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Re: [TCML] Cleaning Copper Primary Coil (with Muriatic/HydrochloricAcid)
Hi Brandon,
Unless you happen to have access to a lab grade fume
hood to manage the hellish fumes given off by muriatic acid,
as well as some thick rubber gloves, a full length rubber apron,
and a full face splash shield, I think this is a VERY BAD idea!
Hydrolchloric acid (most pool supply gallon jugs of it are
around 20 baume', or 32% HCL by mass, which is a fairly
concentrated solution), is a very strong inorganic acid. I assume
you have gotten a sniff of the visible fumes that rise from an
open container of this acid? It's as suffocating and irritating to
the mucous membranes as anhydrous ammonia. Not something
that "I" would want to be splashing around in to clean my primary
coil! Not to mention that you'd also have to worry about the acid
attacking the base and other support hardware of your coil as-
sembly.
You are obviously thinking of "pickling". This is the process
of applying muriatic acid to the surface of a metal to remove
the oxidation from its surface. This method of cleaning does
work for removing surface rust from ferrous metals but I don't
think that it would be nearly as effective at shining up the surface
of copper or copper based alloys. Maybe some of the resident
chemists could further expand upon this?
If you want something that will allow you to polish up your copper
primary coil without the hazards of a strong inorganic acid and
gives some relief from the elbow grease factor, forget the steel
wool and just pick up a can of Brasso from your local dept store.
Use one cloth to apply it, let it sit for a few minutes and buff it
off with a clean dry cloth. You may have to change your appli-
cation and wiping cloth(es) a few times through the process, as
it will leave a dark gray to blackish residue on the application
cloth as well as the wiping cloth. Sure will shine up copper to
a like new luster, though ;^)
David Rieben
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brandon Hendershot" <brandonhendershot@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2012 5:10 PM
Subject: [TCML] Cleaning Copper Primary Coil (with
Muriatic/HydrochloricAcid)
Hello All,
It seems I'll be resuming my coiling project after a long absence.
Consequentially, my primary coil has become quite the mess. It wasn't
exactly pretty from the start, but after cleaning my spark gap nice
and shiny, the tarnishing really stands out to me. Along with
rebuilding it, I'd like to bring back it's original gleam.
As enticing as it sounds, polishing 70 feet of copper with a piece of
steel wool isn't going to cut it for me, so I was hoping to use some
sort of acid for this task. I have a couple gallons of muriatic acid
(for pool use) on hand and it seems to be a prime candidate for
cleaning copper.
I've also read that it would be unwise to simply submerge the coil in
the acid as it would eat away at the copper and cause pitting. Of
course this means polishing 70 feet of copper with an acid dosed piece
of steel wool - still sounds pretty un-enthusing to me.
How would/have you cleaned your coils? With or without acid, If it
beats the steel wool and elbow grease, I'm all for it.
Thanks for any help,
Brandon H.
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