Evapo Rust vs Apple Cider Vinegar

luvmyclassics

luvmyclassics

Senior Member
I have always used Evapo Rust with some sandblasting to remove rust from small parts. I watched a number of you tube videos which removed rust using only apple cider vinegar. It appeared to work very well.

I am trying a test case with vinegar right now. After 24 hours some rust has been removed but it doesn't seem to be working all that well.

Has anyone used apple cider vinegar with success?
 
I have used white vinegar and water 50/50 to remove rust from old kerosene lanterns.
Completely immersed for a few days, Rust comes off with a cloth or toothbrush.
No harm to steel. Pot metal will dissolve.
Bruce
 
I recently used a vinegar bath in a large container to remove rust from a set of heads and manifold. Soak for a day then scrub with a scotch brite pad and the nylon bottle brushes that come with the HF bottle brush kit. Did that over and over for a week. Looked like new. I used 50/50 cleaning vinegar/water.

Then I put a set of old spark plugs in the heads and soaked the combustion chamber with simple green. Every hour or so agitated the carbon deposits with a nylon brush. Did that all morning, then one more soak with vinegar to remove surface rust from above, air compress dry with air and wipe down the engine side with wd40 and spray a little wd40 in the heads and manifold holes, air it again, wipe with lacquer thinner, and prime. Really pleased.

Picked all of that up on the site, just sharing that it worked for me.

JB
 
In my book, there is no comparison. "Evaporust" hands down. It just plain works better. Also, you have to be careful with vinegar, because it is an acid. It'll eat your parts if you forget about them. Again, the drawback is cost. I have switched to "Rust911" which is a concentrate that works like "Evaporust" but is cheaper. Several years back, I spent a lot of time evaluating rust removal methods and found "Evaporust" the best. I tried moilasses, vinegar, and even set up a good-sized electrolysis tank. The "Evaporust" worked best.
 
if you use white vinegar don't forget your parts! 3 months equals 60 thou of a cylinder head to make it usable again
 
I've used the Evapo Rust a time or two. Last opportunity was on a set of aluminum bike rims where the spoke holes were reinforced with steel
grommets..... which were rusted. Cleaned that mess right up in about
a week, which is not bad because the "grommets" were heavily rusted
and had been that way for at least 20 years. Aluminum rims were
not affected in the least..... PERFECT.
White vinegar did nothing and I never even thought to try Apple Cider
Vinegar.
I've been running No-Rosion and straight water in the '48 for coolant.
We'll see how my new water pumps from 2015 look later this year when
I do cooling system PM.

www.No-Rosion.com
 
my 2 cents
for every 10 degrees or so you heat vinegar the acidity goes up! as the p.h goes
down,so be careful using to clean radiators
cliff
 
luvmyclassics said:
I have always used Evapo Rust with some sandblasting to remove rust from small parts. I watched a number of you tube videos which removed rust using only apple cider vinegar. It appeared to work very well.

I am trying a test case with vinegar right now. After 24 hours some rust has been removed but it doesn't seem to be working all that well.

Has anyone used apple cider vinegar with success?
Click to expand...

There are several ways I've used to remove rust.

Electrolysis works great. I used that based on my previous occupation dealing with historical objects from under water. It works great but needs a bit of setup and equipment and takes some time.

Evaporust works well but doesn't last long. It also loses potency sitting in the jug. It's also expensive, like $25/gallon last time I checked.

Some sort of phosphoric acid works very well - Metal Ready, Right Stuff, Ospho, Prep and Etch, all the same. About $15/gallon and keeps its potency longer. You can also dilute it to stretch it out but that makes it take longer. The best part is, although it will eventually dissolve the metal object you put in it, the rust goes way earlier. Its my standby for small parts.

Vinegar is bad. Not only does it not work as well, it also dissolves the metal object a lot quicker than phosphoric acid. Its saving grace is that it's cheap, but I never found it effective, so I don't use it.

I'd go with a blasting cabinet, or phosphoric acid, or electrolysis if you have the space to set it up (just make sure you don't do it inside, coff coff Hindenburgh coff coff
 
Andy69 said:
There are several ways I've used to remove rust.

Electrolysis works great. I used that based on my previous occupation dealing with historical objects from under water. It works great but needs a bit of setup and equipment and takes some time.

Evaporust works well but doesn't last long. It also loses potency sitting in the jug. It's also expensive, like $25/gallon last time I checked.

Some sort of phosphoric acid works very well - Metal Ready, Right Stuff, Ospho, Prep and Etch, all the same. About $15/gallon and keeps its potency longer. You can also dilute it to stretch it out but that makes it take longer. The best part is, although it will eventually dissolve the metal object you put in it, the rust goes way earlier. Its my standby for small parts.

Vinegar is bad. Not only does it not work as well, it also dissolves the metal object a lot quicker than phosphoric acid. Its saving grace is that it's cheap, but I never found it effective, so I don't use it.

I'd go with a blasting cabinet, or phosphoric acid, or electrolysis if you have the space to set it up (just make sure you don't do it inside, coff coff Hindenburgh coff coff
Click to expand...


Oh the humanity!
 
Final answer? Evaporust. I spent alot of time evaluating electrolysis. Messy and inferior results.
 
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tubman said:
The Professor ("Old Henry") put this to rest a couple of years ago with a controlled, scientific test. Check out this thread starting at post #30 : http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123032&highlight=Evaporust&page=2
Click to expand...

Here is the conclusion of that test for anyone interested (Post # 45)

Test is ended. Here are the results after 4 days of soaking:
Evapo-Rust on the left. Vinegar on the right.

DSCN1861_zpsf298cd1c.jpg


And after a quick wipe with my finger inside of both pumps, there is no residue from the Evapo-Rust whereas the vinegar has left substantial not changed much in the last 36 hours.

DSCN1874_zpsccc8df16.jpg


36 hours ago (from Post # 44):

DSCN1782_zps3f31b4ee.jpg


Also note that the vinegar ate the paint off of the right pump and then the metal rusted after the paint was gone. Not good in my opinion. (First picture from post # 1 before any treatment. All paint still on the right pump.)

DSCN1776_zps71419fe0.jpg


I checked the warts with a magnet then scraped some off after the test was concluded and they were nothing but solid rust, not calcium nor lime deposits.

Another noticeable difference is that the Evapo-Rust solution is still totally clear with just a few black particles at the bottom, probably dirt from the outside of the pump.

DSCN1870_zps40709732.jpg


Whereas, the vinegar solution is cloudy and milky rust colored.

DSCN1872_zps704a8332.jpg


DSCN1865_zps37d597a1.jpg


My conclusions:

1. The Evapo-Rust is far superior to plain vinegar. It does any and all that vinegar does and more and leaves the metal and the solution clear and clean.

2. Acid may do some good but not enough when compared to the bad it also does at the same time. I figured out later that the reason the vinegar quit working is that it lost its acidity. Three pints of vinegar was somehow neutralized by just the intake of the water pump sitting in it for a few days. It wore out before it even finished the job. Such doesn't predict very good results in an engine block where the ratio of metal to vinegar is even higher making it even more likely that the vinegar would be neutralized before it finished its job.

3. The thick deposits were not any kind of calcium or lime deposits. I checked them with a magnet then scraped some off (after the test was concluded) and they were nothing but solid rust.

4. Neither approach creates any "chunks" of stuff that needs to be filtered out by putting some kind of filter in the radiator to keep it from plugging up. Anything suspended in either solution will be flushed out by a good back flushing (which any filter would keep from working.) When I say "good back flushing" I mean this kind: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83557

5. Although the Evapo-rust costs more - $60.00 for 5 gallons compared to $25.00 for the vinegar - it can be reused over and over again for up to 300 lbs. of rusted steel per gallon giving additional value for the additional cost.

Next summer, when it gets time to start worrying about overheating, I'll take the radiator hoses off of the top of the heads and look down inside to see if I see any rust or corrosion even though my engine rebuilder said he "boiled it out" just in June. If there's anything I'll put in the Evapo-Rust, run it for a few days, then look in to see if the rust is all gone.

Another interesting thing I learned about Evapo-Rust from my research - you'll notice that there is a slight darkening of the metal after being cleaned by Evapo-Rust. Here is the explanation of that from the Evapo-Rust site:

"The black film is carbon from the steel. Steel is composed of a combination of carbon and iron. In certain instances, steel will darken in color after rust has been removed from the surface of the metal. This is a natural phenomenon that chemists refer to as “carbon migration”. The carbon from the steel moves, or “migrates”, to the outer layer of the metal and settles into the pores. The removal of the rust (iron oxide) reduces the proportion of iron to carbon, leaving a higher concentration of carbon on the outer surface. This heavier layer of carbon could cause a darkening of the metal due to the attributes of the carbon. The darkening does not have an adverse affect on the metal. It merely represents the movement of carbon from the interior of the metal to the exterior of the metal."

And, from another part of their site I learned that the black carbon layer turns out to be a good thing as it is a rust barrier from future or further rust whereas, metal cleaned by acid is susceptible to "flash rust" or rust that forms almost immediately when the metal in exposed to air. Possibly why the right pump is red in the pictures after I just take it out of the vinegar and rinse it with water.
 
tubman said:
Final answer? Evaporust. I spent alot of time evaluating electrolysis. Messy and inferior results.
Click to expand...

It all has to do with the way you set it up. Electrolysis is used to derust iron cannon quite successfully. It's a standard method for conservation of iron objects from salt water.

It's more or less a line of sight deal. The current will travel from the cathode to the anode. The larger the anode, the more rust you will remove. One piece of rebar used as an anode will result in rust removal on the surface of the part facing the anode. For successful rust removal, you want to surround the part with the anode. I've used a large number of pieces of rebar wired together, but chicken wire works well. The big conservation labs will use the a big tub or vat as the anode - picture a garbage dumpster full of water with the parts in it. You want the part surrounded by the anode for best results.

You also need an electrolyte in the water. I've always used washing soda.
 
The big question is where can I find evaporust? Yesterday I looked at Home Depot and Wal*Mart. Will either Ace or Tractor Supply have it?
 
Andy69 said:
It all has to do with the way you set it up. Electrolysis is used to derust iron cannon quite successfully. It's a standard method for conservation of iron objects from salt water.

It's more or less a line of sight deal. The current will travel from the cathode to the anode. The larger the anode, the more rust you will remove. One piece of rebar used as an anode will result in rust removal on the surface of the part facing the anode. For successful rust removal, you want to surround the part with the anode. I've used a large number of pieces of rebar wired together, but chicken wire works well. The big conservation labs will use the a big tub or vat as the anode - picture a garbage dumpster full of water with the parts in it. You want the part surrounded by the anode for best results.

You also need an electrolyte in the water. I've always used washing soda.
Click to expand...
The "line of sight" problem is why I have always had issues with electrolysis. Between repostioning electrodes and part being derusted, it gets messy. On some items, there were areas that never got derusted because of the configuration of the part. It probably works well if you are doing the same thing over and over so you can have a specialized setup, which would also be much cheaper that Evaporust. I also have a problem with the black coating that ends up of the parts sometimes. It's another step involved to remove it, and then the parts are subject to flash rust. For the average automotive hobbyist, I'll stick with my original conclusion.
 
3twinridges said:
The big question is where can I find evaporust? Yesterday I looked at Home Depot and Wal*Mart. Will either Ace or Tractor Supply have it?
Click to expand...

Buy rust911 instead on their website. It comes as a concentrate and is less than half the price per gallon than evaporust. For $59.50 you get enough concentrate to make 16 gallons. Evaporust is $30/gallon at HF. I started out buying evaporust. But why pay $30 a gallon when you can pay $3.75? You can also mix it up stronger and it works faster.

The uses for evaporust and Ospho are different. Evaporust is for things you can immerse. I fixed a frozen up glove box hinge using Evaporust. I don't know how else to fix one. It won't work on a fender or frame unless you have an enormous tank of it.
 
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