Metal Tankers

[gregative]

In addition to my regular fleet washing, a sister company has approx. 12-15 liquid tankers. These come in two types: 1) aluminum (looks like a fuel tank) and 2) shiny (looks like stainless steel, maybe polished aluminum but I don't think so). I occasionaly am asked to wash them which I have but one manager said they are starting to look dull. I test spotted some areas on a few w/ HF acid and got mixed results. Some spots would brighten while others didn't look like it did a thing. Has anyone dealt with these types of tankers before and if so what is your advice?

[Kory]

New Again has a aluminum brightner that is awsome.

[Tom DeFrancesco]

Acid will ALWAYS dull the aluminum. You must use a brightner.

[Paul Kassander]

Alum brightner is an acid, usually Hydrofloric and sulfuric mixtures and occasionaly phosphoric, which is a little more gentle than the HF. The concentration of the acid is what will cause the dulling effect. You can use alum birghtner (aka acid/step 1) on polished alum in very weak concentrations and when neutralized quickly with and alkaline soap (aka wash soap/step 2) and get excellent results without "dulling" the alum.

The variation on the surfaces appearance can be caused by many factors, oils on the truck, differnt dirts, spills on the outside from what they were hauling... In some cases you may need to wash the vehicle a second time to "even" it out. Your other option is to make your mix a little stronger when you wash the first time. Whenever you apply the acid you should always go over it with your step 2 alkaline soap to neutralize the acid and remove the dirt from he surface. Step 1 alone will not work as well and is bad for the surface of the vehicle, the acid will continue to work untill fully neutralized.

The shiny tankers are more than likely Stainless Steel and can be washed the same way by 2 stepping to get the best results.

[Tom DeFrancesco]

Duh....that was a typo. Meant to say you have to brighten it. Which would involve the second step. Poor choice of words. sorry.

[PRESSURE PACKED]

I Ran Into This Problem. The Aluminum Was A Repolish And No Matter What Chemical I Used It Would Streak.

[gregative]

Thanks for the assistance.

[M Hinderliter]

Greg,
Stainless steel generally will not be a problem to use acid on but if it is polished alum. use the following as a guide.

1. Use a mild soap with a neutral ph of 7
2. Don't let any detergent dry on the surface, if possible clean in the shade. If the surface is hot rinse first to cool it so you don't get a flash drying of the detergent when it is applied (that can steak as well)
3. Use rinse water that is "clean" (hard water will also streak alum.) If quality rinse water is not available check into renting DI tanks to do the job

You should not have any problem if you follow these steps

P.S.
Greg got you message but lost your number please call again, I will be glad to help. Email me, I will send you my cell phone number mike@steamaway.com

[Scott Stone]

I use the same process on polished aluminum. DI water is especially worth the cost if you live in a hard water area. I try not to use acid on any polished metals, mainly because I have polished one to many trailers from mistakes a crew member has made. It always seems to be the new trailers, too.

[Paul Kassander]

Originally Posted by Scott Stone

I use the same process on polished aluminum. DI water is especially worth the cost if you live in a hard water area. I try not to use acid on any polished metals, mainly because I have polished one to many trailers from mistakes a crew member has made. It always seems to be the new trailers, too.

That sound familiar...oh and windows too.