be good, but neither Tesco nor Ocado don't seem to do inhibitors. Sitting on the shelf in my garage is a bottle of central heating protector solution (not the cleanser) and that must contain corrosion inhibitor and one bottle protects the whole system for some time, so must be quite effective. I wonder if adding a little drop of that stuff in to citric might be an interesting thing to try; it's on my "to do" list.
Thanks for the earlier comments re using flour for gelling; will try that.
Re flash rusting, and the other issue of the citric beginning to attack metal after it has taken off the rust; I've been wondering about whether having a corrosion inhibitor present might be good, but neither Tesco nor Ocado don't seem to do inhibitors
. Sitting on the shelf in my garage is a bottle of central heating protector solution (not the cleanser) and that must contain corrosion inhibitor and one bottle protects the whole system for some time, so must be quite effective. I wonder if adding a little drop of that stuff in to citric might be an interesting thing to try; it's on my "to do" list.Thanks for the earlier comments re using flour for gelling; will try that.
Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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Oddly enough...
I recently flushed my central heating system with one of those bfo Scalebreaker pumps borrowed from work.
To give things a little boost in the cleaning department I mixed 1kg of citric acid in 3L of water and added that. It didn't half loosen up more stuff.
Ross365
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Yes, the first time I ever heard of using citric to clean off scale was a report back in the 1980's describing its use in power station boilers; you'd certainly want something in those that was not too aggressive on the metal. I think one of the factors that make citric good, is that it is relatively easy to flush away after cleaning, whereas some other agents take repeated fill-drain cycles to get to down to safe levels.
So far, I've never cleansed by 40 year old CH system
.
Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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So far, I've never cleansed by 40 year old CH system
Going slightly off topic here but I'd urge you to do so asap. Wish I'd done it 20 years ago when we bought the place, made a world of difference. Quieter operation and hotter rads that heat up quicker. I've also installed a mag filter. In theory pumps and motorised valves as well as pipes and the boiler itself might last longer.
My house is split into the downstairs that has a ancient 3/4" nominal bore single pipe system and upstairs with modern flow and return system. The single pipe system rads are difficult to flush so you need to back flush in the opposite direction. Not all rigs offer easy back flushing.
So, chuck a cleaner in beforehand for a week or two and let it run around. Then flush with a rig and watch the copious crap come out. I plumbed this one at the boiler return where I then installed the mag filter. Tbh you can even get a £25 adaptor that goes in place of your CH pump motor and that you connect the flushing rig to.
Ross365
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Interesting! I did borrow a thermal imaging camera and looked at the rads to see if there was evidence of sludge in the bottom of them, and there wasn't, so I didn't go any further. However, after 40 years, I guess that there will be significant crap in there. Right time of year to mess with CH!
I've got single pipe throughout the house; I never knew such systems existed until a few years ago! The oil-fired boiler is also 40 years old!
Of the products on the market, I've always trusted Fernox above the competitors.
I've got single pipe throughout the house; I never knew such systems existed until a few years ago! The oil-fired boiler is also 40 years old!
Of the products on the market, I've always trusted Fernox above the competitors.
Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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Ross365
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When I first moved in to this house, if I vented a radiator, black water came out; it was pretty scary. I think I drained and re-filled it a couple of times, and then refilled with Fernox protector, and have replaced that every couple of years. These days, if I vent a rad, or if I drain the system, the water that comes out is clean and colorless, and I guess that too is a reason I've not put in a cleanser so far.
I usually wipe with IPA to try get rid of water and avoid flash rusting, but some steels really want to rust.
Re flash rusting, and the other issue of the citric beginning to attack metal after it has taken off the rust; I've been wondering about whether having a corrosion inhibitor present might be good, but neither Tesco nor Ocado don't seem to do inhibitors
Thanks for the earlier comments re using flour for gelling; will try that.
I posted about this stuff a while back but i find it very effective at preventing flash rusting:
Whether you can add it to an acid solution I’ve no idea but it may be worth a try. It’s extremely concentrated and you dilute it in water anyway so it may work.
Kayos
Gone......
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One pipe systems are great, just misunderstood by many
Sludge collects by the air vents so a bit when you bleed the rads wont matterv
Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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At least you've done something. As I understand it there can be a dead spot in one corner of rads on a single pipe system. The idea of the BACK flush is the "flush" comes in at the bottom and out at the top and HOPEFULLY shifts some of the crud in the "dead" area. Something like citric acid added can only help imho.
8ob
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Going to go and get a plastic bin with a lid to decant that 20kg bag of citric into before I bust the bag open, may get a chance to try it tomorrow
Bob
Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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Some comparisons here:
Removing Rust - Australian Wood Review
Rust is the enemy of fine woodwork, but there are ways of winning the war.
www.woodreview.com.au
Brad93
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Oxalic acid will remove all iron not just rust, so it will eat into your part
bigegg
Scream Not Working Because Space Make Deaf
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It's the compound which makes Rhubarb leaves, and green potatoes, poisonous.
Not sure how that correlates to just touching it, as long as it's not ingested.
Seadog
Save the planet. It's the only one with rum!
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Green potatoes are green due to chlorophyll forming around a damaged area. The toxin is Solanine, but you'd need to eat about 4 kg of raw potatoes to ingest enough to make you ill.
