deathhare

Anyone actually tried this Drano swimming?
If so, how well did it work?

https://www.munichfixed.de/?p=1077

Overwhelming

All I can say is be careful with Drano, that is some nasty stuff!

psirue

drano contains sodium hydroxide which is the same as what oven-cleaner contains.

instead of an inflatable pool, you can use drainage tubing from a hardware store. probably cheaper. or just your bathtub.

dookie

the NaOH removes the anodization chemically, leaving you with bare aluminum without a bunch of sanding and scratching. very convenient and works well.

however, the resulting finish is quite dull until you hit it with some elbow grease / metal polish (i recommend a buffing wheel on a drill). and even then, the finish is still bare (ie: no longer protected by ano) metal. it will tarnish fairly quickly and require ongoing polish to keep looking mirror like.

deathhare

Ah... so on something that is not anodized it will have no effect.
In that case, thats the dumbest DIY ive ever seen.

People have been removing anodization from bike parts using oven cleaner for 20 years.
Seriously, I remember it that long ago.

solbrothers

iirc, you use gasket remover for powdercoated parts

dookie

1) there is clear ano, which NaOH will remove, allowing you to polish the bare metal to a much higher sheen than unmolested clear ano.

2) NaOH (lye) is nasty stuff, as has been previously pointed out. i'm sure it will remove pretty much anything you let it sit on (paint, powdercoat).

Tomo_Ishi

https://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate...rUrl=Translate

Translated. I don't speak too many white people languages. Jus' kidding.

Just curious, can surface be good for anodization? I wanna polish my stem you see?

veganwar

The kiddie pool was only to accomodate the size of the rim. Some one in the DIY thread went through an explanation awhile back using just a bucket. It was for a scratched up stem. You can take off the anodizing and polish parts just with a table mounted grinder equipped with a polishing wheel and some polish that applies directly to the polishing wheel. Again, you are going to have to continue to re polish it. So good luck to that guy who stripped the anodizing off his wheels.

FYI, that spot on your cranks where you straps rubs, leaving the crank look different than the rest of it, that's stripping the anodizing off too.

NverDull works to clean up parts and give them a bit of a shine without stripping the anodizing off.

crushkilldstroy

It also smells strongly of mineral spirits, so use it outside if you don't want the wife to get mad at you.

ianjk

How strong is Draino? I would assume you are loosing some parent material when you leave it sitting in the solution that long... Also, you would need to really, really clean it up and neutralize (especially on deep rims with double walls).

deathhare

Yeah seriously.
**** probably eats tires/tubes as a snack.

dayvan cowboy

my attempt at riding that site made it clear that I learned nothing from 2 years of college german.

deathhare

And your English?

psirue

when using lye to strip anodize off aluminum, you only want to leave it on for 10 mins or so. any longer and pitting will occur.

one trick with a aluminum stem or seatpost stuck in a steel frame is too keep the area soaked in lye for a few days. it will eat the aluminum completely but not affect the steel.

MIN 

why use drano vs jasco, which is made for the application?

BLACK BIKE

Yes. It's very strong. Oven cleaner / lye have the same active ingredient. You are right, it does take some parent material with it. If you leave it on too long it will take a lot. I used EZ-Off oven cleaner to remove the anodized finish from a chainring. I left it on too long and ended up with severe pitting of the alloy.

psirue

this stuff is the best: https://www.jestcoproducts.com/index....d&productId=20

chevy42083

Thanks for stating that. I almost over-looked the idea of stripping clear-ano... which I had done previously with a high speed polishing bit. NOT fun, took forever, and lots of bits. Hence one polished crank and one still the foggy clear ano. Wish I had never started... hit it with a polishing bit before I realized it was cleared

solbrothers

meh. i applied it with my hands and didnt get the least bit burned. jasco's on the other hand burns like a mofo.

anyone know what kind of "paint" is on a stock motomess wheelset? i couldnt find a chemical that would strip it