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General Steam Car topics
Cleaning Brass valves and fittings
Posted by: SSsssteamer (IP Logged)
Date: May 25, 2006 02:02PM
<HTML>What is the best way to clean up buckets of Stanley dirty brass hand valves and brass fittings? The brass is blackened by years of smoke and tarnish; and using the wire wheel is getting a bit tiresome and it is abrasive. To get them bright again, I am trying soaking them in carburetor cleaner . There has to be a home remedy that is affordable and that works good.</HTML>
Re: Cleaning Brass valves and fittings
Posted by: Rolly (IP Logged)
Date: May 25, 2006 04:37PM
<HTML>Pat first degrees them, then dump them in a bucket of the cleaner used to clean the lime out of water heaters, there are many brands, basically a week solution of Hydrochloric acid or Muramic acid. It won’t take long. rinse well with Boraxo and water. This will clean them not polish them.
You can get it by the gallon at the plumbing supply.</HTML>
Rolly
You can get it by the gallon at the plumbing supply.</HTML>
Rolly
Re: Cleaning Brass valves and fittings
Posted by: Mike Clark (IP Logged)
Date: May 26, 2006 11:22AM
<HTML>Pat - you can use a dilute solution of ammonia - doesn't need long though and tends to make them go a bit more coppery than brassy in colour - stinks too!
Mike</HTML>
Mike</HTML>
Re: Cleaning Brass valves and fittings
Posted by: SSsssteamer (IP Logged)
Date: May 27, 2006 02:15PM
<HTML>Thank you Rolly and Mike for the tips on the cleaning solutions. As it turns out, the carburetor cleaner didn't do too bad of a job either.</HTML>
Re: Cleaning Brass valves and fittings
Posted by: Graeme Vagg (IP Logged)
Date: May 27, 2006 09:32PM
<HTML>After cleaning the brass, have you thought about giving it a protective clear coating to keep it clean for longer periods. Hair spray will do it and to remove the coating you spray it again (to soften the first coat) and wipe it all off with a piece of cloth.
Graeme</HTML>
Graeme</HTML>
Re: Cleaning Brass valves and fittings
Posted by: Dick Vennerbeck (IP Logged)
Date: June 02, 2006 05:47AM
<HTML>Pat,
Get a gallon or two of ordinary vinegar, dilute it with a little hot water and throw in two handfulls of table salt. This will remove "patina" from parts that are clean of oul and grease. To clean the grease put them in a bucket over a fire with a cupful of automatic dishwasher soap. This soap is high in alkali and does a nice job. It will also work nicely to remove an oil film from the inside of a boiler. The vinegar salt solution will etch the brass very slightly and make them easy to polish.
You can also check "Brite" or "Bright" Dip on Google.
An environmental nightmare,Chromic Acid, will do a beautiful job too. (Reloaders used to use this to clean brass shells, but a little bit of it can stop a municipal sewage system in its tracks.)</HTML>
Get a gallon or two of ordinary vinegar, dilute it with a little hot water and throw in two handfulls of table salt. This will remove "patina" from parts that are clean of oul and grease. To clean the grease put them in a bucket over a fire with a cupful of automatic dishwasher soap. This soap is high in alkali and does a nice job. It will also work nicely to remove an oil film from the inside of a boiler. The vinegar salt solution will etch the brass very slightly and make them easy to polish.
You can also check "Brite" or "Bright" Dip on Google.
An environmental nightmare,Chromic Acid, will do a beautiful job too. (Reloaders used to use this to clean brass shells, but a little bit of it can stop a municipal sewage system in its tracks.)</HTML>
Re: Cleaning Brass valves and fittings
Posted by: SSsssteamer (IP Logged)
Date: June 02, 2006 01:14PM
<HTML>Dear Dick, This sounds like the best home recipe yet for cleaning brass. I am going to print it out and use it in the future. Thank you. SSsssteamer</HTML>
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