cleaning galvanized metal

[jtg1]

have a large number of bucket sprays which i’ve refurbished the sprayer parts ready for display. any sugestions as to how to clean up the buckets/tanks themselves. dont want to regalvanize, one on cost secondly on appearance. just want to get rid of all the muck and powdery surface.
any suggestions,experiance welcome

[vhgmcbuddy]

hi john. years ago we used to clean vehicle radiators out with caustic soda. a mild mix of this will probably shift it ,then thoughly rinse.

[wristpin]

Nasty stuff !

[will-haggle]

There was a piece in the Stationary Engine a while ago where chap used ordinary metal polish on a dull galvanized tank and it came up like new….

[hillsider]

I have not tried it myself (yet) but I have heard good reports from folk who have used undiluted traffic film remover as used in pressure washers to clean commercial vehicles for cleaning metal parts.

The folk that I have spoken to tell me that parts left to soak in the product will come out with no rust or paint left on them so if you do try this out I would be inclined to try it on something that is not too important as an experiment and see what happens.

I would stress though that you take care to follow the handling and safety instructions for any product that you choose to try, particularly in their undiluted form traffic film removers can be hazardous both to paint and people!!!

[wristpin]

It is quite likely that undiluted heavy duty TFR will strip paint as it will be caustic based. We found that even diluted and fed through a pressure washer it would fade the paint and take the shine off machines, especially those that were powder coated such as Westwoods. We switched to a non caustic TTR which didn’t dull the paint.

[vhgmcbuddy]

You could try Prorust, Treats and removes corrosion from steel, stainless steel and aluminium metal. You can find out more if you Google it. I have used it on corroded aluminium and it did the gob.

[jtg1]

any rust killer is a no no, as they are generally acid based, and will react violently with zinc galvanizing, and the lime wash residue often found in these sprayers. looks like a strong industrial detergent might be the way to go

[wristpin]

looks like a strong industrial detergent might be the way to go

Try Googling “Teepol”

[vhgmcbuddy]

Good job you didn’t use that jtq1, should have read what it said on the instructions.

[sprayerman]

Hi jtg1,

Re the cleaning of the Galvanised Tanks and buckets of sprayers. In the past I have initially used an old hack saw blade with the end ground down and sharpened on a stone to make a scraper to remove the worst, especially creosote residue. Care is needed of course to not damage the galvanising. And oddly enough hot water, carbolic soap, an old fashioned scrubbing brush and plenty of elbow grease has worked wonders on many items in the collection. Yes it does take a long time but the satisfaction more than pays for it & the carbolic does get the hands clean too!! (Truth is in our house we only use Carbolic and have done so for years – magic stuff)

Good luck.

cheers

[vhgmcbuddy]

hi sprayerman . carbollick soap brings back bad memories like 50 years worth. I had a teacher who used that daily,and as he got within 20 feet of our class room the smell was rather pungent,we knew when he was coming. the ending of the story is the affect it had on me was sneezing repeatedly for the duration of the class.

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