How to clean the brass threads/contacts on your mod?

[TinySpark]

Howdy All!

Stopped vaping for about four months due to a stress-induced cigarette binge, and now my mod's brass threads/contacts are a bit grimy. meh.

I've searched for posts on the ecf on how to clean your mod, but all the posts were about polishing it so it was shiny. I don't care about fingerprints, heh. I just care if the threads and contacts on my mod (a vicious ant phenom with brass threads and contacts) are grimy.

I've been trying to clean them with some hot water and dish soap but the threads are hard to clean with a paper towel or small terry washcloth, they just dont really get right in the little cracks and crevices.

Any thing "cheap" (do people use baking soda or vinegar, have no clue really!) and possibly already in my kitchen cabinet that you would recommend for cleaning brass threads and contacts? And what do use to wipe or clean the threads with (qtips, tissue paper, paper towels, terry towels?)

 

[ckquatt]

Rubbing alcohol on a q-tip is how I clean the threads on all my devices!


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[KentA]

I use ketchup.

 

[Rockwell222]

Grab a old toothbrush to get whatever you use in the threads then rinse it away and scrub again with the toothbrush.

 

[AzPlumber]

Rubbing alcohol on a q-tip is how I clean the threads on all my devices!


Sent from my Commodore 64 using Tapatalk

I'll second the rubbing alcohol suggestion.

 

[somdcomputerguy]

I've used a #2 pencil eraser. Just make sure little bits of the eraser aren't left behind, and don't use one that's been used (for it's intended purpose) before..

edit: and I'll third the rubbing alcohol/cotton swab..

 

[TinySpark]

toothbrush! yes and duh! thanks! and the ketchup, haha, it's probably because it is a paste made of vinegar and salt that that works. But will probably just make my own paste of salt and vinegar, ketchup sounds gross to me, even if it works. heh. cool thanks for the tips, will try it right away!

 

[sonicbomb]

Ten minutes covered in Ketchup makes brass and copper shine like new.

 

[TinySpark]

Ten minutes covered in Ketchup makes brass and copper shine like new.

after the "ketchup" shine down, do you clean it with vinegar or rubbing alcohol?

 

[Izan]

after the "ketchup" shine down, do you clean it with vinegar or rubbing alcohol?

Toothbrush + ketchup (contains vinegar) ...rinse with water and wipe with vaper towel.
Done and done.

 

[sonicbomb]

Ketchups all you need, la la lalala...
I use Brasso on the main outer body for a high shine. You can make the polishing of a copper or brass mech easier using the technique below.



PS. As is my understanding of the chemistry of the thing, salts only purpose in removing oxidization is as an abrasive.

 

[SLIPPY_EEL]

I used Brasso on all the Contact's, Threads and Surfaces of my Copper Cherry-Bomber and Copper Raptor yesterday, i was amazed at how easy everything cleaned up compared to anything else ive used, i've never managed to get the threads as clean as they are now.

The threaded parts and small parts were dabbed with brasso on a cotton-bud/Q-tip and where possible the best way to clean the surfaces is either on a cloth laid flat on a work surface and rubbing the part back and forth or using a scrunched cloth laid on a surface for say a male threaded part, for female threads its just a matter of using a scrunched cloths to spin inside or a cloth wrapped around your finger, for say the inside of the threads in the 510 you can just use a clean Q-tip/cotton-bud so long as you don't let the Brasso dry inside and you start work on buffing/cleaning straight away you should'nt leave any film on surfaces.

 

[TinySpark]

brasso is pretty cheap, I'll have to give it try ... thanks!

 

[mhertz]

PS. As is my understanding of the chemistry of the thing, salts only purpose in removing oxidization is as an abrasive.

I'm no expert, but have read that the salt enhances the acidity of the acidic acid thereby speeding up the cleaning process. I also saw a youtube vid once where an old copper penny where just dipped for 2 secs into vinegar and only a little reaction where made(still not clean), whereas the same with vinegar/salt and it was shinny looking again(other penny used of course). The salt is disolved so not abrasive in this case I believe.

There are many explanations posted, but this guy sounds to know what he's talking about:

The salt is added to vinegar to speed up the process.

Addition of NaCl to vinegar shifts the equilibrium of acid dissociation, i.e. CH3COOH↽−−⇀CH3COO−+H+" style="position: relative;" tabindex="0" id="MathJax-Element-4-Frame" class="MathJax">CH3COOH↽−−⇀CH3COO−+H+

, to right therefore concentration of H+" style="position: relative;" tabindex="0" id="MathJax-Element-5-Frame" class="MathJax">H+ & CH3COO−" style="position: relative;" tabindex="0" id="MathJax-Element-6-Frame" class="MathJax">CH3COO− increases. Due to this, NaCl" style="position: relative;" tabindex="0" id="MathJax-Element-7-Frame" class="MathJax">NaCl reacts with CH3COOH" style="position: relative;" tabindex="0" id="MathJax-Element-8-Frame" class="MathJax">CH3COOH to give HCl" style="position: relative;" tabindex="0" id="MathJax-Element-9-Frame" class="MathJax">HCl
NaCl+CH3COOH↽−−⇀CH3COONa+HCl" style="position: relative;" tabindex="0" id="MathJax-Element-10-Frame" class="MathJax">NaCl+CH3COOH↽−−⇀CH3COONa+HCl

Cooper Oxide (base) reacts with acids to form water and copper salts.

Acetic acid (CH3COOH" style="position: relative;" tabindex="0" id="MathJax-Element-11-Frame" class="MathJax">CH3COOH

), which is a weak acid, will react slowly with Copper oxide as compared to HCl" style="position: relative;" tabindex="0" id="MathJax-Element-12-Frame" class="MathJax">HCl
which is strong acid.

So when use vinegar-salt solution to clean penny, Copper Oxide parellely reacts with HCl and CH3COOH both and gives Copper salt and water.

CuO+CH3COOH⟶2H20+Cu(C2H3O2)2" style="position: relative;" tabindex="0" id="MathJax-Element-13-Frame" class="MathJax">CuO+CH3COOH⟶2H20+Cu(C2H3O2)2

CuO+2HCl⟶H2O+CuCl2" style="position: relative;" tabindex="0" id="MathJax-Element-14-Frame" class="MathJax">CuO+2HCl⟶H2O+CuCl2

Sorry, copy/pasting didn't bring the formulas properly over... The post comes from this thread on 'Chemistry Stack Exchange', where there's several other answers too from others on what's going on, although over my head but still interesting

Why is salt needed when using vinegar to clean pennies?

 

[TinySpark]

sure thing, before I decided on computer programming, my major was chemical engineering. It's why ocean water (salt water) is so corrosive. forgot about all that chemistry stuff! ;b

 

[SLIPPY_EEL]

brasso is pretty cheap, I'll have to give it try ... thanks!

Yep! over here its £2.50 for a 175ml, i think it's brilliant and it doesn't leave that white dust you get with some metal cleaners.
I've also used cape cod cloth for cleaning the outside of my mod's but they don't last very long and make a lot of mess on your hands, i know you can restore them by adding more oil to them but it's more hassle than it's worth when the cloth has disintegrated.
Ultrasonic cleaners are good for certain things but they don't clean tarnishing

 

[Verb]

I use a couple cups of vinegar with a tablespoon or so of salt. Soak for five minutes. In a separate container dissolve a couple teaspoons of baking soda in water. Remove the parts from the vinegar bath and dunk in the baking soda bath. Then rinse with warm water. Dry immediately.

 

[mhertz]

I've used vinegar/salt alot and isopropanol at times, but most vinegar/salt. However, I think I will try next time the ketchup method, because, as sonicbomb once said to me I believe, it's pro over vinegar/salt is it's consistency i.e. paste vs fluid, and this now after thinking some more about it makes sence, because e.g. some items can lie with there flat end downwards, or how to put it, and so not get as much contact with the solution, whereas with ketchup, everything is all around and reacting because of it's paste consistency... Also, it's easier to just use a plastic bag with this method...

Also, as brasso is widely available here too, for not that much either, then i'll check out Slip's advice too.

 

[juicynoos]

ketchup sounds gross to me, even if it works. heh. cool thanks for the tips, will try it right away!

I have the same Phenom and lots of mech tube mods. You have all the suggestions here already but I would like to confirm that a toothbrush or toothpick works well to remove debris from the threads and mention that ketchup works great and is easily washed off with soap and hot water. I always finish up using alcohol after a mod cleaning session. Some for the mech and some for me!!!

 

[bgoracy]

Hello All,

Does anyone know of a substance that can be used in conjuction with a qtip to quickly (meaning I don't want it to sit at all) remove oxidation from a 510 brass pin inside the 510 connection? I have a microstick, so the pin is not easily accessible or visible. Isopropyl alcohol does nothing for oxidation.

Thanks!