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Re: New washing detergent for mirrors prior to aluminizing

 

Some people do use nitric acid, but I think it's too scary, and not necessary either. Yes, some places, like Mount Wilson, do use chalk aka calcium carbonate to help with the cleaning. When I switched to alconox, I found the CaCO3 no longer necessary at all.
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Guy Brandenburg, Washington, DC?
http://gfbrandenburg.wordpress.com/
http://home.earthlink.net/~gfbranden/GFB_Home_Page.html
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From: Charles Rydel
To: "VacuumX@..."
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2012 8:22 PM
Subject: Re: [VacuumX] Re: New washing detergent for mirrors prior to aluminizing

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Calcium carbonate is chalk. Pure alcool can help too. What I want is to obviate the use of nitric acide.
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Bien ¨¤ vous,

Charles Rydel
From: Guy Brandenburg <gfbrandenburg@...>
To: "VacuumX@..."
Cc: "VacuumX@..."
Sent: Sunday, September 16, 2012 1:17 AM
Subject: Re: [VacuumX] Re: New washing detergent for mirrors prior to aluminizing

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You need to make sure it's very very very clean before putting it in the bell jar. There are lots of methods used by different people. Some use a slurry of pure calcium carbonate precipitate with water. I examine how the water flows off the mirror. If I see raindrops like on a window then it's dirty. If the water flows off like a sheet with no holes then it's clean.

Guy

On Sep 15, 2012, at 16:22, Charles Rydel <rydel_charles@...> wrote:

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Hi,

That's the only think to do ? Whashed with alconox then water and the, in the belljare ?
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Bien ¨¤ vous,

Charles Rydel
From: Guy Brandenburg <gfbrandenburg@...>
To: "VacuumX@..." <VacuumX@...>
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2012 4:12 PM
Subject: Re: [VacuumX] Re: New washing detergent for mirrors prior to aluminizing

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It must be rinsed with water. Sometimes?I find a haze which must be rubbed off with a much-laundered cotton cloth.

On Sep 15, 2012, at 7:43, Charles Rydel <rydel_charles@...> wrote:

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Hi,

The aime for sure is to do it before aluminize. Is it enough to wash with alconax before and then to alumining or the mirror must be whashed with something else ?
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Bien ¨¤ vous,

Charles Rydel
From: Guy Brandenburg <gfbrandenburg@...>
To: "VacuumX@..." <VacuumX@...>
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2012 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: [VacuumX] Re: New washing detergent for mirrors prior to aluminizing

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You use the alconox solution BEFORE aluminizing. Or at least that's what we did. I suspect, but do not know for sure, that if you use it on an already-aluminizers mirror, it might remove the aluminum.

Guy

On Sep 14, 2012, at 18:58, "rydel_charles" <rydel_charles@...> wrote:

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Hi,

I am a newcomer interested in that stuff.

I would have been interesred to know if I could directly after that aluminize thz mirror or I will have something to do ?

Charles Rydel

--- In VacuumX@..., Dave McGuire wrote:
>
> On 07/12/2012 01:03 AM, Guy Brandenburg wrote:
> > A friend of mine suggested Alconox as a new cleaning agent for use on
> > mirrors prior to aluminization. I have tried it and found that it seems
> > to work many, many times faster and more effectively at producing a
> > mirror that the water flows off of like a sheet. No other detergent
> > comes close. Nobody paid me anything for this testimonial; I don't know
> > if anybody on this list has tried the stuff.
>
> I second this recommendation. I've used Alconox for years to clean
> lab glassware and related items. It's good stuff.
>
> -Dave
>
> --
> Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
> New Kensington, PA
>

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