Re: [TCML] Cleaning Copper Primary Coil (with Muriatic/Hydrochloric Acid)

[Scott Bogard <sdbogard@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ok, as one who invented his own metal polish a long time ago, I will chime
in.  Yes, muriatic acid should work well, but you have to rinse thoroughly
and polish it with a protective coating (like car wax) immediately after
using the acid, or it will turn into green copper chloride as it oxidizes
and be a thousand times worse.  On a small piece should work fine, but
unless you do a few inches at a time, there is no way this time sensitive
process will be manageable.  you could fill a small kiddie pool with highly
dillute muriatic acid and water and wait over night, but it is still just
going to oxidize again over time unless you do something to it to protect
it.  I made my own metal polish that is basically kaolinite clay as an
abrasive and dissolved waxes in turpentine (sorry, exact details I refuse
to share) it will keep copper shiny almost forever if kept in a dry, and a
low sulfur environment.  As an alternative to this, brasso is basically the
same thing minus the waxes, so get some high quality car wax, and be
prepared to use some elbow grease...  If the tarnish is really bad, you can
try the acid, but if it is just kind of bad, it is likely not worth the
trouble.  A better solution would be to put it in regular salt water, and
run electric curent to strip off the tarnish, this will badly roughen and
pit the finish but it will technically remove all the tarnish.  I always
will recommend elbow grease and polish, nothing really beats it if you are
looking for finish quality.  You can lacquer it when you are done (except
on the tap point) if you are really worried about it.

Scott Bogard.

On Thu, Oct 4, 2012 at 11:54 AM, Matthew Edwards <
matthew.n.edwards@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Steel wool seems to be the way to go. I had a brilliant man tell me once
> to apply a vary thin coat of car wax to the copper after getting the
> primary situated. Seems to keep the tarnish away ;)
>
> Matthew Edwards
>
> On Oct 3, 2012, at 3:10 PM, Brandon Hendershot <
> brandonhendershot@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > 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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