tristanlee85 Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 I've searched Google for a good 30 minutes on this one. What chemicals are using for chemical dipping of exhaust parts to remove carbon and whatever else (oil, etc)? I have about 5 gallons of muriatic acid, but I'm very unsure what it will do to stainless steel. I know it eats away copper on circuit boards very well though...I just need a good way of cleaning the inside of the exhaust before re-welding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbospec29 Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 I'm not sure about stainless, but I race nitro r/c cars. (small 2 cycle engines) Guys clean the crap out of the exausts by putting antifreeze in a croc pot and dropping the pipes in that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristanlee85 Posted May 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 Well, I'm going to get some sample 304L and test this before I do the real thing. The muriatic acid I have is 31% hydrochloric and 20% baume, so it's going to stain stainless steel (oxy-moron) from what I can tell. However, the exhaust already has an abrasion from media blasting with black diamond sand, so any external staining should be removing by re-blasting the piece once it has been soaked and cleaned. I just want to make sure I remove any and all carbon and oils I can before welding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry_Trapp01647545522 Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 muriatic/hydrochloric acid will definatly eat the rust off, but it also promotes rusting too so you gotta wash the part off really good, let it dry, then coat it. it also reacts with iron, so you dont want to leave the piece in it for long periods of time(like a week or something), just long enough to get the rust off. it seems to be pretty commonly used in the automotive acid dipping world, so have at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristanlee85 Posted May 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 Shouldn't promote rusting if it's 304L, right? i don't see how that would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry_Trapp01647545522 Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 oops, i was referring to general metal dipping. it looks like muriatic/hydrochloric acid is a BAD idea for stainless steel as it will react with it and cause corrosion(pitting and weakening). http://www.imoa.info/moly_uses/moly_grade_stainless_steels/stainless_faq_abc/cleaning_stainless_steel.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Removed Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 oops, i was referring to general metal dipping. it looks like muriatic/hydrochloric acid is a BAD idea for stainless steel as it will react with it and cause corrosion(pitting and weakening). http://www.imoa.info/moly_uses/moly_grade_stainless_steels/stainless_faq_abc/cleaning_stainless_steel.html yes it will eat 304 right up, and you can kiss aluminum good bye with chloric acids if i remember right. i know caustic soda might be better. but its to late for me to be thinking at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristanlee85 Posted May 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 I have looked everywhere for caustic soda actually. Other than ordering it online, I'm not sure what hardware stores around here carry it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 you could always just clean the inside with a wire wheel in the areas your going to weld. thats all i ever do if i even bother with that. your building an exhaust not a space shuttle things don't have to be 100% clean all the way through. why waste the time and money when both ways you'll end up with the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristanlee85 Posted May 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 You can probably only guess what POS might need welded on this car again... and while getting a wire brush down in there isn't going to be possible. :-\ The guy is going to re-tig it and mill the flange all for free, but he wanted me to prep it real good before I mailed it off to him so that's why I'm willing to spend some $$ to get it very clean on the inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBussman1647545507 Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 WD-40 works good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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