Caustic soda dip tank

tomlad

Member
Location
nr. preston
talked to a lad in rad recore place .
they acid dip rads be fore they recore , apprentice loaded tank , not on the wire thingy . after a good few days / weeks they cant find this rad of a very special old car .......
that customer keeps ringing about , drained tank odd mounting stud is all that's left ..... big trouble .
 

Barry7529

Member
Today in my shed... I have been making a dip tank for cleaning off rust, paint, grease and dirt from bits of machines. View attachment 466646It's just an old oil tank with the top hacked off, the drain holes blocked off, the bracing inside removed and a rib fitted round to stop it bellying out. Nothing special...

This is a sewage pump that I had to repair. View attachment 466648 The pump sat in a bucket of caustic soda/water mix for a few days, taken out and rinsed off, dried and then given a light wire brush, 10 seconds worth.
It eats grease, oil, paint, rust and dirt, skin and eyes, so you need to wear goggles and gloves and waterproofs and keep kids and animals well away. It doesn't touch iron based metal, but eats copper based alloys. Aluminium is not to go in at all, it dissolves quickly and it releases hydrogen gas which could go with a bang.

I've only started using it, played a little with the caustic/water ratio and heating it, but I think it's great stuff (again, treating it with respect)
Has anyone else used it?
Personally I would stay clear of the stuff. Nasty stuff if you get it on your skin. One of the lads at work nearly lost him leg when he accidentally spilled some onto his ankle and didn't realise it was slowly burning away at his ankle. Spent 3 months off work and nearly a month in hospital. If you do get it on your skin need to get it washed off straight away followed by another 30mins under the tap.
 
Personally I would stay clear of the stuff. Nasty stuff if you get it on your skin. One of the lads at work nearly lost him leg when he accidentally spilled some onto his ankle and didn't realise it was slowly burning away at his ankle. Spent 3 months off work and nearly a month in hospital. If you do get it on your skin need to get it washed off straight away followed by another 30mins under the tap.
Got to watch what you're doing. Full covering of waterproofing and gauntlets (put on before the jacket) and nitrile gloves or marigolds underneath for when there's pin holes in the gauntlets and a full face mask with the hood up on the jacket and you're ok.
It's not super strong, you can put your fingers in it and see if the paint wipes away and then walk to the house and wash it off without doing any damage. (Not that I do that regularly)

But still nasty. Seemingly worse than acid for burning.
 

fermerboy

Member
Location
Banffshire
Been reading this amd it seems a good job.
How long does a tankful last? Till its contaminated with paint etc?
Then how do you dispose of the caustic soda mix when done? Cant chuck stuff like that down the drain surely??

Interesting as always Davie.
 
Been reading this amd it seems a good job.
How long does a tankful last? Till its contaminated with paint etc?
Then how do you dispose of the caustic soda mix when done? Cant chuck stuff like that down the drain surely??

Interesting as always Davie.
You can throw another bag in and keep the ph high. (spilling it in gently and slowly of course. Water first then caustic) there's a light film of gunge on the surface now but it's still working fine. I scrape off the big lumps of grease and dirt before I put the bits in, like the grease in wheel hubs so it doesn't build up too quickly.

You could pour the caustic water mix down the drain as its sold as drain unblocker, maybe not 1000 litres at a time though, but the stuff its self must be ok.
Might even be good to raise the ph on the lawn...
As for the stuff in the tank, paint pigment and grease/oil not sure yet.
It's not built up enough to cause problems with contaminating bits yet so it keeps getting used.
 

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