B-6 Just a rustoration, ( the last word on oxalic and other organic acid rust removal)

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Something to keep me busy. I went barnstorming and brought one home to clean up for Charlie. It's a good candidate for a chemistry demo. I will probably make a live video of the acid bath. I can't think of a better way to show you guys how it should be done. We'll see. The rack is missing a few inches and the light is gone so whatever. Perfect for a "rustoration".
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Awesome! I recently refreshed a similar Schwinn.
 
I am just not going to worry about it. I am just shy of enough of this to be comfortable and these were on sale so I plan to tear down the bike today and bath tomorrow. I have to go all the way to Ace in Rockwall to find this stuff and I don't feel like it. These cute bottles that fit in water cages were on sale and I like to use them for tea. So... anyways i didn't make it all the way to ace hardware today
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I keep trying keep trying to explain this to people and they never want to listen so I just happened to have an app that calculates these numbers distributed by "Pirates love bacon". It's called pool pal. There is a free version for Android. I tell everyone who asks and everyone who asks always asks the same question, your water quality is going to determine acid demand. i have the pro version I can track 1,000 hut tubs I can use for acid baths on it. The free version you can only program for 100 different tubs
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I might run to store anyway but I think it closes at five and I haven't tested my water yet. I know that the alkalinity is higher than 20. I can't think of z city that delivers it that low
So when I say something like, you may need 4oz for fifty gallons and you may need four pounds stop looking at me like I have two heads. It's not my fault someone fed you the entire interwebs full off misinformation.
For the record:
1. Cold water kills the reaction. Throwing ice in your solution will drop you acid out of suspension. The precipitation you see in so many tutorials is just that. A waste of chemistry. You might as well filter it out and start over. Yes you can actually do that.
2. Throwing bicarb in the solution neutralizes it. Wait until you take your bike out. Basic solutions cause rust. Cold water with high alkalinity and an organic acid precipitated onto your frame is a basic solution with a hint of caustic snow. I see idgets warning People about damaging the paint. This is a recipe for destroyed paint
 
The effectiveness of your solution is plotted on a sine wave where optimal heat and ph effect the length of time required. They peak at about 180° and 1.8 pH. After that they take a dive. There is a line before that it is a complete waste of time and wood bleach. Rust will eventually get soft enough you can wipe enough of it off it you leave it in the pool all day. This leads the illiterate masses to praise the benefits of wasting a bunch of acid doing it wrong because it appeared to work. (fancy graphic included for maximum effect)
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Remove nickel, chromed, pot metal parts from your bath. You just made a Bagdad battery and you will wind up plating something pink or green you did not want to happen
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you guys should know this science experiment. Leave a penny in vinegar
 
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I haven't done one of these in forever so I am just going to follow my own instructions and see what happens. I trust me though and I remember reading too many published peer reviewed papers on effects of organic acids on oxidation. i have something extra gnarly i can throw in the bath too

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yes it will absolutely melt paint composed of tiny bugs (carmine red) if you leave you bicycle in water for 24 hours with a dry organic acid dropped out of suspension all over it. That is excactly why finishing something in an hour because you did it correctly is so important. Gratuitous "carmine red" before and after photos included.
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this had like five minutes to go and i had to go pick up my Daughter from some school thing so i left it in too long. Probably thirty minutes too many. My water was about 110 when i got home
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I mean seriously. I did that in an hour, not two days like the dude on you tube
 
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lemon juice is like 2 pH, the difference is it is clustered and probably has a hardness of zilch. same with distilled vinegar. Those things are really effective at room temperature as you lower the total dissolved solids in your solution. There is this really cool muon detector in Japan that the water is so pure it will dissolve the flesh right off of you if you fall in. Did I mention I am a class iii water treatment specialist?
 
the ultimo system i would use a several pre filtration and treatment steps. I would start with an ion exchange then a kangen system and finish with a reverse osmosis set up before my heater. That water would just circulate through an activated garnet filter and a hotsy. I keep dreaming about putting one on a trailer I can take to shows. I mean I could legit restore relics "while you wait". i would be done befor I finished explaining why it worked. Throw a sonic washer on there and I would be the one stop relic restore dude at the swap meet. Oh, and my buffer.
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Can you see the skyline in the reflection on that tubing? I could see birds flying over head
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I have an app that calculates these numbers distributed by "Pirates love bacon". It's called pool pal. There is a free version for Android. I tell everyone who asks and everyone who asks always asks the same question, your water quality is going to determine acid demand. i have the pro version I can track 1,000 hut tubs I can use for acid baths on it.
Did I mention I am a class iii water treatment specialist?
The effectiveness of your solution is plotted on a sine wave where optimal heat and ph effect the length of time required. They peak at about 180° and 1.8 pH. After that they take a dive. There is a line before that it is a complete waste of time and wood bleach. Rust will eventually get soft enough you can wipe enough of it off it you leave it in the pool all day to lead the illiterate masses to praise the benefits of wasting a bunch of acid. (fancy graphic included for maximum effect)
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I couldn't find a cork so I shoved a potato in the drain.
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I love your methodology. Thorough, and effective. Seriously, a good write up, never considered that pigment source would affect the outcome.
 
Yeah I get asked alot so I wanted to be really thorough. I am not putting the graphs in here. I can't remember what issue of Nature they are in. As long as you are far enough into the curve it works really well. Just as hot as you can handle the water and as low as you can manage your alkalinity/pH
 
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I want to finish my build off bike today so I might wait till tomorrow to do these. I kind of need to clear my workbench before I take apart these two Schwinn's. I have a repop phantom here I am restoring for someone too and Pierce wanted me to do his Victory. I just started using my YouTube account and noticed how many botched tutorials on oxalic acid there are and got frustrated again. I have been explaining this to people for at least five years and the guys who asked me got such great results I wanted a thread somewhere besides my Facebook albums with it all written down. It's about organic acids and oxidation. There is just a lot of conflicting advice and confusion about what works and why
 
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I actually built a portable set up for acid washing the plaster in a pool. Trees and other nonsense stain the plaster before we finish one. Steel and other construction trash gets in there occasionally and we have to get it out to get the color right. It's the same math
 

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