# Removing HA3 success



## PEU

I just removed my first HA3 finish from an ARC AAA head, I used as recommended in previous posts Sodium Hidroxide (NAOH - Lye) the main difference (and reason of this post) is that I used it at 0.1N concentration, you can manipulate the thing with your bare hands with almost no risk.

I had this solution for tritrating an acid solution (vinegar) so I know its exactly 0.1N

The HA3 was removed with a cloth after leaving the head (led down) for about 2 hours.

tomorrow I'll post photos of the complete light!

Pablo


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## CM

Cool, we have a mad chemist on the forum /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I've been curious as to the minimum concentration of NaOH to use to strip anodizing. Sounds like safe levels will work.


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## tylerdurden

This didn't damage the LED or circuit?


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## PEU

CM, no chemist at all CM, long story short, I like red wine, when you drink a bottle sometimes there are leftovers, these leftovers can be converted to vinegar easily, this vinegar needs to be titrated to know the acid level, and best of all, the vinegar tastes greeeeeat.

not at all Tyler, and since I left the head standing with the led at the bottom, it don't even touched the rubber foam.
The shiny aluminum reflector surface is opaque, but I guess a good polish will restore it fine.


Pablo


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## CM

Pablo, you have PM (off topic subject on your wine to vinegar conversion /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif )


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## chrisse242

[ QUOTE ]
*CM said:*
Pablo, you have PM (off topic subject on your wine to vinegar conversion /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif ) 

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep we definitley need a tutorial in the cafe for that. My girl friend always opens my good wine and only drinks one glass a day. After one or two days she just leaves the half empty bottle standing around. 
Please!!! Tutorial!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/poke2.gif

Chrisse


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## PEU

done, look there.

Pablo


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## DharmaBum

I don't understand this... half empty bottles of wine sitting around? How does that happen? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/drunk.gif


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## Wildcat

will this work on the satin grey model? how can I get that off?


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## PEU

Dharmabum:when you drink "some" bottles, from time to time, the last one is not empty, but at the time you don't care /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/drunk.gif

Wildcat: it should work for any anodized part.


Pablo


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## BIGIRON

Questions: How do I approximate the .01N solution? Is this like 1 part lye to 10 parts water? All I know about chemistry is 86 proof is 43%!!!! (However I do know to be very careful with lye, etc)

Can I really submerge the head up to the "o" ring with no damage? If it clouds the reflector, how would I polish it without damaging the led?

Thanks.


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## PEU

It depends of the concentration of the lye, if its say 50% and you have one liter of it. Then you have to add 50 liters of water to make it 0.1%. 

Or,

take 1/100 of a liter (10 ml) and add half liter of water to it, its the same you end up having 0.1% lye

Pablo


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## ak47colt45

hello, just one question was reading what you posted and was wondering, when modifying torches, do you use existing parts or do you machine and make new components, I was just curious to know.

Most of the time when do under repairs and modification, I normally use existing parts salvaged from other torches, well just wondering, hope to hear a reply soon

wayne.


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## BIGIRON

Thanks.


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## Chop

ak47colt45,

That's really off topic. If you have question, you should start a new thread.

In answering your question, I'll machine new components unless there is an existing part available that will do the job. Many mods can be done without fabricating anything.


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## cy

Just wanted let everyone know. There are two ways to remove HA. One method is with a caustic solution as described. the other is to use nitric acid. 

There are avantages and disadvantages of both. Using nitric acid is much kinder on the aluminum, but is very hazardous to you. using a mild castic solution is kinder to your skin but can be harsh to aluminum. 

When you use a caustic solution, it will open up the pores of the aluminum. VS using an acid will seal up those pores. 

After a caustic treatment the aluminum is very open to corrosion and should be chemdipped or polished to seal pores. Hot water for several minutes should help seal as well.

edit: I posted the nitric acid for information purposes only. Nitric acid strong enough to do the job is extremely hazardous to handle. 

removing your HA with weak lye as suggested is probably the safest way. 

the objective of the above post was to inform folks. you need to seal the raw activated aluminum afterwards with hot water or chemdip. or it's open to extreme corosion.


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## Wildcat

So were can I get Lye or Nitric Acid? Will PCB etchant acid work?


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## cy

I was posting the nitric acid for information purposes only. 

Nitric acid strong enough to do the job is extremely hazardous to handle. 

see edit from original post above.


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## Wildcat

okay, where can i get lye. can I just mix up some wood ash and water? Will the lye still be good for this after i make a batch of hominy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


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## theepdinker

Red Devil powder or crystal drain cleaner is lye.

In the seasonal section of most big hardware stores and some Wal-marts you can find fireplace/wood stove glass cleaners. Look for "Speedy White". It's a 2% lye solution.

Some oven cleaners are lye based too.

Remember- Lots of ventilation,rubber gloves & eye protection if you start high purity lye. It does nasty things to skin-lungs-eyes-nerves you name it.

Theepdinker


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## Wildcat

so mix in some distilled water?


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## theepdinker

Dilute with water to the proper level.

Theepdinker


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## gadget_lover

I've forgotten. Is the rule that you add water to the chemical, or do you add the chemical to the water.

I know that with some strong acids it makes a big difference in safety.


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## riscfaktor

For acids, always add the acid to the water -- never the other way around. Splashing can occur due to delayed boiling if you add the water to the acid. Not sure what the rule is in regard to bases, i.e. lye. Regardless of what you are mixing, chemicals should be mixed carefully and slowly, using appropriate protection (face shield).


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## flashlight

Alright! I finally got it right (well more or less) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I have no means of measuring & achieving an exact 0.1N concentration with what I was using, so I very unprecisely used _a few_ grains of Plumbo drain cleaner (Sodium Hydroxide 30-60%, Sodium Bicarbonate 20-40%) in a _small_ glass jar, poured in _some_ water, placed the VitalGear FB1-HA tailcap into the jar & let it sit for _about _ 30 minutes. Took it out wearing rubber gloves & wiped it down with an old sock & almost all the HA came off fairly easily. Had to dip it in _a few_ more times to get at some remaining areas. Then soaked it in hot water for _several_ minutes & polished it with Autosol metal polish as recommended by cy to seal the pores of the exposed aluminium & reduce future exposure to corrosion. Followed the same procedure with the body next & the results are shown below compared to my previous attempt at removing HA! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


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## 4sevens

uhh what kind of light is that?


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## flashlight

[ QUOTE ]
*4sevens said:*
uhh what kind of light is that? 

[/ QUOTE ]

That's the new VitalGear E-series bezels-compatible body that comes in 1,2 & 3 cell flavors. The art work on the right used to be a McE2S tailcap. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif


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## theepdinker

Nice job on the successful removal.
So none of us accidently creates similar works of art, what was the recipe used on the McE2S tailcap?

Theepdinker


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## flashlight

[ QUOTE ]
*theepdinker said:*
Nice job on the successful removal.
So none of us accidently creates similar works of art, what was the recipe used on the McE2S tailcap?

Theepdinker 

[/ QUOTE ]

To achieve the desired effect please follow directions closely /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif - 

Make sure work area is well-ventilated & wear eye & hand protection. Place tailcap (without the McE2S of course /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif ) in a small glass jar & pour in undiluted Enforcer 10 Minute Hair Clog Remover (contains Potassium Hydroxide & Sodium Hypochlorite) & leave it _overnight _ . Scrub it with a brass wire brush next day. Leave overnight again in a fresh solution [/i]. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Rinse out & then pour in some granules of Plumbo (mfg'd by Krefting & Co. AS. Contains Sodium Hydroxide 30-60%, Sodium Bicarbonate 20-40%) & add some water. Pour in _some more_ granules until 'nuclear fission' occurs! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif with noxious fumes & enormous heat emanating from within the glass jar! Wait one hour till fumes & heat have dissipated. Remove what remains of the tailcap, scrub & rinse until desired effect is seen! Some metal surrounding the tapped hole for tripod mount will have eroded away & the rest is pitted. But surface will be quite textured & 'grippy' as well as 'artistic' as a result - you could call it 'deconstructed' or 'distressed' finish /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif The threads are a bit loose but the re-installed McE2S switch still works. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


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## theepdinker

See, I'd never have thought to try that./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wow.gif

Theepdinker


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## PEU

[ QUOTE ]
*flashlight said:*

To achieve the desired effect please follow directions closely /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif - 
Make sure work area is well-ventilated & wear eye & hand protection. Place tailcap (without the McE2S of course /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif ) in a small glass jar & pour in undiluted Enforcer 10 Minute Hair Clog Remover (contains Potassium Hydroxide & Sodium Hypochlorite) & leave it _overnight _ . Scrub it with a brass wire brush next day. Leave overnight again in a fresh solution [/i]. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Rinse out & then pour in some granules of Plumbo (mfg'd by Krefting & Co. AS. Contains Sodium Hydroxide 30-60%, Sodium Bicarbonate 20-40%) & add some water. Pour in _some more_ granules until 'nuclear fission' occurs! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif with noxious fumes & enormous heat emanating from within the glass jar! Wait one hour till fumes & heat have dissipated. Remove what remains of the tailcap, scrub & rinse until desired effect is seen! Some metal surrounding the tapped hole for tripod mount will have eroded away & the rest is pitted. But surface will be quite textured & 'grippy' as well as 'artistic' as a result - you could call it 'deconstructed' or 'distressed' finish /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif The threads are a bit loose but the re-installed McE2S switch still works. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif 

[/ QUOTE ]

Kids: don't do this at home!!!


Pablo


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## jtivat

Thanks for the info I just did this to a FireFly first run. The finish was very thick and took a lot longer and more Lye to remove than I thought.


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## IsaacHayes

I just completed a true 505nm cyan light in a 2D mag, so I had to modify the tail cap spring to sit in the bottom to accept 3C's. Well that pesky anodizing was there. I didn't have any lye, but I used Nair! It's got calcium hydroxide and sodium Hydroxide in it. If it takes off hair in 5 mins, then overnight should do the trick!

Just do it once over night and remove the rest with sandpaper. If you do 2 overnight treatments, it starts to pit and it's harder to polish smooth again.

A dremel would of been nice, but I had to use my poor fingers to sand it out the rest of the way...


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## rwolff

[ QUOTE ]

Questions: How do I approximate the .01N solution?


[/ QUOTE ]

I haven't seen that terminology (bit of a chemistry background, where moles/litre is the more common measurement). The 2 varieties of lye (sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide) weigh 40 grams/mole and 56 grams/mole respectively. To get a 0.01 mole/litre solution, you'd add 0.4 grams of sodium hydroxide or 0.56 grams of potassium hydroxide to a litre of water.

Assuming 1.0N is 1 mole/litre (can anyone verify that?), this is how you'd get the solution described.


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## Billson

I've tried 1:100 ratio and it works fine. I for one just put a few drops into a glass of water without measuring at all. If you end up diluting it too much, it will just take longer for the HA to dissolve which isn't exactly bad if you're not pressed for time to make sure you don't overdo it and end up with aluminum soup. Just take it out from time to time to check it's status. It's worked for me every time. I've even forgotten about it and left it in the solution for more than an hour without any ill effects.

This used to be an Arc LS that I stripped the HA from. It took almost 6 hours to completely remove the HA due to the extremely diluted solution.


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## nekomane

Beautiful! That has been polished too, right?


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## wintermute

As far as the 0.1N term, the "N" stands for Normality, while "M" stands for Molarity (and the "m" stands for molality). So 1.0<font color="red">M</font> is 1 mole/liter. Normality is another means of measuring a solute in a solution, but is primarily reserved for acid and bases. 

For an acidic solution the "N" number corresponds to the number of H+ in the solution. 

So a 1.0M solution of HCl would be a 1.0N solution.
But a 1.0M solution of H2SO4 would be a 2.0N solution. 

Since the H2SO4 would have twice the amount of H+ ions in the solution than the HCl the Normality is double.

For a basic solution the "N" number corresponds to the number of OH- in the solution.

So a 1.0M solution of NaOH would be a 1.0N solution.
But a 1.0M solution of Ca(OH)2 would be a 2.0N solution.

Since the Ca(OH)2 would have twice the amount of OH- ions in the solution than the NaOH the Normality is double.

For this discussion though, since we are dealing with NaOH, the Normality and the Molarity are the same. 0.1N=0.1M

Therefore a 0.1N solution can be made by adding .1 mol of NaOH to 1L of water. (FYI NaOH is 40.0g/mol, so .1 mol of NaOH is 4g. So you add 4g of NaOH to 1L of water.) And you get decently pure NaOH as Red Devil Lye drain cleaner at many hardware stores.

0.1N solutions of NaOH aren't very harmful at all, and small exposures shouldn't hurt your hands unless you are super sensitive. But, for those of you who don't like playing with chemicals like this cheap nitrile gloves will offer more than enough protection.


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## Billson

[ QUOTE ]
*nekomane said:*
Beautiful! That has been polished too, right? 

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I used 3M 1500 grit automotive paint polish. Took me almost 3 days to hand polish the thing because I don't have any power tools.

Thanks.


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## nekomane

Thanks Billson. Hard work does pay off /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I used a drain cleaner which seemed the closest I could get to Red Devil and expected instant results. Nothing happened after waiting for an hour so I thought I bought the wrong stuff. Took the piece out, rinsed lightly and put it aside. Two days later I find the HAIII crumbling and 'powdery'. 
Patience pays off too..


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## Billson

I always wash with soap and water and brush it too just to make sure all the chemicals have been rinsed off. I wouldn't want to find out a couple of days later that the lye is still eating the aluminum.


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## flashlight

[ QUOTE ]
*Billson said:*
I always wash with soap and water and brush it too just to make sure all the chemicals have been rinsed off. I wouldn't want to find out a couple of days later that the lye is still eating the aluminum. 

[/ QUOTE ]

I think it's recommended to rinse or soak in hot water or polish it with metal polish to close up & seal the pores in the aluminium after the HA removal bath.


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## greenLED

OK, I just tried this with 0.1N NaOH solution I prepared in our lab. I left the part soaking for about 4 hours, but not a bit of HAIII peeled off. I checked the first time at 1 hr, then at 2 hrs, and finally at 4 hrs. No change in the anodizing.

Does anyone know what's the maximum concentration we can use before the Al gets damaged? We have all the safety equipment in our lab, so handling a concentrated solution is not out of the ordinary.


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## PEU

I did the stripping with lab level 0.1N NaoH and removed all the ha3 from an ARC AAA head, after less than 4 hours all the ha3 was easily removed with a cloth.

You can try with 1.0N concentration. After the stripping, put the part in boiling water to seal the AL.


Pablo


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## greenLED

Gracias, Pablo. I'm "playing" with an Arc Twisty that I got from JSBurly's. According to his site, these were left-overs from some anodizing trials. I wonder if the twisty I have has an extremely thick HAIII coat or something. (I did wash the part thoroughly before starting, BTW.)

I'll try with more concentrated stuff tomorrow. I don't want the twisty to end like flashlight's tailcap, though. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Boiling water afterwards, gotcha! Thanks a bunch.


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## gadget_lover

Exactly what does "sealing" do?

Thanks

Daniel


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## greenLED

Thanks for bringing it up, gadget_lover. It never quite clicked in my mind how a metal can have pores... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

I'm trying again with 0.2 N NaOH... more later.


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## dbrad

I just did this for the first time this past weekend with excellent results by following the suggestions in this thread.

I stripped the HA III finish from a Aleph CR2 body using approximately 1/2 teaspoon of Red Devil powdered drain opener lye in 8 ounces of water. With the water in a small glass jar which had originally held imported anchovies, I sprinkled in the lye, replaced the cap, and shook it for a few seconds to dissolve the powder. Then I dropped in the Aleph body and let it sit uncapped for 1 1/2 hours. at the end of that time, I dained off the water and wiped the aluminum with a rag, inside the tube as well as in the threads. After soaking it in hot water for an hour, I buffed it with a power-drill buffing wheel and some soft metal polishing rouge which took out the remaining discoloration and buffed the aluminum to a near-mirror finish.

Nitrile gloves are essential, but not hard to get.


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## greenLED

OK, 7.5 hrs later and not a scratch on the HAIII. Either the ano layer is *extra* thick or the stock solution I started with was not 1N and I have a superdiluted solution. I'll leave the inside of the twisty soaking overnight and see what's hapenned by tomorrow morning.

Incidentally, I found this site that talks about the Al "pore-thing" and anodizing. I realize now the pores are not in the Al itself, but form as part of the Al-oxide that forms during the anodizing.


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## PEU

are you sure on the concentration green? I have the same experience as dbrad, a couple of hours and anno goes away with a cloth.


Pablo


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## cy

don't know the concentraction of caustic we had at the plating shop long time ago. but it would destroy an aluminum part in aprox. 5 minutes. 

I almost never used caustic to remove anodizing. because it was too reactive and would pit up aluminum in a few minutes.

the caustic solution would be in a large heated vat used to strip off stubborn paints ets off of steel. 

I always would strip anodizing with nitric acid, which would take aprox. 3 seconds to remove. 

to answer the question of how strong is too strong of lye to use. You've got to experiement to find out. 

but you can go up in concentration by many times. just reduce your dip time to compensate for stronger solution. just like extending you time in the dip for weaker solutions. 

personally I would use a solution strong enough to strip in a few minutes. so I could sit there and watch solution working and know when to pull.

rinse in lots of cold water afterwards. then dip for 1-2 minutes in hot water just below boiling. 

no need to use distill water, tap water is fine. 

always wear eye protection! rubber gloves when handling undeluted lye. after delution, it's pretty safe to handle without gloves. but gloves never hurt.


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## Chop

I usually spend about three minutes stripping anodizing. I just use about two teaspoons of lye per 8 oz. of water and it works well for me. Having to spend more than a few minutes on stripping anodizing is just to impractical when you have lots to do.


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## greenLED

Pablo, I think you're right about the concentration. I filled the inside of the twisty with the 0.1N NaOH I had, left it sitting over night, and this morning when I checked... nothing had hapenned! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif Well, a *little* bit of foam on the surface of the liquid, but the anodizing is as good as new.

Either I messed up while diluting the stock solution, or the stock solution is not what the label says it is (1N). I'll try again tomorrow with the undiluted stock solution, although I'm tempted to go onto the "fast-lane" and use a concentrated solution, as CY and Chop suggest.


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## greenLED

Yup, there was something (?) wrong with the stock solution I was using. I prepared a little bit of 1N NaOH and it stripped the inside of the twisty in about... oh... less than 10 minutes or so. I used 0.5N for the threads and it probably took 15-20 minutes. I didn't really time it properly, so YMMV.

For future stripping, I think I'll use the more concentrated solution. Seeing how fast and smoothly it works, it just seems a waste of time to starte at the Al part for longer than 5 minutes. I gotta agree with CY and Chop and this one.


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## PEU

0.1N is safe enough to work with bare hands (NO I'm NOT RECOMMENDING THIS) There are a lot of acids that strip anno fast, is a matter of convenience and safety.

I Happen to have NAOH 0.1N thats why I used that concentration /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Happy you finally succeeded 


Pablo


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## greenLED

You are right about the relative safety of the diluted solution. For now I have the advantage of having all this lab equipment available, so I can "play" with some stuff in a more or less secure environment (fume hood, etc.). Might as well use it to boost my flashaholism. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin07.gif


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## Chop

I use two heaping teaspoons of Red Devil drain cleaner per 8 ounces of water. Let soak for 90 seconds or so and the anodizing is all gone.


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## greenLED

Quick question:
I got a Qiii that I'm stripping the ano off. I noticed the clip and its screws are not aluminum. They cling to a magnet, so they must be made of some ferrous material (I think). Will this procedure work with non-aluminum flashlight parts? The light belongs to a fellow CPF'er, and I don't want to damage any parts of it.


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## Trashman

Anybody experience the stripped color jumping back onto the lights if they sit in the solution? Yeah, and if you leave 'em out for just a short while the stuff sticks and you need to resoak 'em. I used a tooth brush to just wipe off the color that had settled back onto the metal. I did this while the items were in the solution. I used Draino to do the stripping.

I took these photos to show leukos his A14 adapter after stripping. The lights are now at the anodizer getting the clear HA3 treatment.











greenLED, are the pocket clip and screws anodized/colored as well? I don't think the solution will harm them. I say this because I left the 'D' mag's retaining ring (ferrous metal) inside the body when I stripped it, and nothing happened to it, no etching of it at all.


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## cy

caustic solution in a heated vat is what we used at the plating shop to clean and/or strip paint from extra dirty steel parts. 

the only time we would stick an aluminum part into this solution is to lightly etch alumimun before plating (only on parts having problems bonding). leaving aluminum in this caustic would destroy aluminum part quickly.

so no caustic solutions will not hurt steel. always use rubber gloves and eye protection when working around strong acids and alkinlines.


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## MoonRise

Take the screws and the clip off before you strip the body. Plug the holes with something (modeling clay, plastic plug, melted wax, whatever) so that you don't mess up the threads in the holes. You'll have to take the screws and clip off before you send it to the anodizer anyway.


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## greenLED

Thanks, guys. The clip and the screws are coated somehow (paint, chemical coating, I don't know). In any case, I dropped one of the screws into my 1N NaOH solution and nothing hapenned. I guess I'll leave them as-is.

The stripped Qiii looks niiiiiiice, though. I'm liking bare Al more and more!


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## flashlight

Hope you remembered to soak it in hot water for a few minutes to stop the process & close the pores after that. A coating of Boeshield T-9 will do the bare Al a world of good too. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


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## PEU

Trashman: remember to cover the threads before redoing the HA3 since annodized layer is an excellent isolator.


Pablo


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## Trashman

You mean the conductive threads, right? I'm having the shop mask the bare aluminum conductive points. Most of the threads on the lights were already anodized, so they're not going to be masked. I think the only threads that are being masked are the ones on leukos' adapter and the threads on the minimag.


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## greenLED

Thanks for the reminder, flashlight! Yes, I usually rinse the piece thoroughly in running water and then let it soak in running hot water (steam coming out of it) for several minutes. Immediately after that I apply some metal polish, both inside and out of the piece.

PS. I decided not to try to mess with the clip after trying with one of its screws. Absolutely nothing hapenned to the screw after about 5 minutes in the NaOH. Unfortunately, it slipped through my gloved fingers when I was taking it out of the bath and went down the drain /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif Oh, well, off to get new screws...


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## Trashman

No problem, but it was flashlight that gave the reminder! (was originially given credit before thread edit) lol

Strange, this is the second time today I get credit for something somebody else said!

"Glad to be of service"....haha


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## flashlight

hehe, no problem guys. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


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## cy

when removing HA from your light by dipping into a weak custic solution. it's a good idea to mask off threads and plug internal surfaces that's been chem-dipped. 

this chemical proccess involves chromium, which use is now regulated by EPA. so costs has gone up for this proccess. you really want to preserve this chromate surface if possible.

before being hard anodized, part is cleaned then dipped into a chromium based solution. next step is to mask off parts of body where HA is not desired. this step is labor intensive and adds greatly to cost of HA job. 

since part will only be dipped a few minutes. regular black electrical tape will probably leak a little. most any type of plug, cork or rubber will be fine. plating shops would use lead tape or plastic masking dip.

so if you see a yellowish coating on inside of your body. you really want to preserve that finish.


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## Trashman

That plastic masking dip, is that like that plastic dip you use to make handles on tools? I should have found out about that, because the masking is adding another $40 bucks to the whole process.


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## cy

no usually masking dip is made expecially for plating. you need to find a plating supply to purchase. 

plating shops usually will purchase in large qualities. like 55gal drums. 

this is why people machine mating parts with orings to seal off areas where HA is not desired. 

further designs like Mclux PD and HDS light use an independant ground path. this allows anodizing without concern with HA on threads. 

this greatly reduces costs of production. per item price could be $1ea VS say $8ea.


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## flashlight

[ QUOTE ]
*cy said:*
when removing HA from your light by dipping into a weak custic solution. it's a good idea to mask off threads and plug internal surfaces that's been chem-dipped. 

this chemical proccess involves chromium, which use is now regulated by EPA. so costs has gone up for this proccess. you really want to preserve this chromate surface if possible.

before being hard anodized, part is cleaned then dipped into a chromium based solution. next step is to mask off parts of body where HA is not desired. this step is labor intensive and adds greatly to cost of HA job. 

since part will only be dipped a few minutes. regular black electrical tape will probably leak a little. most any type of plug, cork or rubber will be fine. plating shops would use lead tape or plastic masking dip.

so if you see a yellowish coating on inside of your body. you really want to preserve that finish. 

[/ QUOTE ]

That's another *valuable* tip! Thanks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif


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## greenLED

My apologies, flashlight; post fixed.

I think the prize for nastiest stuff (aside from all the cancerigenous substances /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif) we got in our lab goes to either potassium dichromate (I've been told it can dissolve glass) or nitric acid.


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## MoonRise

*Re: Nasty stuff*

Nah, hydrofluoric acid is nasty. Dissolves bone after going through the flesh. Remember a tale of someone dropping a beaker/whatever that broke and splashing some that got onto someone else like 10 feet away, who didn't notice it at the time or just did a surface wash/wipe of their skin. Several hours later they went to the ER because of a burning pain. I think the HF acid had eaten through a part of their ankle bone by then.

Oh, HF dissolves glass too.


----------



## cy

*Re: Nasty stuff*

deleted due to dangerous content.


----------



## greenLED

*Re: Nasty stuff*

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif glad I don't get to use that stuff! Gotta love the reagent grade acids; open the bottle and there's this little fume cloud coming out of it We sound like mad scientists now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif


----------



## PEU

*Re: Nasty stuff*

I think is safe not to discuss this dangerous stuff any longer /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif 

Think twice, do once... Be Safe!


Pablo


----------



## chimo

*Re: Nasty stuff*

[ QUOTE ]
*greenLED said:*
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif glad I don't get to use that stuff! Gotta love the reagent grade acids; open the bottle and there's this little fume cloud coming out of it We sound like mad scientists now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif 

[/ QUOTE ]

That must be where your avatar photo came from. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif


----------



## greenLED

*Re: Nasty stuff*

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif Nah, that was the "before" pic, you should see me now... My eyes glow in the dark (green, of course).
[/highjack off]


----------



## Trashman

*Re: Nasty stuff*

I saw my lights today, pre-anodizing. They looked pretty cool. They had a gold colored chem coating. The guy said they used some type of laquer to do the masking. It looked kinda like thin, chunky molasses. Good thing I went there today, they missed the contact points on the two larger tail caps. I guess my instructions weren't clear enough.


----------



## greenLED

*Re: Nasty stuff*

Quick question: Will NaOH harm Lexan? There's a fellow CPF'er in Germany wanting to strip the ano off a SF 6P and he asked me about the Lexan lens (he can't take it out). I looked around and it seems like Lexan doesn't get damaged (tensile strength) considerable below 10% NaOH solution, but I don't know about the optical properties, especially if the 6P's lens is coated with something else. Any ideas?

What other lens types would be resistant to a NaOH solution?

Let


----------



## Tritium

*Re: Nasty stuff*

My SF 6P has a Pyrex Lens. I would think that Lexan is not heat resistant enough for that application. ???

Thurmond


----------



## greenLED

*Re: Nasty stuff*

I don't think the ano-stripping solution gets hot at all (at least I don't remember it being warm to the touch -from outside the container).

Anyway... I just got another PM, the 6P was successfully stripped of its anodizing, without removing the lens, nor the reflector. Cool! Actually, not only the 6P lost its clothing, but an E2e followed suit. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


----------



## flashlight

*Re: Nasty stuff*

The solution will get warm or hot (smoking hot!) only if overconcentrated.


----------



## PEU

*Re: Nasty stuff*

why dont he tries before? you can obtain lexan from a lot of places.

My guess is lexan will not suffer any harm.


Pablo


----------



## greenLED

Just returning to the original thread title. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The Lexan survived a dip in a NaOH bath with no harm done.


----------



## pradeep1

*Re: Nasty stuff*

[ QUOTE ]
*greenLED said:*
Quick question: Will NaOH harm Lexan? There's a fellow CPF'er in Germany wanting to strip the ano off a SF 6P and he asked me about the Lexan lens (he can't take it out). I looked around and it seems like Lexan doesn't get damaged (tensile strength) considerable below 10% NaOH solution, but I don't know about the optical properties, especially if the 6P's lens is coated with something else. Any ideas?

What other lens types would be resistant to a NaOH solution?

Let 

[/ QUOTE ]


NaOH should not react with Lexan. NaOH will mostly react with metals (especially aluminum flashlights) and also with organic substances. Lexan, most plastics, and also most glasses (especially pyrex) will not react with NaOH.

NaOH is most dangerous to one's eyes, so if you guys are using this, make sure to use eye protection. You can easily blind yourself if you get NaOH in your eyes. NaOH is commonly called sodium hydroxide, lye, and caustic soda.


----------



## Trashman

*Re: Nasty stuff*

That's what I used, caustic soda lye, aka Draino. I did use eye and hand protection. Good thing too, the little tooth brush I was using to brush off the color that reattached itself to the metal splattered some of the stuff onto my face, not too much though, but I sure was happy that I had them goggles on. (the kind that cover all around)


----------



## StoneDog

*Re: Nasty stuff*

Any tips for removing just the HA3 from the inside of a battery tube (CNC-123, fwiw). I'd like to see if that alone makes the tube wide enough for an R123... However, I really don't want to harm the chem dip on the threads or the HA3 on the outside of the battery tube.

Also, is there a DIY version of this "chem dip"?

Jon


----------



## greenLED

*Re: Nasty stuff*

I don't think removing the HAiii layer would make a difference. IIRC, the HAiii coat is a couple of micras thick; I'm guessing you need at least 1mm extra (ID) to make the R123 fit (?).

On the first flashlight body that I stripped, I forgot to clean the surface thoroughly, and the ano wasn't stripped in some small areas. I had to stop repeat the process after cleaning. So, covering the outside with some kind of non-reactive grease (silicone?) might work. I don't know what machine shops use for masking material.


----------



## Trashman

*Re: Nasty stuff*

Chem dip on the threads? Is it gold? Don't tell me that stuff hasn't come off after a few screwings. My threads where gold when I got the lights back, but it didn't take long for them to be bare aluminum again. 

The guy at the machine shop told me they use some kind of laquer...I forgot what kind exactly. Looked something like sticky tamarind sauce.


----------



## StoneDog

*Re: Nasty stuff*

Yeap, chem dip on the threads - it's still there. Maybe the Nyogel lube helps reduce the wear on the threads?

Jon


----------



## Trashman

*Re: Nasty stuff*

Possibly.

For anyone interested, I read on Nitrotalk.com, an R/C Nitro forum, that anodizing can also be gently removed by soaking the pieces in "Greased Lightning", a cleanser/degreaser. I've seen it sold very cheaply at Walmart ($3 - $4). Users on that forum claim that after soaking the items for 40 minutes, the anodizing is completely removed without etching the aluminum. I haven't tried it yet, but they swear by it and have posted pictures of the finished results.


----------



## moeman

*Re: Nasty stuff*



Trashman said:


> Possibly.
> 
> For anyone interested, I read on Nitrotalk.com, an R/C Nitro forum, that anodizing can also be gently removed by soaking the pieces in "Greased Lightning", a cleanser/degreaser. I've seen it sold very cheaply at Walmart ($3 - $4). Users on that forum claim that after soaking the items for 40 minutes, the anodizing is completely removed without etching the aluminum. I haven't tried it yet, but they swear by it and have posted pictures of the finished results.



i just tried this method out at work today and it worked great!
man who woulda thought....
:thumbsup:
chris


----------



## Trashman

*Re: Nasty stuff*

We have confirmation!

Moeman, what did you try it on? A light? If a light, did it remove all the anodizing on the inside of the body and from the threads completely? No etching?


----------



## moeman

*Re: Nasty stuff*

i used it on the bezel ring of my PD, so as to match the body.
it was Don's HA Black finish.
i will be stipping a Lionheart battery tube this weekend.
will keep you posted 
chris


----------



## moeman

*Re: Nasty stuff*

well, just about finished stripping the HA NAT off of my LionHeart Tube and it works great!
thanks,
chris


----------



## Jumpmaster

Wow...this might be a good candidate for a sticky!!!

How hard is it to strip an Arc LS? For those that have done this, how far down did you disassemble it? I have a couple of LS's and I think I may try this on one of them soon. I have a couple of HA twistie tailcaps I got from that last batch that I'll try first though.

Thanks for the good posts! I've never disassembled the LS before, so...I'm a little leary of that...

JM-99


----------



## Billson

It's quite easy to strip the anodizing. Just make sure you pay attention to the concentration of the solution you're using so you don't end up with alumninum soup.

You have to disassemble it completely to be sure. Removing the retaining ring is the most difficult part because it has loctite on it. Once you succeed in freeing this up, everything should just drop out of the head.


----------



## Jumpmaster

Thanks, Bill...I will try to do this in the next day or so...

JM-99


----------



## Billson

Let us know how it turns out.


----------



## greenLED

Jumpmaster, if are unsure about stripping the ano, send me the parts and I can do it for you. You pay mailing cost only. I prefer if you disassemble the LS and send me the parts only because I haven't done one yet and I don't want to experiment with yours.


----------



## Jumpmaster

greenLED said:


> Jumpmaster, if are unsure about stripping the ano, send me the parts and I can do it for you. You pay mailing cost only. I prefer if you disassemble the LS and send me the parts only because I haven't done one yet and I don't want to experiment with yours.



Hey, I really appreciate the offer!! The only thing I'm apprehensive about though is disassembling the flashlight.  I think I got it though...there was sort of a glob of JBWeld or something in there that epoxied the lockring to the body (I didn't obtain this LS from Arc) -- I was able free it up a bit. I need to get some snap-ring pliers and see if I can remove it.

Thanks again...I will try the grease lightning technique on an old LS twistie tailcap I had and see how it works before doing the body...

JM-99


----------



## StoneDog

*Re: Nasty stuff*



greenLED said:


> I don't think removing the HAiii layer would make a difference. IIRC, the HAiii coat is a couple of micras thick; I'm guessing you need at least 1mm extra (ID) to make the R123 fit (?).
> 
> On the first flashlight body that I stripped, I forgot to clean the surface thoroughly, and the ano wasn't stripped in some small areas. I had to stop repeat the process after cleaning. So, covering the outside with some kind of non-reactive grease (silicone?) might work. I don't know what machine shops use for masking material.


 
FWIW, I took the caveman approach and used a dremel with sanding drum. As soon as the HA was off (ie the dust was no long white powder and bare Al was visible) the battery actually fit. According to some sites HA can be up to .005" thick and in this case I believe them! 

Sure wish I would've seen the "Greased Lightning" info though - that would've been the way to go.

Jon


----------



## greenLED

'key-dokey. My offer stands if the lightning stuff doesn't work for you.


----------



## Jumpmaster

Ok, whew! Finally got the LS apart...and finally located a place to buy Greased Lightning...my local WalMart didn't have it!!!

The parts are fizzing away in the stuff as I type. If it works, I think I will polish with Flitz or Mother's...Not sure which works better yet.

JM-99

p.s. I looked at the bottle and it says on the warnings right there NOT to use it on annodized aluminum...hehehe...unless of course you mean to strip it free of annodization, of course.


----------



## Trashman




----------



## Jumpmaster

Ok...done! I've started polishing it, but will break out the Foredom and finish it later...I just ordered a new glass lens from flashlightlens.com so will be taking it apart soon to install that. It'll probably see more polish then. Also, I am tempted to put a clear powdercoat on it to protect it...but that would sort of make the knurling non-existant. And now, the parts feel a bit loose when tighting the pieces. A slightly larger O-ring may fix this.

Here are some pics...The annodized one on the left is my LSH-P...the stripped one was just about the same color/finish as that one before I began.















The annodizing came RIGHT off...I let it sit in a coffee cup (both pieces) for 40 minutes, as directed. When I pulled them out and brushed them off after that sitting, I found that the parts that were face-down, touching the bottom of the cup didn't really get stripped, so I flipped them over and placed in the cup with a new batch of Greased Lightning for another 15 minutes. It cleaned off just fine after that. The cup had a LOT of foam in it after both sittings.

Thanks!!

JM-99


----------



## Trashman

So, how do the threads look? I know when I used the Draino method, the threads were etched a bit, and don't screw quite as smoothly as they use to. It was reported that Greased Lightning doesn't etch the metal at all.


----------



## Jumpmaster

Trashman said:


> So, how do the threads look? I know when I used the Draino method, the threads were etched a bit, and don't screw quite as smoothly as they use to. It was reported that Greased Lightning doesn't etch the metal at all.



Well...the threads work great...just a tiny bit loose. I didn't think they'd been annodized, but maybe so. I'm hoping a slightly thicker O-ring will fix it...it is only very slightly loose, but still very smooth. Time to go to harbor fright and locate that O-ring set, I suppose.  (I actually looked for the set the other day, but couldn't find it anywhere...they told me they were in plumbing, but...maybe I missed them...)

I would say that's a fair statement...it didn't seem to etch the metal. I can still read the laser-etched engraving on the head...it's just very faint.

I made a glow-cord lanyard for it and it's on there now...this will make a great "evening" sort of dress-up light...very classy. Well...I thought the LS was pretty classy anyway, but...

JM-99


----------



## Billson

Could they be loose because you haven't installed the oring yet. I've never had to change the orings and they still worked the same as before.


----------



## Jumpmaster

Nah, this is with the O-ring installed...not sure why it's loose. I put some thin, rubber type stuff inside the head to try to tighten it up a little until I can get a thicker O-ring...

Thanks for the note...

JM-99


----------



## StoneDog

I just used this Greased Lightning stuff to remove the HA3 from a Vital Gear FB2 body and a SF KL1 (Gen 1) head.

The VG body was clean after a 35 minute soak and some light scrubbing. The KL1, on the other hand, took quite a bit longer. It took quite a bit of rubbing to get the KL1 reasonably clean after 45+ minutes of soaking plus periodic dunks while I was scrubbing it. I noticed that the Vital Gear surface is shiney and the KL1 is not - it's as if the KL1 were tumbled (stone washed?) wherease the VG body is smooth and polished. Maybe they are made from different alloys?

Also, the golden coating on the threads and inside the body tube of the VitalGear pieces were not affected by the cleaner. I now have a nice shiney aluminum battery tube with the anti-corrision coating still in place. Looks pretty cool. 

Jon


----------



## Trashman

My guess is that SF etched the KL1 before anodizing and that is why it looks different.


----------



## StoneDog

That would make sense, actually. I put the KL1 to a 1/2HP buffing wheel and saw no significant change after a couple of minutes of polishing. It's still not a perfect match to the bare FB2, but it's much better than when they were both annodized. Maybe there's a simple way to etch the FB2?

Anyway, thanks for posting about the Greased Lighting *Trashman*.
Jon


----------



## Trashman

Polishing should remove any signs of etching. If they still aren't a perfect match, then perhaps they are made of different materials. Draino/lye will etch the metal, but I don't think that's what you want. After polishing, it'll be the same again!


----------



## greenLED

One question for y'all:

What should I use to mask flashlight parts that I don't want to strip of their anodizing?
There's a couple of people asking me to polish the reflector on their Infinities. It just struck me that to do that, I have to mask the outside of the head. I thought of using modeling clay, but I'm not sure how the NaOH would affect it. Any advise?


----------



## Jumpmaster

greenLED said:


> ...but I'm not sure how the NaOH would affect it. Any advise?



Greased Lightning works great and probably a lot less harsh than NaOH. Might even be able to use the modelling clay with it fine...

Either way, maybe you could drop a tiny bit of the clay into the NaOH or Greased Lightning and see if you can detect any reaction...

JM-99


----------



## greenLED

Jumpmaster said:


> Greased Lightning works great and probably a lot less harsh than NaOH. Might even be able to use the modelling clay with it fine...
> 
> Either way, maybe you could drop a tiny bit of the clay into the NaOH or Greased Lightning and see if you can detect any reaction...
> 
> JM-99



Excellent suggestion, thanks! I'll try it tomorrow.

I'm curious about that Greased Lightning, but I already have lots and lots of NaOH available :naughty:


----------



## MoonRise

I'd skip the modeling clay. Just paint the section(s) you don't want to be stripped with a (relatively) easily removed lacquer or paint. Like some older nailpolish from the Missus.


----------



## cy

greenLED said:


> One question for y'all:
> 
> What should I use to mask flashlight parts that I don't want to strip of their anodizing?
> There's a couple of people asking me to polish the reflector on their Infinities. It just struck me that to do that, I have to mask the outside of the head. I thought of using modeling clay, but I'm not sure how the NaOH would affect it. Any advise?


the answer is... it depends upon concentration of caustic agent used. 

if you use a weak solution the requires soaking for an hour. then you need a more secure masking agent. similar to what a plating shop would use. which has to survive mulitple trips thru different acids, cleaners and sulfuric acid bath under load. 

much better to use a stronger solution which only requires a much shorter time in solution. say 90 seconds. 

you need to experiement with amount of lye used (drain cleaner) different brands can be different strengths. 

start with two teaspoons of lye and work from there. plain tap water is fine. afterwards rinse with lots of running water. then seal in hot water for a few minutes. 

wear safety glasses at all times. rubber gloves is a good idea when mixing lye. after solution is mixed, you have a weak caustic bath which is not too bad on hands. 

regular masking tape should be fine for short dips. rubber plugs or cork plugs also work good.

moonrise's suggestion of using removeable paint is an excellent idea. this is actually very simular to what plating shops do with a dip that is peeled off afterwards.


----------



## greenLED

:thanks: CY

I used some synthetic modeling clay with a dilute solution (1M) and it worked just fine. A bit of oil and/or silicone paste seems to work fine as well. I haven't tried paint yet.

I was playing with a super-concentrated NaOH solution the other day (10M), and the clay did not hold up very well, but that was _after a couple of hours_ in the solution. 

Thanks for the safety gear reminder too. I have access to a research lab, and we have all the protective gear available (and use it all the time).


----------



## greenLED

flashlight said:


> ...pour in undiluted Enforcer 10 Minute Hair Clog Remover (contains Potassium Hydroxide & Sodium Hypochlorite) leave it _overnight_. Scrub it with a brass wire brush next day. Leave overnight again in a fresh solution... Rinse out & then pour in some granules of Plumbo (mfg'd by Krefting & Co. AS. Contains Sodium Hydroxide 30-60%, Sodium Bicarbonate 20-40%) & add some water. Pour in _some more_ granules until 'nuclear fission' occurs! with noxious fumes & enormous heat emanating from within the glass jar! Wait one hour till fumes & heat have dissipated. Remove what remains of the tailcap, scrub & rinse until desired effect is seen! ... But surface will be quite textured & 'grippy' as well as 'artistic' as a result - you could call it 'deconstructed' or 'distressed' finish



I've been trying to reproduce this without success. The 10-minute hair clog remover just etches away the aluminum. The sodium hydroxide+sodium bicarbonate solution is more violent than the hair clog remover, but not nearly as violent as I suspect is needed to create the textured finish. I couldn't find any Plumbo locally, so I "cooked" a 10M NaOH + 200mg/L NaCO3 solution in my lab. I even tried texturing the surface with some coarse sandpaper (to create bubble nuclei) - nothing. I'm on my second dissolved minimag head here. 

Any hints as to how to create a more violent reaction? Maybe the NaOH:NaCO3 ratio in the solution I'm using is off? Any hints on where to find "Plumbo"?

*Folks, don't try this at home!!* I have access to a chemistry lab and we have a all necessary safety gear (certified fume hood, rubber aprons, eye protection, showers, etc.). But, most importantly, I use all that stuff and follow careful safety measures when I'm using these chemicals. Do not do this at home.


----------



## Jumpmaster

For etching, I like beadblasting...doesn't everyone have a beadblasting cabinet in their shop?  (I rationalized mine for using it on my frame rail dune buggy parts. So...if you don't have a dune buggy -- BUY ONE! And then get a beadblasting box.  )

JM-99


----------



## greenLED

Jumpmaster said:


> For etching, I like beadblasting...


Thanks, Jumpmaster. I wish I had a beadblasting chamber too (and a lathe, and...)  Someday I'll have a shop at home. 

You're right, the strong caustic solution I'm using makes the surface look very similar to a beadblasted part. What I'm trying to do is a little more "severe" texturing than plain beadblasting, though. Here's what flashlight posted a while back, which is what I'm trying to reproduce:







Seems like I need a really strong reaction and/or a way of creating reaction nuclei. Judging by the "recipe" flashlight posted, I'm guessing the really strong reaction from Plumbo would be enough. I think I've reproduced the concentration of the solution he used, but I'm not getting the same results. I'm just  right now. Any chemists out there?

Again, *please don't try this at home. The solution I'm using eats away aluminum!* Imagine what it can do to your skin, eyes, etc.


----------



## Bernhard

Anyone knows what is the active ingridient of this Greased Lightning from Permatex? I need to try finding the equivalent product in Australia.
Any Aussie CPFer know? Thanks in advance...


----------



## greenLED

IIRC, it has a very dilute concentration of NaOH.


----------



## zelda

the switch looks quiet tortured  

I don't know if that can help:

With the production of printed circuit boards, they use a heatable basin with an air pump to produce bubbels. 
It shortened the corrode time and make it more evenly.


----------



## greenLED

Anybody use oven cleaner to remove anodizing? While cleaning our oven yesterday, it struck me that the spray cleaner we were using had sodium hydroxide.


----------



## Trashman

No, but when I first asked the anodizer how I might remove the stuff by myself, he did say that oven cleaner might work. I said I thought lye would work and he said, "naw, that won't work." I, fully, did not believe him! I couldn't find the lye, but picked up crystal Draino, which, of course, worked. I think, I also read on the R/C forums that oven cleaner worked to some degree. I think, in general, the safest method for most would be the Grease Lightning method, mainly because it is the safest!


----------



## Jumpmaster

Trashman said:


> I think, in general, the safest method for most would be the Grease Lightning method, mainly because it is the safest!



Same here...I honestly do not understand everyone's fascination with using drain cleaner or aversion to Greased Lightning. The GL is very safe IMHO and does not pit the metal.

JM-99


----------



## Omega Man

GL made my Matterhorn nice and shiny. I'm thinking of dunking the Hemse next, since it's only a $10 light and it might look pretty good all silver.


----------



## FsTop

The most common household item that will remove anodizing is EZ-Off Oven Cleaner.

I use it in in the sink - spray a coat, use a nylon brush, and rinse after a couple of minutes. Repeat until the anodizing is gone, but the lye hasn't etched the surface much.

Use a polishing cloth to buff to a shine.


----------



## EsthetiX

WHERE ARE THE AFTER PICTURES?


----------



## greenLED

How about not yelling and asking politely?


----------



## gunga

FsTop said:


> The most common household item that will remove anodizing is EZ-Off Oven Cleaner.
> 
> I use it in in the sink - spray a coat, use a nylon brush, and rinse after a couple of minutes. Repeat until the anodizing is gone, but the lye hasn't etched the surface much.
> 
> Use a polishing cloth to buff to a shine.


 

I almost died using the aerosol stuff. Nasty and burns the lungs (even with fans going and window open).

I likely won't do that again, tho I did buy some pump spray to use if I just have to do it again!

I find I need some practice to get just right, often overshooting and etching the surface a bit. Takes a lot of work to (hand) polish it at that point.


----------



## will

I have done a number of maglites in electroless nickel plate. This required removing the original anodize finish. Greased Lightning works, but I though it worked too slow, but, it is safe to use. I ended up using Drano drain cleaner, this worked in about 10 minutes and required gloves to handle the parts. The resulting finish is 'mottled' looking. I have a lathe and each part had a spin, for the parts tha ended up with a brushed finish, I used a scotch brite pad. This resulted in linear brushed finish. The ones that were polished had a few courses with silicone wet or dry paper - up to 1000 grit. Then a trip to a buffing wheel with jewelers rouge to get a mirror finish.


----------



## Trashman

will said:


> I have done a number of maglites in electroless nickel plate. This required removing the original anodize finish. Greased Lightning works, but I though it worked too slow, but, it is safe to use. I ended up using Drano drain cleaner, this worked in about 10 minutes and required gloves to handle the parts. The resulting finish is 'mottled' looking. I have a lathe and each part had a spin, for the parts tha ended up with a brushed finish, I used a scotch brite pad. This resulted in linear brushed finish. The ones that were polished had a few courses with silicone wet or dry paper - up to 1000 grit. Then a trip to a buffing wheel with jewelers rouge to get a mirror finish.



Hmmm....mottled? I wonder what you mean, exactly. On one tail cap, a Fivemega 2 Pila Stinger adapter cap, it looked liked it was coming out ok, but there was still a little anodizing on the threads or somewhere largely unimportant, so I stuck it back in the solution (Draino). For some reason, the bottom of the cap took on a type of mottled appearance I couldn't remove. Fortunately, it was going on a Buck Master's Camo edition Stinger HP, so after the natural hard anodizing, the tail cap actually looked somewhat camouflaged and ended up looking good--almost like I meant to do it that way. That only happened with one piece, though. I wondered if that's the type of mottled look you're talking about. Everything else came out fine, and after polishing, looked great--no machining necessary.


----------



## will

The tailcaps and the bodies react differently when the are stripped. I think it has to do with the fact the bodies are made from tube aluminum and the tailcaps are solid rod. 

Mottled is the finish, not polished, but smooth. I sent the lights out for electroless nickel plate. I knew that the finish going to the plater had to be good, I did not want to take any chances. I tried to polish one of the lights right after removing the anodize, but the resulting finish looked cloudy, not like a mirror finish, I then put it on the lathe and went over it with wet and dry silicone sandpaper, then with the buffing wheels, That worked.


----------



## greenLED

Will, try shortening the time of the Drano stripping bath. The only time I've managed to "stipple" minimags is when I overdid the time in the stripping solution. I was playing around with some lights for sizzlechest, and was doing it on purpose with 10N NaOH solution. I actually dissolved the bezel ring...


----------



## will

greenLED said:


> Will, try shortening the time of the Drano stripping bath. :




I had a few lights in the 'soup' In some cases there was a little anodize left in the corners and some of the grooves. You're right - If I timed it better I might have had less polishing to do. At any rate - the end results I achieved were what I wanted.


----------



## nexro

EsthetiX said:


> WHERE ARE THE AFTER PICTURES?


----------



## EsthetiX

nexro said:


>



WOW that looks SWEET!! I want to do my new l1t now!


----------



## EsthetiX




----------



## FsTop

Ez-Off Oven cleaner works as well as anything else. Just be sure to take it in stages - don't just drop it in a glass and let it sit there, as you may get surface pitting.

Spray it, use a nylon brush to get into the checkering, rinse in water to check progress after a couple of minutes, repeat...


----------



## cy

from first page of this thread....worth seeing again.

please do use safety glasses and rinse with plenty of water!



cy said:


> Just wanted let everyone know. There are two ways to remove HA. One method is with a caustic solution as described. the other is to use nitric acid.
> 
> There are avantages and disadvantages of both. Using nitric acid is much kinder on the aluminum, but is very hazardous to you. using a mild castic solution is kinder to your skin but can be harsh to aluminum.
> 
> When you use a caustic solution, it will open up the pores of the aluminum. VS using an acid will seal up those pores.
> 
> After a caustic treatment the aluminum is very open to corrosion and should be chemdipped or polished to seal pores. Hot water for several minutes should help seal as well.
> 
> edit: I posted the nitric acid for information purposes only. Nitric acid strong enough to do the job is extremely hazardous to handle.
> 
> removing your HA with weak lye as suggested is probably the safest way.
> 
> the objective of the above post was to inform folks. you need to seal the raw activated aluminum afterwards with hot water or chemdip. or it's open to extreme corosion.


----------



## FsTop

Rinsing in a little bit of diluted lemon juice or vinegar after the stripping will neutralize any leftover lye on the surfaces, and avoid corrosion...


----------



## cy

use lots of plain water and seal with plain hot water just below boiling for a 2-3 minutes. the object is to neutralize all chemicals and seal the pores. aluminum will oxidize and form it's own protective coating. 

this is how plating shops do it...



FsTop said:


> Rinsing in a little bit of diluted lemon juice or vinegar after the stripping will neutralize any leftover lye on the surfaces, and avoid corrosion...


----------



## FsTop

I don't think I want to boil the LED or the electronics, thanks...


----------



## cy

would not dip a light with electronics into any type of chemicals to begin with. as chemicals renders aluminum to an active state. 

once that's been done, chemicals needs to be neutralized and pores of aluminum needs to be sealed. 

if your light is water tight, highly unlikely a dip into hot water for 1-2 minutes will hurt the light. 



FsTop said:


> I don't think I want to boil the LED or the electronics, thanks...


----------



## FsTop

I'm thinking that polishing the light with jewelers cloth seals any microscopic pores quite nicely. I've done a couple of lights this way, and they stay shiny for years.

There are many ways to skin this cat...

Here's my latest stripper...


----------



## Cuso

FsTop said:


> I'm thinking that polishing the light with jewelers cloth seals any microscopic pores quite nicely. I've done a couple of lights this way, and they stay shiny for years.
> 
> There are many ways to skin this cat...
> 
> Here's my latest stripper...


Niiiiiice... jewelers cloth, is that the yellow cloth thingy that comes impregnated in an oily substance and you store inside a plastic wrapper??


----------



## FsTop

That's the stuff. 

I use one called the "Krazy Kloth, As Seen On TV!" that I got at the hardware store, and finish with a yellow jeweler's rouge cloth for a high polish.


----------



## jzmtl

Okay, so if I want to strip a light, do I just dunk the whole thing (sans battery) into solution (or spray with oven cleaner)? The orings should keep the basic solution out and innards safe, right?


----------



## FsTop

That's how I did it. 

I greased the o-ring and put a piece of rolled-up paper towel inside to catch any leakage. Then unscrewed it until the o-ring is just visible, so it doesn't strip under the edge of the inside of the barrel.


----------



## jzmtl

Nice, I'm gona try that on a P3D and polish with dremel and green polishing compound and see how it turns out.


----------



## clint999

_See, I'd never have thought to try that./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wow.gif

Theepdinker_


----------



## AnthonyMcEwen2014

*Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

Hiya, I am really sorry if this is stupid thing to suggest but, I have two black flashlight, that were not very expensive, so I am thinking of removing the anodising but not the knurling so dont want to sand it, I would never try this WOTH an expensive light, but one way (RC people do it a lot) to remove andosing is to give it a quick 30 second bath in acitone / oven cleaner, however obviously this can't be done unless your torch is waterproof as you'd bugger all the electronics up, but luckly these are so yay!

However the only problem I can think of is would the acitone affect the glass with its anti relfective coating is has and also maby the rubber switch would be vunrable?

If it is then I won't risk it but be nice if I could.

Any other ways I could try doing it?


----------



## AnthonyMcEwen2014

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

Anyone?


----------



## ven

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

Some put in oven,have a search as some of the results look excellent..........just a thought


----------



## DUQ

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

I use a powdered drain opener when I can completely disassemble the light; when it cannot be I brush on an oven cleaner to the ares where I want it removed.


----------



## michlui0718

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

how about removing all the glass, reflector, led, switch and o-ring first
Some people use sodium hydroxide solution to remove the anodisation


----------



## Jumpmaster

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

Grease Lightning cleaner is safer to use than lye (sodium hydroxide/drain cleaner) and won't tend to pit the metal like lye.


----------



## DUQ

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*



Jumpmaster said:


> Grease Lightning cleaner is safer to use than lye (sodium hydroxide/drain cleaner) and won't tend to pit the metal like lye.



I didn't realize it would remove Type II anodizing. I wonder if it's available up here :thinking:


----------



## Jumpmaster

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

Yeah, it'll take type II right off down to the bare metal without pitting.

It's called Greased Lightning... Forgot the "d" on my post above...


----------



## think2x

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*



Jumpmaster said:


> Grease Lightning cleaner is safer to use than lye (sodium hydroxide/drain cleaner) and won't tend to pit the metal like lye.



This works perfectly on type II. I put my small parts in a plastic sandwich baggy and pour enough to cover the parts and let marinate for 15 minutes, wipes right off and then follow with a good cleaning and then polish.


They changed the packaging, here's the new look.


----------



## MRsDNF

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

I could not find Greased Lightning here in Australia but have had good success with White King. This is used for bleaching clothes and has the same active ingredient as Greased Lightning.


----------



## Jash

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

I've given a couple of my lights a caustic soda bath and they come out looking beautiful. All my lights are waterproof so I just chuck them in complete without the batteries (doesn't worry the switch boot or o-rings). Takes a couple of minutes, finish off with an old toothbrush, rinse and the job is done.

Done this to a couple of Quarks, and the printed logo stays on and looks slick against the bare AL. With the black button and clip it looks the biz!


----------



## Jumpmaster

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

Ok, if y'all put your lights in lye (AKA "caustic soda") and they get pitted, just don't come back here saying no one warned you.


----------



## CamoNinja

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

Greased lightining works great.


----------



## schizeckinosy

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

Acetone will not remove anodizing. I soak heads in acetone to get out the drivers since it dissolves glue but will not damage electronics or the light body.


----------



## Jash

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*



Jumpmaster said:


> Ok, if y'all put your lights in lye (AKA "caustic soda") and they get pitted, just don't come back here saying no one warned you.



Mine aren't pitted. I'd imagine if you left them unattended soaking in the solution they'd pit, but not if you're keeping a close eye on it and rinsing with water as soon as the anno comes off.


----------



## Jumpmaster

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

Yeah -- what I'm saying is you don't have to "keep a close eye on it" with the Greased Lightning stuff. It's a lot safer and FAR less likely to pit the metal like lye will.


----------



## monkeyboy

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

I looked at the greased lightning datasheet. It contains sodium hydroxide (lye).


----------



## AnthonyMcEwen2014

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

Thanks all for the replys, Mine are IPX8 so I am hopeing I can give them a bath and not ahve to take apart, not sure if they even will, they are Xtar B20 with HA3 anodising.

Looks like some kind of ovencleaner / or anything containing cuastic soda will work, may see what I have lying around and give it a try, and keep an eye on it. Now just gotta work up the courage, I don mind if they get a bit of pitting though, there bike lights anyways so are gonna get some scars, and there not uber expensive, I certenly would not do it to my D40A for exsample!

Although I was sure acetone worked as I thinkt hats what the RC guys use on metal parts...but then again thats not this level of anodizing!


----------



## Jumpmaster

I hardly think it is in the same concentration as straight lye though...

I left my parts in Greased Lightning anywhere from ten minutes to an hour and a half...no pitting.

Let me know what your light looks like if you leave it in straight lye for 1.5 hours.


----------



## Jash

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

Mmm....think I might give one of my old Maglites a bath.


----------



## Jash

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*



Jash said:


> Mmm....think I might give one of my old Maglites a bath.



Oooh....looks real pretty! Took about 20-30 minutes and then an hour on the buff wheel. Got a TLE- 31M inside it, might have to get a Malkoff XM-L dropin for it.


----------



## monkeyboy

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*



Jumpmaster said:


> I hardly think it is in the same concentration as straight lye though...
> 
> I left my parts in Greased Lightning anywhere from ten minutes to an hour and a half...no pitting.
> 
> Let me know what your light looks like if you leave it in straight lye for 1.5 hours.



You buy the sodium hydroxide in solid form and you can make it any concentration you want. If there is such a thing as 'straight lye', you can just dilute it. I tend to make it much more concentrated than necessary so it strips in a couple of minutes and I've never had a problem with pitting. If it's too weak, it takes forever; the sodium hydroxide gets used up and slows down further making it impossible to predict the time required. I think it's more likely to pit in that situation as you may forget about it completely.

Note to OP: concentrated sodium hydroxide is nasty stuff so it's up to you to take the necessary precautions.


----------



## Jumpmaster

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

Actually, it's a lot more likely to pit in a solution of pure, straight lye, but I don't really care. I know enough to know not to do that, so...


----------



## AnthonyMcEwen2014

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*



monkeyboy said:


> You buy the sodium hydroxide in solid form and you can make it any concentration you want. If there is such a thing as 'straight lye', you can just dilute it. I tend to make it much more concentrated than necessary so it strips in a couple of minutes and I've never had a problem with pitting. If it's too weak, it takes forever; the sodium hydroxide gets used up and slows down further making it impossible to predict the time required. I think it's more likely to pit in that situation as you may forget about it completely.
> 
> Note to OP: concentrated sodium hydroxide is nasty stuff so it's up to you to take the necessary precautions.



Regarding safty, looked into it and yhea, Im not, gloves and eye protection all the way! I like my vision and fingers working.



I found some "Buster drain cleaner" under the sink, but seeing as its only part of it and I dont know whats in it I will just buy some cuastic soda from amazone as its 3pound delivered, and can be used for cleaning anyways, its proberly better than the buster stuff at cleaning anyways! Just gotta warn parents what it is before they go useing it as a normal drain cleaner ect...

Just one last thing,

A) Dose anyone know if it will effect the rubber switch / orings? I have a spare oring but hopeing it wont and switches can be bought but I am hopeing not to damage them anyways.

b) The lens, I know glass is not gonna be effected to badly from some reading, Howver, will it damage the "anti reflective coating" whatever that is??? 

Thanks all for the help, and its always good to have a little dibate over things, so long as things dont get perosnal wich they have not so thats good!


----------



## schizeckinosy

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*



AnthonyMcEwen said:


> Although I was sure acetone worked as I thinkt hats what the RC guys use on metal parts...but then again thats not this level of anodizing!



The "Aluminum Anodizing Council" (yes, it exists!) recommends acetone as a cleaner for anodized surfaces, and in practice, I have not seen any effects at all, so I judge it safe


----------



## AnthonyMcEwen2014

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

^^^ Some people clearly had to much time on there hands when they formed that XD!

I just went back to a RC fourm and can confirm I got my wires twisted, they cused cuastic soda, not acetone, My bad!


----------



## Jumpmaster

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

<AHEM!>

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?311087-WTB-Bezel-Novatac-120T


> "I was doing an experiment to remove paint coating on my Novatac bezel using drain remover and it was success. Unfortunately, the drain remover also "eat" some part of the aluminum and made my bezel's thread gone loose"



But y'all go on ahead and keep using straight lye there if you want...


----------



## AnthonyMcEwen2014

*My attempt at removing anodizing, Pics included. - Long Post so get some popcorn.*

Hello all, a few weeks back I posted a topic on this and got many helpfull answers, well today I finaly plucked up the courage to do it, (was worried Id damage my lights) and I was waiting for a dry day as was not going to be doing it indoors.

I decided to go with straight lye as it was £2.50 posted of amazone UK, as opposed to a oven cleaner with unknown other chemicals in. It also worked out cheaper than buying a oven cleaner and I had controll over the solution strength ect ect.

I went with a not so scientific meathod of just pouring a cup full (well actualy it was a half a small flowerPots worths...) into a small plastic box, around 2-3 leters I guess.

I wanted to keep the threads anodized so I did not get any play so just tightend them up and droped them in, it worked nicely, for the most part here are some photos.
.


[/URL]
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[/URL]
.


[/URL]
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[/URL]
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[/URL]
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That small chrome thing is a penut style lighter if anyone wants to know, it is a tiny lighter like a zippo but wont leak, or evporate unlike zippos and only costs $5 or less. Plenty for a few days use if you were a heavy smoker id guess, but I dont smoke so I would not know.

It is there to show how dull and NOT shiny they came out. (This was expected)

I first tried just a clip of the i3s as a test but it did not work at all??? So I dumped the whole toech in and got the same results, well this did fizz a bit but did not remove the ano, this was done with cold water I tryed again and used hot water from a kettle (Word of warning adding lye to this gave me a hell of a shock, add it SLOWLY when you do this!!! It make a lot of heat in addition to the hot water and really fizzes!!)

So I now know you need the water to be hot for it to work but dont know why, so I left them in for 30 seconds and scrubbed them down with a brillo pad (Its a type of like scouror you would use for washing up dishes) this got rid of most of the ano but I dound leveing it in longer did not remove much more so to get best results I did 30 seconds, removed scrubbed and then rinsed with fresh water and put them back in and repated as nessasary, around 4-5 times to gett ALL of the black ano off the two big torches wich is not surpising given they were in a smalll tub, I guess it would have worked better if I used a big bucket or something, but people say it takes 15-30 mins, I think my solution was a lot stonger then as this was stipping it right in front of me! Very cool but Id imagine not something you want to let touch your skin!.

so thats how I did it if anyone is intrested, now for the most part it went very well, as you can see in the photos, However the I3s came out better IMO, a lot shinyer but I think maby that was bec use of the alloy or quality of the alluminum used for it.

My other torches were Xtar B20s, however one came out very well, and the other even though it was in for the same amount of time has had some pitting, yet the other one has not had any at all.
As you can see here.

NOT PITTED
.


[/URL]
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PITTED
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[/URL]
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TOGEATHER
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[/URL]
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You will also notice above in the first set of picture one of the xtars (The same one that pitted) came up with some marks that can be only described as water marks but they are not and wont go away no idea what this is cused by but yhea anyways just thought I would let you know.

What I find very stragne about this is that only one pitted, and even stranger than that is that ONLY THE HEAD PART pitted the body is fine, you cant make it out in the pictures, but on the pitted one the gaps between the fins are darker and would not clean up like on the non pitted one, also the pitted one would turn black again when put back into the lye solution, even when I made a fresh solution up thinking my solution had to much removed anno in it, so I have no idea why it has pitted and why it REFUSES to come to the same finsh as the not pitted one, but oh well cant win them all.

I am overall happy with the results and if you have some cheap light you want to change the colour of give this a go it was very fun to do and watch!

I am amazed that such a corrosive solution did not damage the oring / reflector or switch boot, or gloves I was wearing yet it will eat aluminum like it was candy bars! Very cool bit of scince going on here I think!

So other than one of my xtars refusing to come out like the other one it gave good results.

GoodLuck if anyone want to give it a go but I can confim it is safe on any IPX8 waterproof light whoop!

I am now looking for a way to polish them and have had a look online I will likely do it by hand with some wet and dry paper as I don’t have acceses to heavy machinery or the money to buy bits for a drill ect. I may upload them here when done.

Sorry for such a rambling post, sometimes I just let it get away from me XD!

If anyone has advice on how to polish it is appreciated. Or wants to make any other comments then please go ahead.


----------



## El Camino

*Re: My attempt at removing anodizing, Pics included. - Long Post so get some popcorn.*

Very cool. Thanks for posting.

I kind of like the pitting. It looks like an antique.


----------



## jorn

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*



schizeckinosy said:


> The "Aluminum Anodizing Council" (yes, it exists!) recommends acetone as a cleaner for anodized surfaces, and in practice, I have not seen any effects at all, so I judge it safe


Use acetone all the time. Removes hardened polyester and other mess that is close to impossible to wipe off my work lights. wont screw up the ano. but it might eat a o-ring. 

Also i use caustic soda to remove ano. 5 min job. No problems at all. 
Btw:If you remove the ano from the treads, you ruin the lockout feature on the light anyway.


----------



## jorn

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

Jumpmaster.
Paint is way way way thicker than ano.


----------



## AnthonyMcEwen2014

*Re: Removing anodiseing? - May come across a bit dumb...*

If anyone was interested I did do this and got good results, I did three lights and had a fluke with pitting on one half of one light but it was really strange as it was done for same time as other light and at the same time, and it was only the head but hay go figure, it eat the ano of it seconds it was a super strong solution.

Scroll down and it should be a way below this thread if you have a good look for it but not to far hopefully?


----------



## AnthonyMcEwen2014

*Re: My attempt at removing anodizing, Pics included. - Long Post so get some popcorn.*

Yhea it is pretty cool just so strange it only did the top of one light when they were done at the same time but hay, when I polish them I may be able to remove the pitting hopefully.

We shall see.


----------



## monkeyboy

*Re: My attempt at removing anodizing, Pics included. - Long Post so get some popcorn.*

Good effort, but there are a few points I would make:

1) If it's stripping in 30 secs, that sounds FAR too strong. Google the correct concentration (I can't remember off the top of my head). It should take maybe 3-5 minutes. It doesn't need to be exact but I didn't mean you should just add a random amount!

2) *NEVER* use hot water to dissolve sodium hydroxide. The reaction is too violent and it can splash in your face. 

3) I wouldn't use a brillo pad either, that would scratch up the surface and make polishing so much harder. A plastic brush is enough. 

Interesting results though. The heads are probably from different batches and machined out of different aluminium alloys which is the only reason why one would pit and the other would not. I mainly do maglites and haven't had any problems with pitting. 

Brasso works well for polishing and it's available everywhere in the UK (I got some from homebase).


----------



## DUQ

*Re: My attempt at removing anodizing, Pics included. - Long Post so get some popcorn.*

Glad you didnt burn yourself with the lye solution. Its extremely painfull which I learned from a work accident.

I've never had that type of pitting on any on the lights that I have stripped. It's possble the aluminum contain some type of slag or iron.


----------



## Mr. Nobody

*Anodizing to polished*

Anyone stripped the anodizing from.a surefire or solarforce and sanded it from 220 grit to 2000/5000 grit than polished it on a wheel ?


----------



## more_vampires

*Re: Anodizing to polished*

Bead blasting is way faster, but you cannot use plastic media. Glass medium beads are fine, but metal bead shot will cut WAY too much.

I did a Mag that way, blast and polish. Didn't like it, ended up giving it the 3m spray rubber coat treatment. The light is now immune to showing scratches and it is unbelievably grippy.

A wheel polisher does a surprislingly good job of glossing up an ano finish, as well. It won't cut the finish off, or at least mine won't with white or brown buff compound.

Sanding to 5000 or even 2000 is wicked overkill. Start with 600-900, maybe touch it up with 1500 and go to the wheel. Wheel with white buff compound does a fantastic job.

Strip it with oven cleaner, way easier than trying to cut it with sandpaper:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?213926-Anodizing-Removal


----------



## Mr. Nobody

*Re: Anodizing to polished*



more_vampires said:


> Bead blasting is way faster, but you cannot use plastic media. Glass medium beads are fine, but metal bead shot will cut WAY too much.
> 
> I did a Mag that way, blast and polish. Didn't like it, ended up giving it the 3m spray rubber coat treatment. The light is now immune to showing scratches and it is unbelievably grippy.
> 
> A wheel polisher does a surprislingly good job of glossing up an ano finish, as well. It won't cut the finish off, or at least mine won't with white or brown buff compound.
> 
> Sanding to 5000 or even 2000 is wicked overkill. Start with 600-900, maybe touch it up with 1500 and go to the wheel. Wheel with white buff compound does a fantastic job.
> 
> Strip it with oven cleaner, way easier than trying to cut it with sandpaper:
> http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?213926-Anodizing-Removal


So just spray ovencleaner wipe it off after a bit then Polish it on a wheel ? Thing that'll work ?


----------



## more_vampires

*Re: Anodizing to polished*

Yeah. If you can get it bead blasted, you don't really even need to sand as the aluminum comes out pretty clean with medium glass beads. If you started with 600 sandpaper, that would leave scratches in the aluminum and you've have to go to finer paper before the buff wheel.

Oven cleaner's active ingredient is usually lye, aka sodium hydroxide. It's also sold as drain cleaner, such as Red Devil (used to use that for making soap.)


----------



## Mr. Nobody

*Re: Anodizing to polished*



more_vampires said:


> Yeah. If you can get it bead blasted, you don't really even need to sand as the aluminum comes out pretty clean with medium glass beads. If you started with 600 sandpaper, that would leave scratches in the aluminum and you've have to go to finer paper before the buff wheel.
> 
> Oven cleaner's active ingredient is usually lye, aka sodium hydroxide. It's also sold as drain cleaner, such as Red Devil (used to use that for making soap.)


This was done with a wire wheel than right to the polishing wheel has an interesting texure


----------



## more_vampires

*Re: Anodizing to polished*

Heh. Embrace the scratches! 

Vinh does some work like this. Something else he's tried is to slightly notch the light body in several places with a hacksaw. He then did a color fill for the gouges and somehow kept it separate from the finish added to the rest of the body. Some kind of resist media or something.


----------



## Norm

*Re: Anodizing to polished*

Did you search? It's a very common question


----------



## Mr. Nobody

*Re: Anodizing to polished*



more_vampires said:


> Heh. Embrace the scratches!
> 
> Vinh does some work like this. Something else he's tried is to slightly notch the light body in several places with a hacksaw. He then did a color fill for the gouges and somehow kept it separate from the finish added to the rest of the body. Some kind of resist media or something.


Time to search for that or make contact


----------



## Mr. Nobody

*Stripping ano and polishing*

I am sure this has been done here many times to various lights but I am curious if anyone here as done this to a Surefire.M3 head ?
How does it look polished over the grey/black HA anodizing?
I am tempted to use oven cleaner on it.
What can be used to protect aluminum surface after a good polishing ? Aluminum is a soft metal I can expect it to pit and get easily abrasion


----------



## more_vampires

*Re: Stripping ano and polishing*

You could wax it like your car. Bare AL is going to haze a bit because that's what it does on contact to the air.

Polishing compound will bring back the mirror. I use Excite polish. It has white jeweller's rouge and a little bit of acid in it. Work on small areas at a time. A dremel buff wheel will save you TONS of hand rub time.

If you want super shine and for it to stay that way, barring impact damage, then there's chrome. Chrome hates being dropped.


----------



## Jumpmaster

*Re: Stripping ano and polishing*

You don't have to use oven cleaner to strip it. Greased Lightning cleaner works great and a lot less likely to pit the metal than oven cleaner. It's never pitted anything I've stripped with it...

I use Mothers polish on bare aluminum...I found the "original" works better than their "billet" version, FWIW...


----------



## Mr. Nobody

*Re: Stripping ano and polishing*

You think maybe cause the m2 head is so big I should think about cerekote ? That was my original plan


----------



## Jumpmaster

*Re: Stripping ano and polishing*

Cerakote is a good option -- if applied by someone that knows what they're doing. (I'm not saying you wouldn't know...I've just seen some good cerakote before and also some pretty awful cerakote... )


----------



## Mr. Nobody

*Re: Stripping ano and polishing*



Jumpmaster said:


> Cerakote is a good option -- if applied by someone that knows what they're doing. (I'm not saying you wouldn't know...I've just seen some good cerakote before and also some pretty awful cerakote... )


I wouldn't try doing it my self.
My talent is with brushes only. There is a company here in L.A that does cerekote and of course ill be sending out a few firearms too the flashlight will be a add on to the order. Hope my swatchbook with cerekote gets here soon.


----------

