If you can get it with free shipping, hell yes, that's a good price!

What's the re-usability of Evaporust? For example, if I have a piece of 3" pipe that I fill up half way, then drop in some legs, can I do multiple cleanings with the solution? Does it become less effective with multiple cleanings?

Yes, you can reuse it dozens and dozens of times. After about 100 uses, it will lose effectiveness (takes longer to work) and gets clogged with particles of rust. Pouring it into a coffee filter and into another container then back into your original container will help squeeze more life out of it. Remember, Evapo-Rust should be kept in a container with a lid or else it will ...... evaporate! As you use it you will spill some of it as you pull the legs out. When I start with a fresh 4" diameter tube full of 4 legs, it takes 1.5 gallons of Evapo-Rust to fill it. Eventually as it gets used, the fluid level will go down due to spillage so I replenish with a fresh one quart jug of it.

It's also temperature sensitive. The warmer the ambient temperature (preferably over 65 degrees), the faster it works. As an example on those 80 degree summer days, I can do a set of 4 legs in just two hours! It does not hurt anything to leave the legs in there for a week or two (or even a month) if you forget about the legs.

When you pull the legs out, be sure to rinse them off and dry them right away. Now apply some chrome polish and you've got yourself a nice set of legs!

You literally answered all my questions in one post. Thanks a ton!

Full House project. I was skeptical that I'd ever get the rusted levelers out of these legs, but the front 25" legs are hard to find, so I wanted to try.
A 24 hour soak in Evaporust, a little encouragement from the wire brush on my bench grinder, a few minutes to let a shot of Kroil soak in, and my vice grips did the trick.
The chrome finish on all the legs was shot, so I used Rust-Oleum "Hammered" grey. I might re-chrome them at a later date, but they'll work for now. Evaporust works wonders.
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Amazon Prime Day deal on 55 gallon drum of Evaporust...

JUST $675!!!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AEBX09S/ref=gbps_tit_m-2_3fbc_e18e2f76

Not the worst legs I have worked with but 24 hours in the tube works wonders. The set on the right soaked for 1 day, they were similar to the pair on the left beforehand. I wiped them down with a rag, rinsed with hot water and towel dried.

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I love this stuff!! 24 hours in evaporust, and 20 min in an ultrasonic cleaner

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When you put multiple legs in the tube at once, do you need any kind of spacer or anything? Do you put them in in opposite directions?

KenLayton why do you use a 4" tube rather than a 3"?

Stuff also works great on old model train track...and guns. And surprisingly its now in walmart.

Nope, no spacers.

I put the legs in opposite directions.

I use a 4" diameter tube because you can put in four legs at once (a whole set). If you use a 3" tube. you can only fit two legs in it.

Thanks. Speed isn't that important for me and if 3" saves you a half gallon or so, that's good for me.

I'm a little confused about straining too. You say you just add more as you need it. How often do you replace/strain it? Do you ever dispose of the remnants? Is it safe to go down the drain?

Safe for the drain.

I have two setups, a tube for the legs which never has been strained or cleaned. It does need a small top off since some of the liquid clings to the legs when you pull them out. I added a pint for all of 2016

The other is strained through a coffee filter after use. I use saran wrap to cover the parts bin while soaking to minimize evaporation.

Where do you guys get your PVC - will a place like Home Depot cut to size for you? Was looking at lucite tubs but ones long enough for parts like lock bars have huge capacity (10 gallons+)

For pieces with both rust and gunk, do you recommend soaking in simple green first before evaporust?

An industrial plumbing supply place would be better/cheaper than Home despot. Schedule 40 PVC pipe is what you want.

Yes, just spray your gunky parts with simple green, scrub with brush & rinse them off before soaking in Evaporust. The less gunk that's on them, the better Evaporust will work. Also - Evaporust works better in warmer temps (above 65-deg). I wrap my PVC tube with a reptile warming pad when soaking on a cool garage.

I get 8,10 or 12' sections and cut at home. But I have a pickup. I would think they'd cut to size for you. If you can get a 8' piece yourself it's really easy to cut with average power tools or even a hack saw if you have to.

Honestly you really don't have to strain evap at all. The sediment settles at the bottom of whatever container you use. So all you have to do is slowly pour the top half that's clean into a second container until you get right down to the sediment, then rinse the sediment out and pour the clean evap right back in. Evap is 100% environmentally safe and biodegradable so you can pour it down the drain, into the yard, wherever. It is completely water soluble.

Was thinking of trying a plastic tube like this one for parts like lockdowns, lockdown receivers, backchannel metal. Seems to be just the right size and see-through so I could watch progress and not risk losing small parts. Would it work?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DLYJHCS/ref=twister_B01I466Z0K

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Nope, I don't think this would be a good choice. Look at the description:

"Tube is Water and Light Resistant - It Protects Materials Against Fading"

It's gonna leak. No where does it say it holds liquids.

you could always silicone one end of it shut. Then it will hold.

Evaporust is pretty good. It's the cult of.....personality.

Your local AIN Plastic has acrylic clear tubing by the foot - it's not cheap like PVC though....

This post details the PVC items I bought at my local Lowe's Hardware store:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/evapo-rust-24-hour-challenge-1/page/2#post-1352446

That was to build a 3" diameter tube.

Thanks, wonder if they have 4" so I could fit in stuff like lockdown receivers with the handle attached.

Yup, they got the 4" also. It was just at the time I had built a 3" one for a friend. Then later we decided to make a 4" one so we could do more legs at once. Plus the 4" can do a lockdown bar receiver or just the lockdown bar itself (be sure to tie a string or piece of wire to it to pull it out).

The larger diameter PVC pipe might be outdoors at many home centers.

Don't automatically assume they don't have it because it's not in the isles.

Menards even has 10" stuff in the yard.

I used a sealed toilet flange for the bottom, it gives me a nice big stable end to stand up. Then a rubber cap with a screw clamp. Mine is 3" and i was able to put 4 legs in at once. All same direction. Kept them in for a couple of days, came out great.

Sunnyside rust remover from Menard's. Worked great! Levelers and bolts also look awesome.

This is after 4 hours

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I use a 3" tube and can get 4 legs in at once, but it's a bit of a challenge. My tube is probably about 6' long so there's a little room for play, and I put the legs in opposite directions also (2 close together x 2 close together). I also attach a wire to the legs so I can pull them out of the tube without dumping out all the evaporust each time.

That being said, if I had to do it over again I would have used 4" PVC as it would be easier to get the legs in and out. There would be a price difference between the 3" and 4" PVC and the end caps, just not sure how much if that makes a difference. Also, you would need more evaporust for the 4" than you would for the 3".

Just as FYI: Lowe's sells 4 ft lengths of PVC, which are manageable, and usable without cutting them down. On the tube, I was wondering about tying plastic twine to each part so I can lift them out.

I do have a question: I have a lot of PF parts (screws, posts, etc) that I pulled out of evaporust, wiped down to dry, and forgot to rinse with water. Is this going to create an issue later on?

If I had to do it over again (since yesterday) I wouldn't have glued on a rounded end cap like a dummy.

This is my first experience with Evaporust. It is definitely impressive stuff.

I think these gate flaps may be too far gone. I will try to buff them out, now that the rust and oxidation is gone. But I am skeptical.

Before
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After 12 hours
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Throw those ball gates into a tumbler now and they will look great!

After a couple of days in the tumbler with some Flitz. Clean, Evaporust, Tumble.

The images expose flaws, but to the eye, it looks really good. Besides, it's at the top of the playfield and you have to really look to see these pieces. I just started with these, because they were SO rusty and oxidized.

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Just joined the cult, let my toasted coindoor sit overnight.

Before
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After:
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Any recommendations for coating the door to make it look nice and shiny without spending more than $20?

Rustoleum makes a satin nickel paint that looks pretty good. I have been using it for stuff like the backside of coin doors & stepper frames after de-rusting them with Evaporust. Not sure how it would hold up on the exterior door, but Chicago coin used to paint their doors & they held up fairly well.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-Universal-11-oz-All-Surface-Metallic-Satin-Nickel-Spray-Paint-and-Primer-in-One-Case-of-6-249130/202070467

They also offer a silver "hammered" style of paint that I like. It looks pretty good on rusted legs that have the chrome finish flaking off. If you want your machine to look "okay" - on the cheap, then I'd spray the door to match. Just my 2 cents.

This may be sacrilege but I cut out the pivot piece and remove the flaps. Evaporust then polish to a mirror shine. I actually apply Mylar to the flap and reinstall using a finish nail that mash in the vice to keep it in. Those flaps will rust again in short order if you do not somehow protect them. I restored a Fishtales this way and the flaps still have a brilliant chrome appearance. I suppose you could also wax, which I have done to polished ball guides.

Anybody use Rust Prevention Magic to prevent the rust from returning?

https://www.amazon.com/RPM-Rust-Prevention-Magic-oz/dp/B00ITVG8IK

It says it protects against rust without any oily residue. The only question I have is, "will it hold up to being whacked repeatedly by a 1-1/16" metal ball?"

Fascinating.

I needed to put an item into Evaporust. I only had a quart. So I dumped all I had into the smallest tupperware that the item would fit. It still wasn't completely submerged. I grabbed some spare/used pinballs (they were nicked but not rusty) and threw them in to make the level rise. It was just enough. I went back a couple hours later and my piece was done. But to my surprise, the balls had turned almost black.

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The balls in the little container show the condition of the used balls - and those were NOT in the evaporust. The balls on the paper towel were submerged for about 2-3 hours. As you can see, they are varying shades of charcoal.

Nothing else I have put into evaporust has changed color, or had any other undesirable side effect. WTF?

Has anybody else tried putting balls into evaporust? Has anybody seen any undesirable side effects like this with evaporust?

Just toss those dark balls into the tumbler and they will shine back up like new. Or you can polish the balls with either Simichrome or Brasso.

Glad I found this thread; I have a Rollergames project pin with a grody set of legs which i was pondering just tossing. Much nicer to keep 'em out of the landfill!

As for sealing the metal afterward...I use Boeshield T-9 on my cast iron machine surfaces (tablesaw, jointer, planer, bandsaw) and it helps a lot. Invented for the aviation industry, ostensibly it gets into the pores of the metal and drives out moisture. Probably a wax topcoat couldn't hurt afterward.

It's commonly available and you can get it in a spray or dropper bottle. https://www.amazon.com/Boeshield-T-9-Waterproof-Lubrication-liquid/dp/B000GE1F9K/ref=sr_1_2

Black pinballs are kinda cool...would be great in Tales From The Crypt...just might be a little tough to follow...

Interesting; you'd expect that after such a long period of neglect, your balls would be blue not black.

Sure enough. After an overnight stint in the tumbler, back to shiny silver.

Agreed. I'll keep one black. Maybe I'll throw it in a machine.

If it comes off in the tumbler it'll probably come off in your machine. Get some black pearls from Back Alley if you want them in a machine.

Yep. That was my concern.

BTW, I wanted to see if the black comes from the Evaporust reacting with something on the surface of the ball, instead of the stainless steel ball itself. So, after a polished the blackened ball back to a proper silver shine - I put it back in the Evaporust for another go. Sure enough, the black came back. I find this odd.

Here is the explanation from the Evaporust site:

The black film is carbon from the steel. Steel is composed of a combination of carbon and iron. In certain instances, steel will darken in color after rust has been removed from the surface of the metal. This is a natural phenomenon that chemists refer to as “carbon migration”. The carbon from the steel moves, or “migrates”, to the outer layer of the metal and settles into the pores. The removal of the rust (iron oxide) reduces the proportion of iron to carbon, leaving a higher concentration of carbon on the outer surface. This heavier layer of carbon could cause a darkening of the metal due to the attributes of the carbon. The darkening does not have an adverse affect on the metal. It merely represents the movement of carbon from the interior of the metal to the exterior of the metal.

Since Evapo-Rust® is a highly effective rust remover, it stimulates the carbon migration process. Evapo-Rust®is not alone in creating the carbon migration effect. Other rust removal treatments will also result in carbon migration and a darkening of the metal. The primary difference between Evapo-Rust® and the acid based treatments is that Evapo-Rust® will not harm or weaken the metal. Unlike other treatments, Evapo-Rust® will not darken products made with low carbon steel.

The moral of the story...don't put your balls in Evaporust, any longer than necessary. <insert joke here>

That explains it.....

But looking on the positive side you just found a cheap way to get black balls! I wonder if you painted a design on the ball first would it leave that spot shiny afterwards.

Could be a cool way to make custom balls!