Remove rust with white vinegar? REALLY?

[nihontobiker]

Just wondering how well this works and how safe it is?
I know there is you tube videos and what not but
I would like to hear from people whom have actually tried this.

I have the cogs from the inside of a rather neglected G-BOXX system
And parts are not made for these anymore so want to try and restore the spare box the best i can.

Is it a matter of just soaking over night in pure white vinegar?
And then scrubbing off?
Then after that how do to neutralize the vinegar acids once done?
Will ammonia do it or something else?

Thanks for taking the time to read and help

 

[greencat]

Vinegar is a very weak acid. Rinsing under tap water for a minute or two will get rid of it.

Whether it'll actually remove rust I couldn't say, but given that Coke (another weak acid) will remove the tarnish from copper pennies I shouldn't be surprised.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

Vinegar is Acetic Acid about 0.8Moles/l concentration. I.e. quite weak.

It may be cheaper to just buy Acetic acid and dilute it.

The acid will also react with the metal so you of course loose a little bit but nothing to normally worry about.

There are many other acids that will work, vinegar is nice as many people have it and there is not a lot else in it (unlike cola). Bicarbonate of soda solution will neutralise it (often use as people often have it, though baking is not as common nowadays ;-))

You will need to displace the water afterwards, so WD40 or similar should be used, this would also protect it for a while until you find whatever you want to coat it with.

 

[Raging_Bulls]

Vinegar has a lot of other uses too. I tend to use it to clean rims and rotors.