Topic: Warning: The Works cleaner eats chrome

[Chicago550]

So, after reading some of the threads about cleaning rust out of your tank with The Works toilet cleaner I decided to give it a try. It did a great job of cleaning out the rust. The tank is now spotless. The only problem is that you have to make sure to remove your fuel cap. Some of the chemical spilled on to mine and ate the chrome right off. Now I have a clean tank, but a gnarly looking fuel cap. I wouldn't want to try it with a tank that has nice paint!

[mcuozzo]

Thanks for that info.  Probably saved a bunch of people a big headache!

And now you gave me an easy way to strip the chrome off of some parts that I want to powder coat, awesome!

[Chicago550]

Glad the post was helpful. I don't know how I would work on my bikes without this forum, it has saved me from so many mistakes

[sangyo soichiro]

The Works has acid in it if I'm not mistaken.  Acid will eat chrome and aluminum.  I f'd up a triple tree with muriatic acid.  Works great for removing rust from steel, but keep it away from chrome and aluminum.

[manjisann]

Did it just discolor the chrome, or the chrome is gone and the copper or nickel or whatever it is now shows? I'm looking to paint some chrome parts and this sounds a ton easier than blasting it off or sanding it.

Thanks,

Brandon

[OldSkool]

Did it just discolor the chrome, or the chrome is gone and the copper or nickel or whatever it is now shows? I'm looking to paint some chrome parts and this sounds a ton easier than blasting it off or sanding it.

Thanks,

Brandon

From what I understand, it will remove the chrome plating but leave the nickel plating underneath.

[manjisann]

   Sweet, that should work, just scuff a bit and paint.  If you were doing this specifically to remove the chrome, how would you mix it and how long would you soak the parts? Just looking for suggestions, as I've never removed chrome with anything.

Thanks,

Brandon

[Chicago550]

Not sure how long you would need to leave it on. You would probably want to keep an eye on it.

[Ricky_Racer]

Okay, it's been long enough. Has anyone tried to actually remove chrome using The Works cleaner? If so, how successful? How long was it immersed? Any pics of the part after treatment?

I've got some chrome to strip and I'd rather not have to do the reverse electrolysis process at home unless absolutely necessary.

Any info??? Thanks!  RR

[OldSkool]

Just going by a bad experience where I ruined a good but at least replaceable part. Got "The Works" on my gas cap and in a manner of about 10 seconds it had disolved the chrome down to a nickel looking layer. At that point I wiped everything off and utilized my baking soda solution which created lots of bubbles but there was clear etching into the chrome showing as I stated what looked to be nickel plating. Hope my bad experience can help you out.

[manjisann]

I'm getting ready to start tearing my bike down and painting it. Got several chrome parts that are kinda sad looking, and this sounds like an easy way to remove that chrome so I can paint em. If you can wait a week, I'll take before and after pics and give the report of what I did.

Brandon

[Chicago550]

When I used it to clean the tank it spilled on about 75% of the fuel cap surface. Where this happened the "works" etched right through the chrome to the metal underneath. Whether that's bare metal or nickel plating I don't know. I definitely looked like crap.

[MosquitoJones]

I definitely looked like crap.

Yes, but what about the gas cap? 

[manjisann]

I definitely looked like crap.

Yes, but what about the gas cap? 

Nice MJ, kick a man while he's down 

I've got some spare chromed pieces I'll try this on when I get to painting, sadly looks like it may take a few days longer before I do  Aww well, all good things in their time.

Brandon

[Chicago550]

Good one

[judder]

I've got some old sealer in my tank that I want to get rid of, the paint stripper POR-15 sent worked OK but didn't remove all of it. Do you think The Works will eat old sealer out of a tank? Or should I put some screws and aircraft stripper in the tank and shake it up and try not to get any on me when the pressure builds?

Thanks
Jud

[poomwah]

I got all excited when I read this.  I , too, have some chrome I want to remove. So I went and checked the bathroom and sure enough, there was a bottle of The Works, I went and put some on some parts, NOTHING.  Waited a while, went back and checked.....NOTHING :[   are there different varieties of The Works cleaner? do I have the wrong kind maybe?

[Slippery]

I got all excited when I read this.  I , too, have some chrome I want to remove. So I went and checked the bathroom and sure enough, there was a bottle of The Works, I went and put some on some parts, NOTHING.  Waited a while, went back and checked.....NOTHING :[   are there different varieties of The Works cleaner? do I have the wrong kind maybe?

You want the toilet bowl cleaner...it comes in a bottle with a bent neck (for the hard-to-reach area under the rim! and a blue label and cap.