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Any ideas about aluminum finish shine removal?




We have some aluminum equipment covers on a roof that are too shiny and need to be dulled down. We don't want to apply a coating that will someday require another coating. Is there a chemical process or other process that can be performed to dull down the finished aluminum surface permanently?

Richard Baxter
- Salt Lake City, Utah
 


simultaneous replies

If the panels not yet installed, etch them in caustic soda [affil links] with a chelator or in 30% phosphoric Acid at about 120 °F.

If the panels are already on the roof, use a hot water spray machine or a steam cleaner [on eBay or Amazon] and spray on phosphoric acid. The concentration in the make-up box is a function of temperature at the nozzle so you will have to experiment. Be sure then to rinse well with tap water. The concentration you need followed by the water rinse should not harm the shrubbery.

A 2 oz/100 gal Sodium DiChromate rinse would retard future corrosion but would be ecologically very bad and illegal.

robert probert
Robert H Probert
Robert H Probert Technical Services
supporting advertiser
Garner, North Carolina
probertbanner
 

Try anodizing- specify matte finish.

Dado Macapagal
- Toronto
 


There is no such thing as a permanent surface finish anyway, but I understand that you don't want to worsen your maintenance schedule. You don't say (and maybe don't know) whether they are clear coated or anodized, but I'd bet anodized. You can almost surely dull them with almost anything strongly caustic (oven cleaner [on eBay or Amazon], etc.) but that will strip the anodization and leave them prone to unsightly corrosion. So, like it or not, I think you'd better paint them.

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
 



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