Recent member of the cult, here. I've now done several sets of chrome legs with great results. I just got a classic Stern with silver textured finish on the legs. They look mostly great, but have a few rust spots. From reading, it seems I should be safe to put them in my evaporust PVC tube and it will only attack the rust, leaving the original pain OK?

Yes, they should be ok provided the rust has not gotten underneath the paint.

So what do you use for the wash? I stopped using the Evaporust because when I rinsed off the legs they’d immediately start rusting while rinsing.
I have used the paste but the legs seem to still rust. I’ve got the rustoleolum spray paint now so I’d like to derust, rinse so they don’t rust and then spray them the nice hammertone silver. Any suggestions or step-by-step process descriptions?

I have the PVC tube and to speed up the process I was using a small tank-heater to heat the evaporust to like 140 since I heard it does much better in hot water.
Also how many hours at that temp? I also was using a small pump to circulate the mix, I wasn’t sure if that’s good or bad.

The times I've used it, I take the legs to a bathtub and rinse with hot water and immediately dry with a towel. Haven't had any rust return or any flash rusting.

Gotta agree on that, first time I used it I got a little rust, "flash" may be the word, but anyway second time and al time, give the legs a good rinse and then dry them immediately.
I have a question though, I see a awful lot of references to people spraying just about everything with sealer aka spray, whatever, I use "MODGE PODGE" and the KRYLON product, I use it on legs if Ive painted them. It does seems the paint likes to chip if two legs hit each other. When sealed with the acrylic spray, they don't chip so easily.
I do not understand sealing lamp sockets. Isn't the product going to get between the surface of the light base and the socket and the socket itself? Seems to me it would be a deterrent to good electrical continuity. Please smarten me up here whats good and bad to spray and what advantages are gained? BESIDES legs of course.
Thanks
picture of my smart ass great nephew who uses words like synopsis ,scenario, and says about the salt truck to my brother" That's not salt granpa Randy, that's sodium chloride. Hes 4.

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Very interesting and convincing examples shown here. Wondering if anyone uses this stuff on rusty parts that are too large or bulky to submerge in the solution? In such a case can it be sprayed on then rinsed off with a water hose? I’m thinking automotive use like if a differential housing has slight surface rust on the black paint, would this remove it then dry and repaint?

I have also read that acetone can act as an effective rust remover, maybe it’s an ingredient of evaporust which is why it flashes off quickly?

This is why they sell it in 55 gallon drums and 5 gallon pails at O'Reilly Auto Parts.

When you pull out the legs from the Evapo-Rust, immediately rinse them with hot water, towel dry, then use a hair dryer to finish drying them. As an extra measure to finish them up nicely, I apply chrome polish.

I use the same technique and have had amazing results.

Same. I rinse in hot water, towel it all down immediately, then hit it all with compressed air and a heat gun.

My classic Stern legs with a little rust came out great, btw. I only left them in the solution for a couple hours instead of a whole day like chrome legs. I'll be doing this with a set of dark gray painted Bally legs with a bit of rust near the leveler area soon also.

What about switches?

Also flipper assembly as a whole?

Got a Mario with rust on all screws and switches.

Even on large block on bottomed of machine transistor?

What do I do there?

Thanks guys for any opinions

Because of you pictures I did exact same thing.

Thanks!
Works perfectly

Finally about time to discard my first gallon and buy a new one, since the evaporust is now black. First gallon got me through 6 machines worth of rusty parts with flying colors:
24 legs (and levelers if I couldn't get them off.... They all came off no problem after the evaporust bath in a tube)
48 leg bolts
Countless random screws, washers and other random hardware.

At about $15/gallon (the price I can generally find this stuff for), that comes out to about $2.50 per machine...plus maybe 25 cents worth of coffee filters and packing tape for cleaning the evaporust for reuse.

General tips that worked well for me:
I've found that the first set of legs/hardware comes out good to go after about 24-48 hours, depending on the amount of rust. I filter between machine loads and add about half a day for each additional machines-worth of parts. So, by the end, I'm leaving parts in the tube/tupperware for 4 days or so on "machine 6" .

My filtering generally takes me about 10-15 minutes and consists of stuff I generally had just laying around: a 2 gallon plastic pail with a pour spout, a plastic funnel, a big piece of cheesecloth, a strainer, and 3 or 4 paper coffee filters.
1. Fold the piece of cheesecloth to make 2 or 3 layers and just tape it (packing tape works well) over the top of the 2 gallon bucket and pour the entire used solution through it. This takes out all the big chunks of crap that will plug up a paper coffee filter really quickly.
2. Put the funnel in the original gallon evaporust container, set the strainer in it, and place a paper coffee filter in that. Pour the evaporust from the bucket through the filter/strainer/funnel to refill your gallon. Discard/swap out the filter after filling it 2-3 times, since it will start to get clogged from micro-particles. Putting the filter in a strainer first makes removing/changing it much easier, allows you to 'shake it" a little to finish getting the solution through it, and provides a better "open" surface area for it to drain than you will get if you put it straight in the funnel.
3. Just rinse your equipment and cheesecloth with a hose/sprayer when done and you'll be good to use it again the next time.
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I've been using Evaporust for years now to de-rust mechs, bolts, lockdown hardware, stuff like that, never legs until now. Just put a tube together and have done four sets of legs so far, with results from good to amazing. Before soaking, I give the legs a good scrubbing with Simple Green to remove any dirt, old wax, and loose rust, soak for a full day or two in my warm utility room, then another good scrubbing with Simple Green to remove any leftover Evaporust and residue. Finally, blow off with compressed air, especially the bottom where the metal is folded over and the leveller screws in, as water is always trapped in there, and coat leg with carnauba wax. Difficult to tell from a few feet away which are the de-rusted legs and which are the brand new ones on my machines.

Would be curious to see a photo of your tube.

I'm thinking it's this one

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cult-of-evaporust/page/4#post-4499034

I made one similar, no pics however.

I wanted to share my experiences with rust removal, evaporust, on metal.
In using everything out there for 50 years, and polishing metal with commercial buffing equipment, in my work,
one aspect is missing, IMO, on the end steps.
Yes indeed, All rust removal chemical needs to be washed off.

But I go further. I neutralize, with White Vinegar, then, I wipe down a few times with 99% alcohol.

If it is metal prone to rust, or I have removed large amounts, I then clear coat.
Small items, I use alcohol based Everbrite, Larger parts like legs, can be almost anything, even waxing, to keep moisture
out.

Too often, residual antirust products remain, and either rust returns, the pieces turn white or black, or they just get too brittle,
if there isnt much metal left, after severe rusting.

I had just finished chatting with someone, who didnt neutralize, and clear, and the rust returned within weeks.

Radial-
Here’s a picture of what I made for cleaning legs. The pipe plug is in case it gets tipped over.

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Do people usually keep their container/tube indoors or outdoors when not really using? I wasn't sure if there was temperature issues and/or if there was any reason to do one way or the other. thanks

I keep mine sealed in the garage because it can get messy when removing stuff from the pipe.

And I keep mine in the basement so sounds like it's goof either way

I haven't strained mine yet. I was thinking of pulling an old cotton t shirt around the opening then pouring it into a storage tub, then cleaning the gunk out of the tube and putting the evaporust back. Sound doable?

Kind of does sound like it would work

See my post above for what I've found works well for cleaning and reuse of the evaporust.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cult-of-evaporust/page/5#post-5516827

Regardless, your method should work fine for quick and dirty cleaning, or maybe try cheesecloth if you don't want to waste a t-shirt.

4" tube with these, just like Billc479 but the red plugs at both ends. I was afraid the bottom one might leak but so far, so good.

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Why don't you guys just glue a cap on the end? Never had any trouble with mine... just used it today on the clutch lever off of my '47 Willys CJ2a.

Agreed.

I wanted to but couldn't find a cap that would fit. My contractor neighbor gave me a piece of 4" PVC tubing to use, apparently it had a thinner wall than the 1/2" thick kind you find at Home Depot or Lowes and none of their caps would fit. The plugs work just fine, and I can open both ends when the time comes to clean it out.

Mine does have a cap glued on the bottom.

Evaporust on sale

Evapo-Rust The Original Super Safe Rust Remover, Water-Based, Non-Toxic, Biodegradable, 1 Gallon,Gray,ER012 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M0TLQ66/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Wp5HFbJYFV5MK

Good deal, they are $25 at my local car parts shop. Liquid gold!

Is there anything you can do once the solution turns black, or is it time to get new stuff?

Mine is black and still works fine. I strained gunk out by pouring it through a cotton t shirt, then put it back in the tube. It is dark but still eats rust.

I think it still works but it leaves more of the black residue on the parts now. I guess maybe I should be more careful about how long I am leaving them in?

Mine setup is 4 years old and black AF. 24-36 hrs is still optimal.

I rinse with the hottest water I can as soon as I pull the parts.

Parts touching? Once I had 1 Leg that got a black outline mark form touching another, but it was the only one I've ever had. I could never get it off either, strange.

Which of these is preferred?

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I have # 2 for parts and # 3 poured into my tube for legs and longer parts

Made a little stand for my leg tube. Seems to work pretty well.

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Killer deal, ordered just to have extra on hand

Nice, I need to make one of those.

That is a pretty good deal. Just ordered some myself.

Thanks.

Proud to be finally joining this cult. It’s extremely eye-wateringly expensive over here, but haven’t found a local product that works even remotely as well. Given you get so many uses out of it, it’s worth the admission price imo. Bought the 5Litre concentrate (makes 30Litre) and some of the gell which works well. Also going to give the aloy stuff a go.

Also found it works exceptionally well in ultrasonic cleaners.

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Btw, I’ve found a fine spray of Inox works well after to stop further rusting (wiping off the excess).

Also discovered the gell stuff...works really well for parts that are difficult to remove....no before photo of this, but you know how rusted and manky these anti-theft panels get.
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Just built a tube container for soaking long items like legs in Evapo-rust.
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Has anybody ever considered installing an overflow drain like the coolant recovery system used in cars?
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Not sure if anybody has already shared the web address for Evapo-rust. https://evapo-rust.com/
It has some useful FAQs, How-to-videos and a Store Locator.

Already made a modification. Replaced the metal strapping with pipe clamps. This holds the pipe tighter and I can easily loosen the clamp when I want to remove the tube.
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Has anybody considered constructing a "basket" to lower parts into the tube and make it easier to pull them out? Any thoughts on the materials to use and how it might be constructed? I was thinking of using a 3" diameter PVC pipe with a cap on the end. Then drill 20 to 25, 1/4" holes in the bottom and either several slots or 1" holes along the length of the pipe.

5 gallon bucket has a basket.
If you wanna drop parts in your tube, borrow the wife's lingerie bag....it works great.