Evapo-rust

[Harry Riva]

I picked up a BSR Sportsmans Grill at the 127 sale this year and it had a pretty bad case of rust. Below are the before and after pics of the draft door and nameplate after an overnight stay in Evapo Rust. Anybody that works with small rusted parts lie you find on cars, tractors (Will, hint,hint) really ought to give this stuff a try.
Harry

[Harry Riva]

And the after photos. I left the parts in overnight and I think that may have been two or three times what was needed.
Harry

[Bryce King]

Harry,

How are you storing the evapo rust between uses?  Their website seems to say that you store it uncovered or at least if covered leave some air holes.

[Harry Riva]

I'm storing it in a plastic picnic cooler with a flip open lid. I didn't know the part about venting it during storage.
Harry

[Bryce King]

Evapo Rust seems to not be working at all for me.  I put a very rust damper in it yesterday about 11 am.  Looked at it several times and seems that there is no rust coming off at all.  Now 24 hrs later I took it out and tried my SS brush on the rust and not a thing seems to be happening as far as vapo rust working. The solution is still clear and seems to have not removed any rust at all.

After all the testimonials I have read about this stuff it should be working.  I put it in a heavy plastic container and inserted the damper in the solution.  Covered it and waited 24 hrs and no rust removal.

As I look at this piece of iron I wonder, maybe it was painted a rust color?  Who knows?  Any help or advice would be appreciated.

[Tom Neitzel]

Since there is no change in color during your soaking time and nothing happened, I would suspect there is a coating of some kind on it.  Maybe a lye bath would work, or, if it was me, I would run it through an oven cleaning cycle removing and non-cast iron parts first.  Might as well check the obvious too - the color of my evapo-rust was a clear yellow (there is a crude description of the color that might be bathroom related that I won't use here ;D).

Tom

[Bryce King]

Tom,

Thanks for the input.  It will go into the lye bath later this afternoon.  Maybe that will help things.  As for the color of the Evapo Rust it is the clear yellow color and has not changed at all in the 24 hrs the piece was in it.

Thanks again.  Will keep you updated on how things go with the piece.

[Chuck Rogers]

Bryce, I think it's time for an electro set up. Espacially for the dampers that you plan on collecting. I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but alot of stove dampers were overheated. Similar to the way that cast iron cookware thrown in a fire was over heated. The iron reached the point of no return when it comes to heating it. You don't need a large tank until you get to the big boys. I'm not sure if the rust color will ever be gone, but the electro will tell you the answer. I guess it's sort of like burnt toast. It depends on how deep the burned layer is.

[Brian Gray]

Has anyone tried using Evapo-rust to remove the red rust from overheated cast iron skillets, like the ones that have been ruined in a fire? If it works on that I might decide to buy some.

[Tom Neitzel]

Has anyone tried using Evapo-rust to remove the red rust from overheated cast iron skillets, like the ones that have been ruined in a fire? If it works on that I might decide to buy some.

I've not and don't have any iron to try it on but I was thinking the same thing.  If that red is an oxide, it might take it.

Tom

[Bryce King]

Bryce, I think it's time for an electro set up. Espacially for the dampers that you plan on collecting. I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but alot of stove dampers were overheated. Similar to the way that cast iron cookware thrown in a fire was over heated. The iron reached the point of no return when it comes to heating it. You don't need a large tank until you get to the big boys. I'm not sure if the rust color will ever be gone, but the electro will tell you the answer. I guess it's sort of like burnt toast. It depends on how deep the burned layer is.

I was waiting for you to chip in Chuck with your opinion.  Okay I will consider the electro set up in the near future.  And of course I will consult with you the Dr of CI Cleaning for advice on what to do to accomplish that.

Now for the overheating bit.  If I understand you correctly that if this thing was overheated I will never be able to get rid of the red rust?  

[Chuck Rogers]

Once the iron is red from overheating, I think you can scrub, and scrub, and it will still be red. At least until you get through the layer of deteriorated (<<spelling) iron. I've seen a few pieces where the red has come off, but it looks like the iron peeled, or flaked away. That was only burned on the surface. It all depends on how deep the red goes. A good electro will get through it, but there is no telling the condition until then. This is just my experience. My best advice is to stay away from pieces like this. If you already have some like it, the only thing to do is give it a try, and see what is left of the iron.

[Tom Meinke]

Tom's experiments with Evapo Rust would make a great article in the next casting call

[Tom Neitzel]

Nice suggestion Tom.  I'll see what I can cobble together.

You can kind of see it in the discussion, but to make it a bit clearer, there seems to be a difference in the cast iron itself and how it reacts to the Evapo-Rust.  I've just found that again with a Savery's & Sons waffle iron.

The older iron (I'm going to say prior to 1880 or maybe 1890 - or possibly saying old US made flipping style irons), I'm finding that it really depletes the solution, turns it jet black very fast, and doesn't completely remove the rust no matter how long it sits.  Maybe the iron is a bit more impure, having more free oxides or something.  I'm going to quit trying the old ones (got the soda blaster now anyway) and just keep it around for newer iron, like 100 years old or newer.

Tom