Brass/Copper Alloy? Cleaning Turquoise Corrosion...Ideas?

[Kirk]

Hi all - It's been a lot of years since I took general chemistry back in college. I have a Sea Ray 1983 Express Cruiser Twin CAT Diesel boat, and have noticed considerable pain-in-the-*ss accumulation of turquoise colored corrosion build-up on the sea valve inlets for (a) cooling the diesels, and (b) providing sea water to the A/C strainers. I have two problems I'm seeking advice on as wire brushing simply does not get the valves (or the strainers) clean:

1. I'm looking for a home brew...what can I mix up around the house to battle the corrosion and remove it? Or, do I need to buy something from the local Home Depot?

2. How do I keep the corrosion from re-occurring, or at least slow it down so it's not an ongoing issue ever month or two?

I'd really appeaciate some of you ol' salts throwing a few tips my way

Love my boat...slowly implementing upgrades and bringing her back to life!!

Many thanks in advance,
Kirk
Palm Coast, FL

 

[fwebster]

1. A mild acid solution will dissolve the corrosion on the bronze fittings. Try the safer stuff first, like Rustaid, or Whink Fabric Rust Remover. Rustaid is available at your local Lowes/Home Depot. If that won't do it, you can use a stronger acid.....Clean Strip Prep and Etch is available at Home Depot in the paint dept. It is phosphoric acid and is safet to use than muriatic acid. It will work, but I won't recommend using it in a boat bilge unless it is very diluted due to the fume risk.

2. You can't.............world peace is a more attainable goal........but keeping a moisture barrier (Boeshield, Corrosion Block, etc.) on the metals helps. The single best thing you can do to slow the corrosive process is to keep your bilge as dry as possible, but that is difficult unless you replace your packing glands with dripless shaft seals.

 

[Kirk]

This is great, Frank Thanks for the kick-back on this one. I have some time this weekend to tackle this little issue and will start with the Rustaid, or Whink Fabric Rust Remover before moving onto something stronger.

Cheers and have a great weekend up there in TN
Kirk

 

[fwebster]

Frank is in Florida this week............boating.

 

[JediJD]

Is the turquoise the bronze equivalent of rust? I have some of that going on but thought someone had cleaned the bronze with the wrong stuff. I'd love to get it polished up and will try the Rustaid or Whink.

 

[fwebster]

It is just corrosion............and acid removes it. I once saw a blobote owner remove the green crud from his bronze compass housing using catsup. I guess acid was too expensive.

 

[carterchapman]

I've heard of using Texas Pete or just plain vinegar....acid is acid I guess...

 

[Iprof]

Mix up some baking soda and water, brush it on and watch what happens, copper and bronz come up real nice amd clean. It also neutralizes battery acid.

Ken

 

[Kirk]

Mix up some baking soda and water, brush it on and watch what happens, copper and bronz come up real nice amd clean. It also neutralizes battery acid.

Ken

I tried the Rustaid; had some in the garage. This worked pretty well applied with a small wire brush. But, still could look better. I didn't think baking soda & water would work on this kind of rust...but I'll give that a try to see if it does any better. One thing I noticed using the Rustaid is that with the frequent dipping into the little cup of Rustaid, it lost it's chemical strength pretty fast. Hum, just had a thought...maybe it would be easier to put some Rustaid in a little spray bottle so it doesn't react with the rust on the wire brush.

Interesting though...I have the strainers connected to the boat's grounding system. You'd think that would mitigate a lot of the problem (my zinks are good by the way). Oh well, live and learn

I'll let everyone know how the Baking Soda does.

Cheers and thanks again for all who are following this thread. Corrosion is everyone's pain!!
Kirk