Cleaning Copper Mechs...

[madmonkey]

Ok...I have a question for my fellow copper mech users...I had something weird happen with my Copper Nemesis and I am wondering if anyone else has ever noticed this before.

I have been working out of town a lot the last couple months for works and so my mechs and drippers have been neglected in favor of regulated mods and Kayfuns/tanks out of convenience for travel. I have a copper nemesis that I clean the threads on once a month because I like the natural patina it had going for it so I would just take a little vinegar without salt and rub it on the threads and scrub the dirt out with a q-tip and paper towel and the vinegar would clean 'em up nice and I'd go on my vaping way....well I let it go for two months.

When I unscrewed my top cap to clean the threads I noticed the dirt was green this time, but only on the top threads....thought this was weird, thought it might have been from not cleaning it so long mixed with the natural patina and didn't think much of it....till I pulled the AFC ring off the top and there was more green gunk but it felt wet. I am wondering if this was caused by e-liquid in contact with the copper doing bad things or if somehow I bred a mold on my mod which would seem weird to me....I checked my other mech's and this is the only one that had the weird green goop thing going and was wondering if anyone else has ever had that happen since it is a new one to me I am kinda at a loss.

I know patina can be green but I've never vinegared the AFC on it before, and never use salt or ketchup to clean it because i want it to patina naturally. I did a quick dip of the whole mod in vinegar and wiped it down and cleaned it good and it seemed to get rid of the green goop just fine but I am at a loss since it was just this one mod.

Any thoughts?

 

[State O' Flux]

It's called "verdigris"... it's a normal result of copper exposed to chemicals like acetic acid.

 

[MKPM]

I clean my copper mods with.......I'm being serious here........catsup. The acid cleans...and the tomatoe paste restores the original hue of the metal. After cleaning with the catsup, I do a vinegar rinse...then warm water. Even with a forced patina...the threads and inside of the tube require occasional cleaning.

 

[Smoky Blue]

off topic, but would would be good to clean pewter??
i have ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, vinegar and toothpaste..
no pewter polish..

 

[MKPM]

Toothpaste. Acids will darken pewter.

 

[Smoky Blue]

Toothpaste. Acids will darken pewter.

kay will try.. i have a few pewter candle sticks i want to clean up a bit..
thanks fran..

 

[MKPM]

Toothpaste. Acids will darken pewter.

Toothpaste and past style silver polish are chemically identical save for the flavouring. Both contain microscopic pumice granules that work the same as a micromesh abrasive. Bathtub cleaner is basically the same, but has an acid component to break down lime and soap residue.

 

[Smoky Blue]

Toothpaste and past style silver polish are chemically identical save for the flavouring. Both contain microscopic pumice granules that work the same as a micromesh abrasive. Bathtub cleaner is basically the same, but has an acid component to break down lime and soap residue.

no silver polish here either.. unless it is hiding in a box somewhere..

 

[MKPM]

no silver polish here either.. unless it is hiding in a box somewhere..

Catsup also works with silver. All "tarnish" is merely acid induced oxidation. Silver and copper are elemental, but different in that copper is Ph reactive. Gold and silver are not. @jensy would be the expert on precious metals, as that is her trade.

 

[Smoky Blue]

Catsup also works with silver. All "tarnish" is merely acid induced oxidation. Silver and copper are elemental, but different in that copper is Ph reactive. Gold and silver are not. @jensy would be the expert on precious metals, as that is her trade.

do you rub it on or rub it in?? do you have to wait any length of time?

 

[MKPM]

On, like you would with any buffing compound


Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Robert B]

I like the cape cod cloths. cleans stainless nicely too. Any Ace hardware

 

[madmonkey]

It's called "verdigris"... it's a normal result of copper exposed to chemicals like acetic acid.

Thank you for answering...I had seen the green before cleaning the dirt out of the threads but I'd never seen it semi liquid...I was worried that somehow I had a mold growing in my mech and that just seemed weird.

And thank you everyone else that answered....

I know about the catsup @franciscan, I just always thought ketchup was revolting so I don't keep it around my house. I use vinegar without salt usually to clean my threads and copper contacts because I like the look of the natural patina and try to avoid ruining it as much as possible. I then wipe them dry then wipe them with a very lightly wetted with warm water paper towel and then quickly dry them and it usually does the trick just fine...I love the look of a lot of peoples forced patinas and I am thinking about getting something like a smpl or a 49 or a vanilla, something plain and trying to do one myself...but for my copper nemi I just think with the engravings on it and what it's called that the dingyness of a natural patina just fits it well and love the look. I want it to look aged like the Roman ruins I saw when I was in Switzerland (ironic I know but I lived by the ruins of a Roman settlement.) I vinegar polished it this time because I soaked the whole thing to make sure I killed whatever it was in case it was alive so it's that "pinkish" color again but its already starting to patina and I am sure it wont take long to get back to where I had it

 

[Browncoat]

I've been using Nevr-Dull with much success. This stuff has been around for ages and is good for polishing up just about any kind of metal.

I inherited a set of old school copper bottom pots and pans from my grandmother (they just don't make em like this anymore), with about 50 years of patina build up. Nevr-Dull and elbow grease shined them up like a new penny.