Cleaning vinegar?

[hubert]

Is Cleaning vinegar appropriate and safe for cleaning mouthpipe and valve circuits?
Thanks in advance for your comments.
Hubert

[UDELBR]

Hey Hubert!

If you mean the "ijs azijn" you find in NL (which is called "glacial acetic acid" in the rest of the world), it's pretty nasty stuff, and you don't want to get it on hands or anything. I sometimes use it as a pickle to remove oxides, and add hydrogen peroxide to it when removing lead residue from pipes. Maybe regular white vinegar ("wit azijn" is what you're thinking of?

[hubert]

Hi Uncle Beer,
What I mean, is called schoonmaakazijn in NL. It is white, like normal natural vinegar, it is not as strong as normal vinegar (it only contains 8% vinegar acid) and is recommended for degreasing, dechalking, refreshing of all kind of household equipment and clothes.
Hubert

[UDELBR]

That should be fine, if you can stand the smell.

[smitwill1]

In my day job I work with a number of chemists and metallurgists. I've asked them in the past for suggestions for removing the inevitable scale that builds up in the valve section. They suggested phosphoric or sulfamic (NOT SULFURIC) acids, which you can get at hardware stores for etching concrete. As they described it to me, the zinc in the brass is more easily removed by the acetic acid than by either phosphoric or sulfamic, which preferentially dissolve calcium deposits. I've used each individually--one to two tablespoons of off-the-shelf product per gallon of warm water. Handle with gloves; neutralize with baking soda before disposal. Rinse horn with copious amounts of water. The phosphoric acid is liquid; the sulfamic is a granular product. Both seem to leave raw brass bright, but the sulfamic acid seems to work a bit faster--I prefer the phosporic for that reason... I've kept the contact times low--under a minute between dip and rinse. YMMV.

[UDELBR]

As they described it to me, the zinc in the brass is more easily removed by the acetic acid than by either phosphoric or sulfamic

The acetic acid in vinegar is very mild, and since brass is not porous, it doesn't really have much chance to cause dezincification. Of course, don't leave your parts to soak overnight, and be sure to rinse thoroughly afterwards.