Naval Jelly

I've got a boat trailer with a solid layer of surface rust on it. I started to attack it using the grinder, and it was working well on the flat areas, but there are quite a few spots (round bits, in the corners of the angles of the steel) where the grinder won't work.

I'm going to have the same problem on the frame of the pickup I am getting.

So, instead of using the grinder over the course of 12 hours, I was thinking of using naval jelly on them and hitting it with Rustoleum primer and paint.

The only concern I have with this is that I have well water, and I'd be rinsing/wiping/scraping all of the crap onto the ground. I have typical NC clay soil, and the well is probably 50 feet from where I'd be working.

Am I being paranoid or is using Naval Jelly just a bad idea?

I guess its better than Navy Seamen.

How detailed do you want to get with it?

The best stuff I have found is POR-15. You can paint straight over rust or lightly sand then paint. If forms a very hard protective coat and is really effective.

Brett_Murphy wrote: The only concern I have with this is that I have well water, and I'd be rinsing/wiping/scraping all of the crap onto the ground. I have typical NC clay soil, and the well is probably 50 feet from where I'd be working. Am I being paranoid or is using Naval Jelly just a bad idea?

If you're worried about the acid contaminating the groundwater, you could buy an industrial sized bag of baking soda from Harbor Freight and dump it all on the ground under the trailer where you get the scraped off stuff on the ground.

I've used a product that converts the rust to a protective coating and doesn't require you to wash it off.

I don't have any at the moment to check, but I believe it was called something like Rust Converter and I found it at several auto stores as well as Lowes.

I prefer Navy Peanut Butter.

I find naval jelly to be weak stuff. It wont take off scale or perform any miracles like that.

Unless an industrial strength version exists, I can't imagine that naval jelly would be all that effective against heavy rust. I used it to clean up the heater box on my '66 Chevy II and I was underwhelmed at its performance. Several applications were required just to get off some light surface rust.

Yeah Naval Jelly is just for the lightest surface rust, if this rust has any thickness to it you'll need something else.

To get to the corners maybe try a dremel wire wheel and finish up with sandpaper?

POR 15 is your friend here...

And I do not have any Naval Jelly.. I wash my belly button daily

Naval jelly is useless. Electrolysis works very well. People have done whole vehicle frames.

Most of the time the outside of the brackets were facing the other electrode. The inside I had wire brushed and ground prior to electrolysis. The outside I didn't touch. These both looked like the bracket on the right. The electrolysis left the former rust quite loosened, so it was easy to wire brush off. These are ready for primer and paint. The white coating on the left bracket is leftover from last year's overnight Naval Jelly treatment.

I used naval jelly years ago on a rusty toyota because it won't eat painted surfaces.....much. You can get through thick rust with it, but it takes successive applications.

As chemist, one word of caution with the baking soda - don't put it down before working. If you get WAY too much soda down, you will have alkalinity (high pH) problems that can be as bad as the acid issues. If you're concerned, mix up baking soda and water in an old milk jug and pour it over the NJ drippings AFTER you finish. Keep pouring more on until it doesn't fizz anymore, then add a little more . That should put you just on the high side of neutral pH wise.

In any case, the stuff is just phosphoric acid IIRC and shouldn't cause any major ecological disaster, even in your well. Phosphorous is banned in surfactants (soaps) because it encourages algae growth to the point of choking the fishies. Phosphoric acid is also found in most Cola drinks in good quantity as well.

Naval Jelly Bean

If you're planning on using Rustoleum primer, don't bother stripping the metal down.

Get the rusty metal primer in the brush type can. Now mix it about 50/50 with acetone and brush it right on the rusty metal. It soaks in wonderfully, and outlasts almost anything else I've ever seen.

You do not want to use a grinding wheel on the 4" grinder; you want a wire wheel. Get both the cup and wheel type.

I use them A LOT of wire wheels in my battles with english car restoration: both electric and air driven tools. I put them in the semi-dangerous category of use in that you want to be hanging on to the damn grinder the whole time. The air dirven stuff is a bit safer in that the torque is less.

Wear eye protection for sure cause they fling stuff about.

pinchvalve wrote: I guess its better than Navy Seamen.

Or belly button lint...

knotted/twisted wire wheels don't seem to fling as many wires at ya...

I'll suggest scraping/ wire brushing big rust lumps off then applying muriatic acid w/ brush (but y'all prolly don't wanna hear it), catch runoff w/ plastic mortar pan. Rinse well w/ water, it will neutralize the acid.

Naval Jelly is junk. I've tried it a dozen times and it failed a dozen times.

HF sells a bucket and hose with a nozzle. They call it a media blaster. Buy it for $35, fill it with baking soda or playground sand, hook up your compressor, and make the magic happen. Sanding or grinding takes off the surface rust, but the FeO2 and Fe2O3 still lives in the pits and pores. Blasting with small media is the best you can do. Blasting a whole trailer with this bucket will be tedious, but you only need to hit the rust parts. Wash with water, prime with etching primer, paint with whatever. Done.

http://www.harborfreight.com/portable-abrasive-blaster-kit-37025.html

I used this exact tool with baking soda to blast an aluminum scuba tank that I found at the bottom of the ocean. It was crusty. It turned out looking like a million bucks and I was able to polish it with only two grades of rouge.

Matthew Huizing wrote: Naval jelly is useless. Electrolysis works very well. People have done whole vehicle frames. Most of the time the outside of the brackets were facing the other electrode. The inside I had wire brushed and ground prior to electrolysis. The outside I didn't touch. These both looked like the bracket on the right. The electrolysis left the former rust quite loosened, so it was easy to wire brush off. These are ready for primer and paint. The white coating on the left bracket is leftover from last year's overnight Naval Jelly treatment.

Any more details on this? Or a How To page I can go look at?

Don't know how it compares to Por 15 ,but I use a JC Whitney product E.R.F (ends rust forever), about $40 a quart, thin like water, and brushes on. It is damaged by UV rays, so must have a finish coat on top. I've been brushing, or rolling it on, then doing the same with Rustoleum naptha based paint from Lowes. I lightly wire weeeled a surface rusted floorboard, brushed on ERF, sprayed shake and shoot, and 5 years later, no signs of it returning.

Dean

I followed these instructions and yes it works very well. I used 20 Mule Team Borax and an old shovel head. Just be sure and triple check how you have to charger hooked up.

remove rust by electrolysis

Thanks for the replies. I was on vacation or I would've said thank you sooner.

I guess I'll just attack it with the wire brush and some thinned Rustoleum rusty metal primer.

B