Packard Forum Index » General

How can i clean DOT 5 from the brake drum?????

Brake cleaner?

Yeah, I would say brake clean spray too. Lacquer thinner would work, but brake clean is basically laquer thinner under pressure in a can.

Am not sure what the formulation is and how badly it gets into the metal, but since dot 5 is a silicone product think I would be tempted to use a silicone and wax remover from the paint shop, then the brake cleaner just for that little extra. Maybe overkill and not necessary, but don't think it would hurt either.

I believe the accepted solvent for silicones of this nature are from the class known as ketone solvents, the most common members of the family are acetone and MEK (methyl ethyl ketone).

THANKS Owen !!! I didn't think of trying acentone. I have some streight Acetone here in a can and will use it. Would MEK be better to use than the acetone or one's as good as the other????

I tried paint thinner (DD LAquer thinner) several times over the last week or so and it seemed to clean it pretty good but still had some slipperyness to the feel of the iron drum. I'll use the acetone for sure. HOWEVER, it seems to me that the laquer thinner HAS acetone in it?????? If so then why didn't the laquer thinner clean it just as well????

The best thing I have found for getting rid of silicone products is benzene or xylene. Goop Off used to be mostly xylene.

I think lacquer thinner contains toluene and methanol (mostly).

Anybody know if oven cleaner might work?

Tom, oven cleaner is water-based and contains lye (caustic potash or equiv) and would be a very poor choice, it has essentially no solubilizing power for an organic liquid. And be careful with benzene, it is at the least a suspect human carcinogen and has a very low flash point, only 12 degrees F. On the safety aspect, Acetone's flash point is even lower, 0 degrees F - and is also a skin and severe eye irritant and an explosion hazard so use any of them outdoors and with plenty of ventilation. Xylene and toluene (aka xylol and toluol) are a bit safer but still not great, and probably not a very good solvent for silicones. Speaking as a chemist with many years of experience is chemical safety, if you intend to use any of these substances, you should obtain and read the material safety data sheets (MSDS) first, or at the very least the label precautions.

I agree that all of those chemicals are nasty. I was a molecular biologist for many years, and we always made sure to use things like phenol, acetone, benzene, etc. in a fume hood and wearing gloves.

My thought on oven cleaner was sort more along the lines of "since they use KOH to etch silicone wafers...".

Thanks,

Tom

Molecular biologist, wow, that must have been very interesting. I was a research chemist and later Director of Research for Olin Corporation. In the current case we need to distinguish between silicon acting as a metal in a silicon wafer, from silicones, organic substances.