Purple Pond Surprise!

[shoopdog]

Hadn't seen any cautions posted here before so I thought I would share. I was trying to get out of foiling my 64 Thunderbolt body by using the Molotow Chrome pen and ended up getting sloppy. ( I had read the cautions about that in the Molotow thread!) Well anyway I decided a complete repaint was required so I put the body in an 4 x 8 aluminum pan and filled with Super Clean and placed said pan on a counter in my basement bathroom. This morning I went down there for my morningly and noticed a small dirty river on the floor and counter. Oh No, I thought the pan had a hole in it but no, the entire bottom had been eaten away. The dirty river was molten aluminum and Super Clean, what a mess. After explaining to the wife and cleaning, the floor is super clean now but some of the woodwork doesn't look to good. From now on nothing but  a plastic or glass container for the pond!

[aurfalien]

Hi,

WOW!

And your model fared ok?

[shoopdog]

Model is ok, just needs a new bath.

[Ben]

It's caustic to metal and skin!

[aurfalien]

Hi,

The beauty of chemistry, harmful to metals but not plastic.  Kind of like sulfuric acid.

Fascinating stuff.

 

[Edsel-Dan]

Yes, NEVER use a Metallic container!!!

Use the CHEAPEST Plastic one you have!!!

 

Buy several at Dollar Tree!!!

[Snake45]

I'll bet the whole place smelled like rotten eggs, too.

I learned this the hard way when I stripped a model with Easy Off a couple years ago, and thought I could mask off some paint I wanted to save with aluminum foil. Well, THAT didn't work out so well.

[BigTallDad]

Another thing not to throw in the purple pond: a paint brush with a metal ferrule

[shoopdog]

I'll bet the whole place smelled like rotten eggs, too.

I learned this the hard way when I stripped a model with Easy Off a couple years ago, and thought I could mask off some paint I wanted to save with aluminum foil. Well, THAT didn't work out so well.

Well there was no odor from the Super Clean.

 

[Miatatom]

Good info to know. Thanks!

[mr moto]

But it's REALLY GOOD for stripping chrome (aluminized) parts!

[ChrisBcritter]

Hmm. Would it work as a photoetching agent?

[PARTSMARTY]

I've had good luck stripping chrome with bleche white

[TarheelRick]

Learned this lesson several years ago.  I was wanting to strip a soda can so I could use the aluminum.  After a couple of days the can was toast, but the paint was still fairly intact.  When I finally broke down and read the directions on the jug of Purple Power it plainly said, "Do not use on metal".  Another painful lesson I learned is to ALWAYS check your rubber gloves for pinholes before immersing your hands into the tank to retrieve parts.  First thing I do is fill my gloves with water, twist the cuff closed, and apply pressure to see if water is leaking out anywhere, if it is they go into the trash.  Purple Power/Super Clean and the other caustic solutions we use will seep into a pinhole and cause caustic burns to any exposed skin.

[Jantrix]

Use the CHEAPEST Plastic one you have!!! Buy several at Dollar Tree!!!

I gotta disagree here. This stuff does evaporate. So buying a better Tupperware type container at the local supermarket, is a better bet as they seal tighter.

[waynehulsey]

Sounds like the guy I went to auto tech school with who thought he could clean his Edelbrock manifold easily by dropping it in the hot tank. Guess people don't take Chemistry in high school anymore.

[shoopdog]

I gotta disagree here. This stuff does evaporate. So buying a better Tupperware type container at the local supermarket, is a better bet as they seal tighter.

Definitely going to get some better plastic containers.

Learned this lesson several years ago.  I was wanting to strip a soda can so I could use the aluminum.  After a couple of days the can was toast, but the paint was still fairly intact.  When I finally broke down and read the directions on the jug of Purple Power it plainly said, "Do not use on metal".  Another painful lesson I learned is to ALWAYS check your rubber gloves for pinholes before immersing your hands into the tank to retrieve parts.  First thing I do is fill my gloves with water, twist the cuff closed, and apply pressure to see if water is leaking out anywhere, if it is they go into the trash.  Purple Power/Super Clean and the other caustic solutions we use will seep into a pinhole and cause caustic burns to any exposed skin.

Never thought about reading directions, but not sure I would have put 2 and 2 together.

[Draggon]

Moron alert...my favorite airbrush was a Binks Wren. 

[Pete J.]

I don't know how many times I have posted warnings about this stuff.  It is a caustic engine degreaser, not some kid friendly modeling stuff.  If anyone ever recommends using it for modeling, you really need to include the warnings.  And just an FYI plastic isn't always the best choice.  I use a brake fluid for some paints and learned the hard way that it reacts with some plastics(not all)  Glass is always the safest way to go!

[Dodge Driver]

From Wikipedia, regarding Sodium Hydroxide (Found in purple cleaners)

Strong bases attack aluminium. Sodium hydroxide reacts with aluminium and water to release hydrogen gas. The aluminium takes the oxygen atom from sodium hydroxide, which in turn takes the oxygen atom from the water, and releases the two hydrogen atoms, The reaction thus produces hydrogen gas and sodium aluminate. In this reaction, sodium hydroxide acts as an agent to make the solution alkaline, which aluminium can dissolve in. This reaction can be useful in etching, removing anodizing, or converting a polished surface to a satin-like finish, but without further passivation such as anodizing or alodining the surface may become degraded, either under normal use or in severe atmospheric conditions.

[Jon Haigwood]

I just bought Super Clean in a 2.5 gl container. I must be a official model builder (or just a bad painter) 

['70 Grande]

Been there... done that!  Fortunately my spill ended up on the garage floor so clean up wasn't as critical!

[oldcarfan]

I love this stuff, but be careful using it. My dad used it to clean the bottom of his car after an oil leak. He sprayed it on and scrubbed it off without gloves or mask for an hour or so till everything was clean. He didn't think about the mist getting on him. For about 3 days he was so swollen, it looked like he had been stung by bees on his hands and face.

[Old Fart]

I thought I was the only one who melted a aluminum pan with Super Clean.  Mine was on my work table, however it did clean it up nicely.

[Art Anderson]

Uh, it pays to read the label, folks!   Purple Power, like so many other water-borne "de-greaser's" or paint strippers, has as one of it's active ingredients Sodium Hydroxide, a/k/a lye.  Lye is well-known to many of my age-mates--our mothers used it around the house when we were kids, and even today, it's the active ingredient in DRANO and other drain-unclogging chemicals.

Lye is highly caustic--for those who remember HS Chemistry, it's chemical name is "Sodium Hydroxide" which is a "base"  (the opposite of acid, but nonetheless lethal to most non-ferrous metals, such as aluminum (which is what model kit chrome plating is--and just about any paint other than epoxy finishes.

Just as lye strips model kit "chrome" plating (which is actually a micro-thin coating of aluminum), as well as common ordinary paints and varnishes (another name for lye is "caustic soda"), it absolutely will dissolve any aluminum vessel--often right before your very eyes.

Art