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galvanised paint ? plus battery explosion
Mikef - 13/1/14 at 10:37 AM

Being a bit of a Rodney , I have some battery acid on my galvnised trailer the patch is about 75mm. Needless to say it is rusting nicely now. Does anybody have any experience / could recommend a cold galvanising paint that might do the job.

As a by line the acid came from a battery that exploded, heard about it but never had it happen. Was all my own fault , battery had been charged and I caught the positive terminal with my spanner when connecting the earth. What a bang , top blew off the battery, acid every where.I was wearing glasses which saved the day, plus water butt outside that face went into. I have now got a bottle of emergency water in the workshop.Just a word of caution really.

mcerd1 - 13/1/14 at 11:00 AM

we repair galv at work with Metaflux (there are other brands too - if you google for the ones below you'll get the spec's)

Base Coat: Metaflux 70-40 Zinc Paste - brush on, protects the steel
Finishing Coat: Metaflux Zinc-Alu Spray (1 spray coat = 25-30 microns) - make it look nice and adds a little extra protection

you'd need to clean it up first though and remove all traces of rust / acid
thats ment to be good enough for 25 to 40 years on a small area of damaged galv.


[Edited on 13/1/2014 by mcerd1]

owelly - 13/1/14 at 11:01 AM

For brush application, I use Galvafroid. RS sell a cold galv spray which is very good. I made a set of roof bars out of galv'd conduit and sprayed the welds with the RS stuff and it's still good after 7 years!

Mikef - 13/1/14 at 11:25 AM

Thanks all.

mookaloid - 13/1/14 at 11:34 AM

Battery acid doesn't do chrome on BSA motor bike exhausts any good either.

I had a battery failure whilst out on a ride so I called the RAC who decided to connect his booster pack so that I could get it started and ride home.

As he was approaching the battery with the crocodile clips, he suddenly asked me if it was positive earth. I said "yes" and was about to say "but it doesn't make any difference to the way that you connect the booster pack" when he reversed the clips, connected them the wrong way round and BANG - acid everywhere - dripping all over the him and the bike fortunately he had some water with him and was able to wash most off the bike but I think he will have needed new overalls - and the chrome on the exhaust (which wasn't perfect anyway) was noticeably discoloured where the acid had been in contact even though it was only for a few seconds.
.

mcerd1 - 13/1/14 at 11:48 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
BANG - acid everywhere - dripping all over the him and the bike fortunately he had some water with him and was able to wash most off the bike but I think he will have needed new overalls

I once carried a big old battery about 50 yards, about 1 min later I was starting to feel all itchy on my arms, chest, legs and hands and it took me a few seconds to work out why.... stripped off and jumped in the shower PDQ so no major damage to me, but the overalls and the clothes underneath all had massive holes burnt through them by the time I was out the shower

turns out the battery just had a slight leak, it looked a tiny bit damp which I'd assumed to be water, but nothing obvious....
its really nasty stuff

britishtrident - 13/1/14 at 05:52 PM

You should wash the area with a soda solution to eliminate any acid left in the etched surface before anyother treatment.