Cleaning stainless.

kommando · Aug 16, 2022

I would not be using Hydrofluoric acid even at low concentrations without using lots of personal protection.

CDC | Facts About Hydrogen Fluoride (Hydrofluoric Acid)

Information on terrorism and public health. Provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

emergency.cdc.gov

I use phosphoric acid for cleaning stainless at 5% solution which is a lot safer.

Tornado · Aug 16, 2022

baz said:
I've never seen him before
What does he do?

He does loads of videos supposedly show how to do maintenance or project bikes to the uninitiated, but does many wrong things, same dangerous things and never points out his mistakes. Things like opening a rad cap to show how to change cooltant, despite steam shooting out the very hot system. Also has been shown to delete negative comments from his videos, meaning anyone offering even constructive criticism is removed, hidden from folks that don't know any better.
I once made a comment on a brake bleeding video he had, suggesting he should point out how ABS systems need different methods. He replied saying how pious I sounded and then banned ne from any future comments.

There's an entertaining channel called The Dirty Guy Garage that reviews Delboy's terrible stuff in great detail.

EstuaryBoy · Aug 16, 2022

Given the propensity towards stainless steel wheel rims these days, I'd be wary of throwing acid based liquids near tyres/tubes?? Even with a thorough dousing/rinse off afterwards, the number of places liquid can 'creep' on spoked rims would put me off going this route for cleaning them.....

baz · Aug 18, 2022

baz said:
Here's the ingredients

One word of warning
This stuff is extremely corrosive, don't get it on anything chrome!

Shelby-Right · Aug 18, 2022

It's really made for the tig welder /fabrication, person , it requires Common Sense , can save you a lot of hard work with those "black spots" that stainless gets and yellowing on old Stainless headers . Wash of with water no problems , Id stick with the correct BOC type product comes with a very heavy duty container , Never feared for my life and like Baz says keep away from steel .

gpzkat · Aug 18, 2022

Barkeeper's Friend, which is a hard surface cleaner available here in the US works, but not aggressively. It takes a while. I mean a looong while. It has oxalic acid in it, now I know to just make a paste and leave it on for a while. I used on my Suzuki Turbo's badly tarnished header which had sat for 24 years. After a while it tarnishes again, sigh.

baz · Aug 23, 2022

NorLuck said:
Why wouldn't you just ceramic coat the inside of the SS pipes? That way the outside of the pipe wouldn't get hot enough to discolour? Wouldn't be easy to get a uniform finish but not impossible.. I'm speaking with a guy now about solutions for my custom pipes... Might run this idea by some "experts" and see what we can come up with and then just try and see what happens.

What for?

baz · Aug 23, 2022

NorLuck said:
So that way the pipes don't discolour? Not gonna work?
Also I wouldn't burn my leg, I don't much care for the heat shields.

No idea if it'd work or not
Just wondering why would anyone bother ?
Some bikes have twin wall downpipes but they are usually chrome and rust quite nicely

baz · Aug 23, 2022

What pipes do you have that are burning your leg?

EstuaryBoy · Aug 23, 2022

baz said:
What pipes do you have that are burning your leg?

It's the friction from jumping up and down!

Apologies Norluck..... How's the starting problem coming along??

cliffa · Sep 4, 2024

After cleaning the downpipes on my 961 with Harpic, I was surprised to see what looks like rusty specs on them some time later. So, for anyone reading this, apparently using strong acid such as Harpic is actually harmful to stainless steel as it attacks the chromium content of the stainless alloy, and will allow corrosion to start.

Read more on the care of stainless here…

How to Clean Stainless Steel and Prevent Corrosion

Learn how to clean and protect stainless steel from corrosion with proven methods to extend its lifespan and maintain its pristine appearance.

www.reliance-foundry.com

Grandad · Sep 7, 2024

Harpic works really well, been there.

When I used it it was on a set of gearbox castings that needed a freshen up.

I did the job in the kitchen sink at home, trouble was the sink was stainless steel and afterwards there were marks and discolouration on the surface that still havent polished out.

My wife went bonkers can’t say I blame her either.

Take care with Harpic as it will affect the surface of alloys and if the alloy is hot the Harpic starts fizzing aggressively whilst producing noxious fumes.

cliffa · Sep 23, 2024

Grandad said:
Harpic works really well, been there.

When I used it it was on a set of gearbox castings that needed a freshen up.

I did the job in the kitchen sink at home, trouble was the sink was stainless steel and afterwards there were marks and discolouration on the surface that still havent polished out.

My wife went bonkers can’t say I blame her either.

Take care with Harpic as it will affect the surface of alloys and if the alloy is hot the Harpic starts fizzing aggressively whilst producing noxious fumes.

Each to their own, but I wouldn't let it near my pipes again. This is what the right pipe looked like initially, and then later after a few minutes with Diamond White Polish...

acotrel · Sep 28, 2024

Nitric acid is commonly used in metal finishing shops to clean stainless steel. Hydrochloric acid which will actually dissolve it.
Pair of tongs and a lump of cotton-wool.

Shelby-Right · Sep 29, 2024

Pickling paste . Made for stainless welds etc clean up . There are a few brands I'd imagine , i use BOC british oxygen company brand .

Shelby-Right · Sep 29, 2024

To finish off I use these , great on chrome headers stainless or alloy , you'll get fantastic results with compound or autosol , finish with a clean one .

Cleaning stainless.

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