The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop chrome removal

I have chrome wheels which after a while become rusty in spots How would I go about removing the chrome so I can paint them sandblasting might work is there an easier or better way please.. Peter

it'll be a lifetime to remove good chrome plating from a set of wheels, certainly not easy, even sandblasting ... what works is scuff the chrome well with coarse grit and paint over, starting with hi-build primer - all you have to do is get rid of the gloss, but with wheels there's so many convolutions I doubt you can even do that

Bill

That's a good question I don't have a good answer for. I've heard that chrome shops remove the old chrome before re-chroming but I have no idea of how/what they use to do it. If there's a chrome shop in the area it may pay to give them a call and ask how they remove old chrome.

My chrome guy told me that muriatic acid takes the chrome off and thats what is in their stripping tank.

Don

Yes muriatic will do it, just another name for hydrochloric acid, just have to be careful, don't inhale the fumes, and don't leave the wheels in too long or it will eat the steel. You should be able to get it at a local pool supply shop.

For many years I worked for a place that we nickel plated, then copper plated, then Chrome plated. Anytime we needed to "de-chrome" a print cylinder we did it with Muriatic acid. As mentioned above, PLEASE wear a good resprator. The fumes will "knock your head off". One thing to mention is we always used hot water to get the cylinder "warmed up" and then put on teh muriatic acid.

Also don't spill any muriatic acid in your garage or you'll find rust in places you won't want to fine it. I will continue to cause rust on stuff for years.

Thanks for the tips, however, I was taught to NEVER add water to acid, it can explode; the water turns to steam and can blow acid all over! ALWAYS add acid to water if you plan to dilute it. This means putting a hot, wet piece of chrome into an acid bath could cause the acid to spew all over also.

Any shop that does chrome will remove chrome. Don't risk doing it yourself, it's not worth it.

I always sand blast to etch the chrome and prime with an epoxy primer followed by a high build surfacer to be sanded smooth.
Have had good luck with this on super hard surfaces, including porcelain, like appliances.
The pits left by the blaster provide 'tooth' for the subsequent coatings.
You don't have to remove all the chrome, just etch it with the blaster,and get the rust spots clean.

This is a little off topic, but I have a not so funny story about how not to handle muriatic acid. Two years ago I played in a softball game, slid into second and took off about a 5 sq in area of skin. After going home and taking a shower to clean the wound, I resumed my "honey-do" of getting the other shower ready for Tub and Tile paint. This prep process includes the use of muriatic acid to wash the old tile in prep for the epoxy paint to stick. Just as I was washing down the tile, I realized I was wearing shorts (to let the wound breathe) just as a bit of acid fell directly on the raw flesh. I had enough time to think "that might hurt" and then the fire started. Now mind you it wasn't all that much, but just enough to make me run down the hall, yank off my shorts, and turn on the other shower. At that point I wasn't worried about adding water to acid, I was worried about adding ALOT of water to acid. It was definitely not one of my sharper moments...but I guess we all have those