Home Distiller

G'day all - just a quick question about cleaning copper pipe. I've read a heap of different posts on this site about methods of cleaning tarnished copper and im keen to give the vinegar/bi carb soda a run. The problem is that the piece of pipe im trying to clean is 2.5" diameter X 2.5 metres long.......so im wondering if I could use a 3 metre piece of 90mm PVC downpipe, cap it at one end and fill it with the vinegar solution, slip the pipe in and then cap the other end and leave it be for awhile?? Can I fill it with pure vinegar or does it need to be reduced 1:1 with water? And lastly, how long can I safely leave it in a vinegar solution? The pipe is quite a dark brown in colour cos it's been sitting on my mates materials rack for years, but it cleans up pretty fast using 600 grit wet and dry paper. I know I can make the outsde look clean this way, but it's the inside of the pipe that im more concerned about.

Let me know what you think!

citric acid also works well and cleans up copper nice

i reckon your PVC pipe idea is a good one

shaggyinoz, is there any reason why you have to clean the entire length of pipe all at once...??? Most folks here clean their copper just enough to build and then perform a cleaning run with vinegar and water upon completion... If there is good rationale in deviating from a common, known effective, means of cleaning I'm sure we'd all like to hear it...

If it was in shorter lengths you could even use the tried and true saturated rag and ramrod method to clean the inside surface... Then use whatever method is easiest to clean the outside surface...

Just how dirty is this length of copper pipe...???

Thanks for the fast replies fellas.

Rad - my main reason for trying to clean the pipe as a single piece is because I haven't completed my design 100% just yet. Im not certain how tall/long to make my column, although im thinking around the 48" length (4 feet in Aussie speak!!) with a separate head containing a 12" condenser. I have enough copper to make the column taller but it's going on top of a 55 litre stainless steel keg and I figure that 5 feet of copper on top of over 2 feet of keg will already make for a fairly tall setup?

The pipe has never been used, but it has sat on an outside storage rack at my mates workplace for the last 9 years!! Dust and the elements have combined to make it a very dark brown colour with the odd small spot of green. I certainly wasn't trying to buck the system or go against the solid advice that has been offered on this site previously, but I thought it might be a good idea to clean the whole pipe prior to making any cuts. However, if you reckon it's better to go with a set build idea, measure and cut the lengths and then clean them, I sure reckon that would be easier

Please feel free to advise me on optimum column length for my slant plate Boka design - I don't have any height restrictions where I will be running the setup and im interested in other peoples opinions.

Thanks again everyone

shaggyinoz wrote:although im thinking around the 48" length (4 feet in Aussie speak!!)

We're metric over here -- so it's 1200mm in Aussie speak. (Well, technically 1219.2mm, but what's 3/4" between friends?)

Just a quick update for anyone interested. I tried my idea of using a length of PVC 90mm pipe, cut to length to fit the 2.5 metre length of 2.5 inch copper pipe. I also decided to try using a basic electroplating method that involves making a mixture of vinegar, water and baking soda that I poured into the PVC pipe (covering the copper pipe entirely) then attaching the Negative lead of my battery charger to the copper pipe and the postitive lead of the battery charger to a piece of clean scrap exhaust pipe (this becomes a sacrifical annode). The attached links show some photos of the basic process and the end result.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us



Uploaded with ImageShack.us



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I left the copper pipe in the solution for 5 hours with the battery charger running and then left it sitting in the solution overnight without the charger running. Then I removed the pipe, rinsed it with cold water and gave it a scrub with a SS pot scrubber, before giving it a final light polish with a metal cutting compound - this process took approx 1.5 hours all up and I reckon it was well worth the effort. Im amazed how well the battery charger and weak acid solution worked

The final pic shows the cleaned pipe sitting next to another piece of the pipe that I cut off prior to leaving it in the solution. The most important thing is that the inside of the pipe cleaned up perfectly without needing anything more than a gentle scrub with a SS scrubber on a piece of metal rod.

If anyone wants more specific instructions on the mixture I used or anything else, just sing out.

Cheers!

I've often wondered about using coke (soft drink ) to clean smaller copper parts, we've all seen how it cleans a coin, or even toothpaste could work. give your still the colgate ring of confidence .....

But hell yeah dont hold back on giving us the finer details dude.

Cheers

Austin Nichols wrote:I've often wondered about using coke (soft drink ) to clean smaller copper parts, we've all seen how it cleans a coin, or even toothpaste could work. give your still the colgate ring of confidence .....

But hell yeah dont hold back on giving us the finer details dude.

Cheers

When I built my rig a few months ago I tried using Coke to clean copper that wasn't very discolored at all. Not much happened even after sitting for a week. Guess Coke ain't what it used to be I remember 50 years ago putting a penny in coke and watching it deteriorate over time.

cheers
stilly