Understood, and thanks again for all the great info. Wonder if PiPUK visits this thread.
Maybe I'll try a test spot with the acid wheel cleaner at some point. Are there acid wheel cleaners for coated wheels?
Also, is the acid wash for both gel coat and single stage paint?
I have not polish tested the paint yet, but I was feeling the paint today to compare the different looking areas. It seems the lighter areas have a rougher texture and a more chalky feel. I did notice areas that were rust staining from the rack.
I'm sure Pipuk and others could point out reasons this acid wash procedure is not a good idea, or shed more insight as to why it would work and what the long term consequences could be, both to the paint and to the human body.
In the world of working on commercial vehicles, it can be an effective process to meet the demands of getting things done in a timely manner. In lots of cases out of my own experience, nothing else worked to remove heavy build ups of ferrous metal contamination, whether it be copious amounts of brake/rotor dust embedded in paint,
single stage or clear coated, or ferrous metal or aluminum oxidation deposits from a dripping situation such as water dripping off a rusty ladder rack or hay hauler frame in your case.
I can say that I have the duty of maintaining the wheelchair lifts and performing other repairs over and over on a lot of the vans and buses where this acid wash method was utilized and I have witnessed or observed no more paint degradation in these areas over any other areas on any of them.
It certainly may not be good for the paint to be acid washed on any vehicle, but it is also not good to have ferrous metal deposits embedded into and constantly burning away at the paint either. I think the acid wash,
followed by an alkaline wash (to neutralize the acid) and thorough rinse is definitely the lesser of the two evils.
As far as there being acid wheel cleaners for coated wheels, I haven't used all the acid wheel cleaners out there, but every acid wheel cleaner I have purchased over the years has stated "for coated wheels" somewhere on the bottle.
Also on the bottle it clearly states
"not safe for uncoated aluminum wheels.", but this thread is not at all about safe, or the use of safe chemicals in your general auto care maintenance washes etc. It's pretty much on the opposite end of the spectrum from what is the norm here at autogeek. This thread is about the use of what I call "the sledgehammer" chemicals and or other effective chemicals (outside of their normal intended use) to achieve goals on rough service industrial equipment and machinery.
As it pertains to uncoated wheels, and what the recommendations on the bottle state, we're going far outside the box here, and talking about different chemicals that in the real world of commercial vehicle reconditioning actually work. Not manufacturer recommendations.
Sometimes you have to pull out the big guns, and use methods and chemicals that defy the limits of safety and liability intended by the chemical manufacturers.
Some bottles of acid wheel cleaners state
"will severely etch uncoated aluminum wheels." Well this is exactly the end goal as I'm writing about it in this thread.
Let's take a look at the definition of "etch" and think about how it applies to this thread.
etch
eCH/Submit
verb
1.
engrave (metal, glass, or stone) by coating it with a protective layer, drawing on it with a needle, and then covering it with acid to attack the parts the needle has exposed, especially in order to produce prints from it.
"etched glass windows"
synonyms: engrave, carve, inscribe, incise, chase, score, print, mark
"the metal is etched with a dilute acid"
use the etching process to produce (a print or design).
(of an acid or other solvent) corrode or eat away the surface of (something).
synonyms: engrave, carve, inscribe, incise, chase, score, print, mark
"the metal is etched with a dilute acid"
selectively dissolve the surface of (a semiconductor or printed circuit) with a solvent, laser, or stream of electrons.
2.
cut or carve (a text or design) on a surface.
"her initials were etched on the table"
mark (a surface) with a carved text or design.
"a Pictish stone etched with mysterious designs"
cause to stand out or be clearly defined or visible.
"Jo watched the outline of the town etched against the sky"
(of an experience, image, etc.) be permanently fixed in someone's memory.
"the events remain etched in the minds of all who witnessed them"
noun
noun: etch; plural noun: etches
1.
the action or process of etching something.
See the text bolded in red. This is what we're talking about here. Corroding or eating away at the outer layer of the wheel to expose a new clean layer of metal that can then be acid neutralized with an alkaline and left as is, or be polished to a shine after the acid does all the hard work for us.
I really can't stress enough here that this unconventional use of automotive acid wheel cleaner, or any acid will have adverse consequences on some materials and on the human body.
Were not only talking about skin burns, but the overall health risks as seen in the MSDS information of these chemicals
and beyond. Beyond must be mentioned here as we could possibly be using these chemicals in a way which was not intended by the manufacturer, so they might or might not mention the re-activity off-gassing of every material their chemical might come in contact with.
So if you use a chemical in a way that's not intended by the manufacturer, you need to asses and assume the risks, and protect yourself accordingly. This may at a minimum include the use of nitrile gloves, long pants and shirt sleeves, eye goggles and or face shield, a respirator designed for use around gases/acids etc. etc.
