Am I using the right kind of vinegar?

S

Sarah Winfield

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I have been soaking a number of fish-plates for several days in malt vinegar. (I drink the other kind of malt).

The plastic bottle says "contents 5% acidic" but the fish-plates aren't really coming up as bright and clean as I though they might.

Is there another type of vinegar other members are using please?

Thank you,

Sarah Winfield
 
Two things come to mind. One the fishplates probaby aren't brass but nickle silver, and you should use white vinigar not brown.

If you passing round the other malt I join you.
 
Sarah, just remember that it is a acid and will continue to work even after being rinsed of unless you do it very thoroughly. I would recommend dipping it an a mild solution of backing soda to neutralize the acid again with more rinsing. Here also is a product that work extremely well and is fast but very pricy, Amazon carries it and you can find it in marine stores, the small silver tabs on lgb switches that are silver colored are chrome plated copper pieces and the plating will evenly wear off, brass cleaner, Fritz.PNG Bill
 
Well, I bought some white vinegar and googled the difference between brown and white vinegar.

On the face of it one would have thought white vinegar to be the better option, but in fact the acidity of both fluids is the same!

I've a single joiner soaking over night in white vinegar as well as several soaking in brown vinegar. It'll be interesting to see if there is any difference in the colour.

SW
 
Sarah Winfield said:
Well, I bought some white vinegar and googled the difference between brown and white vinegar.

On the face of it one would have thought white vinegar to be the better option, but in fact the acidity of both fluids is the same!

I've a single joiner soaking over night in white vinegar as well as several soaking in brown vinegar. It'll be interesting to see if there is any difference in the colour.

SW
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The thot plickens - leave it overnight, then wash it off under the tap.

If it's an LGB sliding fishplate, make sure you use copper grease (or the LGB equivalent) on both rail connections. You can get copper grease from Halfords if you can't easily get the LGB stuff.
 
If it looks like coppery grease - then that's the stuff!
 
Sarah Winfield said:
Please would a member tell me if this product is what I should be using?

Carlube Copper Grease 20g | Euro Car Parts

I bought a tube but I don't think it is the correct copper grease?

Thanks (again),

SW
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Yep, that's the stuff, and that's why car spares shops sell it - to stop the shims on brake pads juddering and squealing - the only time you'll see your brakes greased, but don't worry, it's only on the back of the brake pad, between pad and shim ;););)
 
And....
You only need a tiny bit of it.. About half-a-pea is enough. - It keeps the air and moisture out, but does not actually 'conduct'.. :nerd::nod:
 
Add some salt to your vinegar. It makes a big difference.
When I used to put my track in just vinegar, it would only come up half clean which then also required some vigorous wire brushing etc.
Now with a little salt added, the track comes up clean in only a short time. I give a quick wire brush along the sides of the rails while rinsing to get rid of the orange look and any foreign matter then finish the tops off with a green ScotchBrite.
Smooth rail tops will help prevent build up of future grunge so best not to scar them with too much wire brushing.
I let soak for several hours in clean water to nutueralise the vinegar before drying off.
 
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Sorry to hijack your post, Sarah, but I did clean a lot of track last weekend with vinegar but I didn't rinse them afterwards.
Should I still to that or is the vinegar neutralised by now?
What if you don't rinse afterwards?

It's for the give-away trainset I 'm preparing and I don't want the new owner to have any trouble with it. I'm thinking to donate my LGB railbuffing tool as well.
 
Henri said:
Sorry to hijack your post, Sarah, but I did clean a lot of track last weekend with vinegar but I didn't rinse them afterwards.
Should I still to that or is the vinegar neutralised by now?
What if you don't rinse afterwards?

It's for the give-away trainset I 'm preparing and I don't want the new owner to have any trouble with it. I'm thinking to donate my LGB railbuffing tool as well.
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The vinegar will exhaust it's reaction with the brass eventually anyway. It's not a big deal but I found without rinsing thoroughly, the orange look can come back and/or the rails can become slightly dull again.
A swim in the laundry trough full of clean water for an hour is enough to dilute any ongoing reaction. A good thorough hose down several times outside on the lawn would probably work just as well.
The tarnished brass rails are desirable in the long term anyway but I like to start out 'clean' when I buy stuff and it will help electrical conductivity at the joins.

PS. A lid off one of those large plastic storage boxes makes a good soaking tray for sectional track after which I let the used vinegar settle it's filth in a bottle then decant the clean stuff from the top into another bottle for next time marking it as 'cleaning' so it doesn't end up on my chips. :eek:
 
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PhilP said:
And....
You only need a tiny bit of it.. About half-a-pea is enough. - It keeps the air and moisture out, but does not actually 'conduct'.. :nerd::nod:
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Or even less, it can get everywhere if you are not careful, I have been using the stuff (under different names) for different uses for over 50 years.
 
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