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Re: What are the ingredients in a hot tank?

To: Paul Swengler <thelaw@aloha.com>
Subject: Re: What are the ingredients in a hot tank?
From: Greg Meboe <meboe@wsuaix.csc.wsu.edu>
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 1994 23:39:38 -31802 (PST)
On Tue, 6 Dec 1994, Paul Swengler wrote:

> Greg Meboe wrote:
> >I keep a small armory of caustic and acidic chemicals around for 
> >LBC cleanings. 
> 
> This is neither a flame nor a joke.   Hey Greg, that's nasty stuff!  

Good thing you wrote this Paul, I imagine I would have taken it as a joke.

> 
> What do you keep it in? Do You soak it over night?
> 
> I'd like to know how you do this. Perhaps with a tank I can bypass a couple 
> steps.
> 
> Paul Swengler                      Providing Hawaii's Legal Community

I don't want to take up too much bandwidth, but I figure I'll tell how I 
clean parts.  The carburetor cleaner is only mildly acidic, and it's 
shipped in a steel 5-gallon container.  I've never had a problem with the 
containers, so I just leave it in them.  The small parts fit into the 
5-gallon, and the large parts fit into the 55-gallon drum.
        Of course, the Sulfuric (battery) acid is a different story.  I 
have it stored in a plastic (High Density Polyethylene) container that I 
swiped from my Mom's kitchen.  Plastics are much more acid resistant 
than metals.  It's about 1 gallon and has perhaps a 1/8" wall thickness.  
All of my nasty stuff has lids so the fumes don't become overpowering.
        The recommended soak time for the carburettor cleaner is 5-30 
minutes, the longer time being for if you don't want to scrub.  It is 
pretty much a given that when I take something apart, all of the metal 
parts, (fasteners especially), take a dive in the tank while I take a 
grub break.  That way, things go together clean, and fasteners thread 
right the first time.  BTW, I just wash the parts that come out of the
carb dip tank in a high pressure stream of hot water.  Since they become 
hot themselves, they tend to dry quickly and are ready for painting or 
immediate assembly.
        Soaking the fasteners and small parts in the carb dip tank began 
as a substitute for a real pump-powered solvent tank, but after a few 
years with this method, I like it better.  The parts come out clean 
enough for painting, there's no motor, and there's virtually no 
scrubbing. It's easy and clean.
        This has worked quite well for me.  If you get some use out of 
it, that's all for the better.

                Greg
                            Greg Meboe     meboe@wsuaix.csc.wsu.edu
                            Dept. of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
                            Washington State University,  Pullman, Wa.
                            '85 XJ-12 H.E. (daily)  '67 Spit-6 '74 TR-6




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