HT Husky tipups rusty?

[BourbonSnowCone]

We haven’t used our tipups for almost two years and had them in a storage unit. Took a look in the tote and all of the metal (spools etc.) is rusty. Anyone experienced with cleaning these up have any tips? Don’t really want to replace 20 tip ups very badly.

[Martian]

It seems to me, I have heard you can soak rusty stuff in Coca-cola , then use a wire brush

[esox_xtm]

Regular household vinegar works very well at attacking rust without affecting remaining finishes very much, if at all. Dirt cheap, put your rusty stuff in an appropriate sized tub and pour. If you want to hasten the clean I use a stiff bristle nylon brush as opposed to a wire one unless I don't care about the remaining finish. Once they're to your satisfaction get 'em out, rinse very well and dry completely. After wiping as dry as you can I like some WD-40 to keep any corrosion from reforming, it can happen pretty quickly on damp, unprotected metal. Alcohol can also dry very quickly without leaving a residue.

Might want to wax those spools once they are clean and dry to protect from further rusting. Or give 'em a quick shot of paint. Used to repack a pile of Beaver Dams and de-soldering/soldering the spool always damaged the paint. Last thing I always did was give 'em a shot of "gold" finish paint. Exactly matched the stuff BD already had on their spools and make it at least look like I knew what I was doing.

Hopefully you removed the spools from the shaft before soaking. If not, depending on how and how much you submerged the spools/shaft assembly you may need to re-lube the tube/shaft.

[NOBOATNEEDED]

Try mixing 3 or 4 Kool-aid packets in a gallon bucket of warm water and soak the rusty areas for a couple hours.  You will be surprised at how well Kool aid loosens the rust from metal and can be wiped right off.  Works good on common tools as well (wrenches / vice grips / etc).  Lemonade seems to work the best in my opinion.  Kind of makes you think twice about drinking kool aid after you see what it can do to metal.

[esox_xtm]

It's all about acid. Coke - phosphoric acid, Kool-Aid - citric acid, same with lemonade, vinegar - acetic acid. Acid is the active ingredient in all of these suggestions.

Use the plain acid (vinegar), it's cheaper and no additional clean up for added sticky sugar products plus, because it's clear, you can easily see when your rust is gone. I know what you're thinking, what about hydrochloric or sulfuric acid? Sure you could use 'em but they are both much stronger acids and will not only clean off the corrosion but etch any exposed metal pretty quickly and can be dangerous to handle. Those other acids can etch too but not as quickly.

Almost forgot... Bar Keepers Friend, the spray , is also killer. Super rust remover especially on stained stuff. Active ingredients: citric and oxalic acids. Oxalic acid is commonly used as a deck cleaner and citric acid, well, it's in your Kool-Aid, lemonade and probably Coke too. My brother used oxalic many years ago to remove rust from vintage beer cans without damaging the remaining paint. Don't get the powder unless you want some mild abrasive with your rust removal.

[DR.SPECKLER]

Just one reason i got rid of the newer ht tipups.they rust out.old ones are decent but i dont want to past down cheap plastic tip ups.beaver dams  for me now but i have some from the 60s that are still in good shape but my newer style bd jolly rodgers are getting rust on the tip up flag stem.so no better than the ht in reality.

[esox_xtm]

Just one reason i got rid of the newer ht tipups.they rust out.old ones are decent but i dont want to past down cheap plastic tip ups.beaver dams  for me now but i have some from the 60s that are still in good shape but my newer style bd jolly rodgers are getting rust on the tip up flag stem.so no better than the ht in reality.

What part was rusting, the spools? My Polars are all older and have the plastic spools so no rust but occasionally one breaks. Chrome gets chipped on the shaft tube and can get a little rust there too. They last a lot longer if you can bring 'em in to dry when you're not fishing. Polar does have a new plastic model with an aluminum spool. Been trying to find 'em as parts to retrofit my old ones but no luck so far. Nice anodized gold too  .

I know wood looks pretty but I long ago got very comfortable with not totin' a lumber yard just 'cause it looks nice.

[DR.SPECKLER]

The shaft when the chrome plating comes off and the flag wire.mine all had plastic spools too.i gave them all away.i only carry 2 bd tippys with me but i know for a fact the old ones were built better than any ht.new ones not sure..i like that all parts are available to keep them for many years but my old beaver dams dont seem to need parts because the were built with quality.new bd not so much.only think i like from ht is the mitts,ice blues and mini nero.

[BourbonSnowCone]

Thanks for the info. Was planning on using vinegar and will move forward with that plan. Hope to get everything cleaned up and paint the spools to prevent future rusting. Any tips for what to regrease the shaft with? When I pulled them apart it looked like a thicker low temp grease was used but definitely had some thinner oily substance in there as well.

[P Meyette]

intresting heard of coke of cola but never kool aid

[DR.SPECKLER]

I have good luck removing rust and corrosion with pre soaped scouring pads.and if real bad i scrub with clr and a toothbrush after letting it parts soak in clr.

[Baetis62]

Thanks for the info. Was planning on using vinegar and will move forward with that plan. Hope to get everything cleaned up and paint the spools to prevent future rusting. Any tips for what to regrease the shaft with? When I pulled them apart it looked like a thicker low temp grease was used but definitely had some thinner oily substance in there as well.

 
Ive had luck with a mix of Blue Lube and Beaver Dam tip up grease. Different viscosity.  Blend em until you get the consistency you want.