aluminum corrosion

[brm3]

Has anyone found a secret sauce for dissolving aluminum corrosion? I have a 1" bolt in my mast and does not want to leave it's current position. I need to remove it to relocate it.
Thanks

[Brion Toss]

Hi,
Over the years, I've tried all kinds of sauces for this -- white vinegar, Coke, what-have-you -- based on enthusiastic recommendations from people who reported gratifying success. And I tried to believe it was so, tried so hard that I even recommended the "solution", as it were, just because the reports were so enthusiastic that I thought it must be so. Very herd mentality, that.
But cold, objective trials showed it just ain't so. A little research will lead you to industrial-strength products that will dissolve corrosion, but they are likely to dissolve things you want to leave intact, too.
This leaves us with things we know can work: heat, penetrating oil (+ time), and an electric impact driver. Better yet, slap some Eck or Tef-Gel on bolts when you install them.
Fair leads,
Brion Tos

[brm3]

thanks for the info

[Douglas]

Heat has usually worked for me , Thanks Brion .

Wondering if anyone has used caustic soda (Lye n water) to remove those aluminum corrosion bubbles under paint ?

[brm3]

I wonder if applied with a brush and tape of the area? Hmmmm

[Brion Toss]

Hi,
Caustic soda is one of the things I mentioned that is very effective at dissolving aluminum corrosion, but equally effective at dissolving aluminum. Industrially, it is actually used to produce aluminum oxide. That 1" bolt might need to be cut/drilled out.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss