I'm cleaning out an inflater from an older BCD. Any tips on cleaning corrosion build-up?
Removing corrosion
- Thread starter dakardiver
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Soak it/clean it in white vinegar. Or an ultrasonic cleaner if you have it.
livewire
Contributor
Be careful about soaking it for very long in vinegar. Some internal parts of your inflater valve are plated with materials that the vinegar can eat through. It's usually better to either make a weaker vinegar/water solution and soak for longer, so you can stop the process before it eats through these coatings. Also, a toothbrush helps to remove calcites from tight places, too. Vinegar is acetic acid, so it's good for calcium build up and only marginal for rust. WD-40 can be used as a rust remover, but this is something you really need to use very sparingly and with great caution, as it can damage rubber parts. You also don't want to be breathing this stuff off of a regulator or mouthpiece either, so use good judgement on what parts you clean up with it.
OP
Thanks for the detailed advice - I tried the vinegar and it worked great. BTW, what do you consider a 'long time' in the soak that might remove the plating. Are we talking 15 minutes or 2 hours?
10 to 20 minutes is usually fine, esp if your using a US cleaner. I use a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water.
BNow0707
Guest
I had to clean a first stage reg. and used a very light steel wool and on the external hose fittings i sealed them with a light coat of clear fingernail polish to prevent the corrosion from returning when it was used again.
livewire
Contributor
The time I ruined the plating was when I put it in straight vinegar and forgot about it for about 6 hours. 
Whoops. I think if you put it in 50/50 vinegar water for 10-20 minutes like herman said, you're probably good. At the very least, you can pull the parts out, clean them up, and if it needs to soak for a few minutes more, then you can soak for more. I like that idea about the clear nail polish. Thanks BNow707!
Whoops. I think if you put it in 50/50 vinegar water for 10-20 minutes like herman said, you're probably good. At the very least, you can pull the parts out, clean them up, and if it needs to soak for a few minutes more, then you can soak for more. I like that idea about the clear nail polish. Thanks BNow707!
OP
Worked like a charm. Thanks guys.
Bruce
Bruce
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