Rust removal with vinegar

[special when lit]

Just picked up a Sega Mad Money that looks like it's been dragged out of a canal. Everything on the mech is totally rusty, clock won't turn, payout slides solid, pivots all seized etc.
I like a project, but not planning to start this one until next year, however I wanted to give the vinegar rust removal a go, so I thought I'd try on the escalator.
Like everything else, it was seized solid, so I bought some of Asda'a finest white vinegar & had a go.
A couple of pics of the escalator, before I started.

Took it all to pieces, carefully removing the various levers that had seized onto their pivots, poured the vinegar into a plastic container & mixed in a few tablespoons of salt. Put the parts in, leave for 24 hours, then give them a gentle scrub with some wire wool.
Not quite as good as new, but I'm pleased with the result. Made a new rubber stop out of an old pinball machine rebound rubber, re-built the escalator, & it works fine.
Just need a main spring, if anyone has one to sell.

P.S. If you try this, wear gloves & try not to spill any vinegar on your bench. It stinks!

[gameswat]

Thanks for the tip Special. Appears the vinegar didn't eat any of the remaining plating off, just the corrosion?

[livinginthepast]

This is the recipe for cleaning oxidised copper wire so that it can be soldered

[grains]

Great tip Special thank you - I have a jackpot unit in a similar state so will give it a try.

[dutchboy]

This year I did the same on my Jennings Chief, with a lot of deeper rust. A really dirty and smelly job, but it really works.

[pennymachines]

To neutralise the acid after scrubbing the rust off, dissolve a cup of baking soda in a gallon of water and soak the metal in it for about 15 minutes. Then scrub again and remove moisture with a pad soaked in meths. Finally (and depending upon the part), you can give it some rust protection by rubbing the metal over with a touch of motor oil.

[badpenny]

When it comes to freeing up rusty things that are supposed to move but don't want to, I always use diesel.
It has astonishing penetrative qualities and of course it's an oil.

I learnt this after visiting someone who was into stationary engines.
He had some fantastic lumps of cast machinery reclining around his property. However the one that took my interest was a seized Fairbanks Morse Z open crank 3hp

One of these

Although it was a striking machine my interest in it was mainly because it was suspended on end two feet in the air over a sand pit. The big end of the con-rod had been detached from the crank and was tied to one end of a thick rope which in itself was tied to a very stout tree branch. He was feeding a shot of diesel down the back of the bore every day, and was pleased to advise the amount he was administering daily was increasing. I heard later it was a further fortnight before the lump was found reposing in the sand pit and the piston was left hanging in the tree.

I'm sure vinegar cleans or is it neutralises rust, and I think diesel frees it up better.
The biggest advantage vinegar has is that diesel makes your chips slimy.

BP

[treefrog]

Only issue with vinegar is that it obviously is acidic and if left for too long will break the surface seal on good metal, tarnish and leave exposed. I just use good old hard work.

Another thing is that if you heat vinegar it concentrates the acid to an even more potent effect

[special when lit]

When it comes to freeing up rusty things that are supposed to move but don't want to, I always use diesel.
It has astonishing penetrative qualities and of course it's an oil

That's exactly what I'm going to try with the seized clock, & I can put what's left over in my car. Bonus!

[chris rideout]

Time for me to try this. I have a bit of corrosion on my Sega Progressive where, owing to the lack of space, it had spent a few months in the bathroom. A certain dog of mine had treated the winnings tray as a lamp post! The machine has been covered with a nylon sheet and is awaiting the arrival of a substantial table which needs to be higher than a certain part of the dog's anatomy!