cleaning rods and rails

[Gregory Wong]

What chemical (and brand) does the club use for cleaning launch rods and rails?

Greg

[srkendal]

Once upon a time, we used muratic acid. Not sure if that's still what is used. Worked well, but had to wear good gloves. 😲😁

Steve

On Jan 25, 2026 at 6:44 PM, Gregory Wong <s...@soundingrocket.com> wrote:

What chemical (and brand) does the club use for cleaning launch rods and rails?

Greg

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[Sheryl Cooper]

Muriatic acid - but the last time the rails were left in too long and some pitting happened.

For rods - scotch pads work real well.

On Sun, Jan 25, 2026 at 6:44 PM Gregory Wong <s...@soundingrocket.com> wrote:

What chemical (and brand) does the club use for cleaning launch rods and rails?

Greg

[srkendal]

Thanks for the spelling correction!! 

On Jan 25, 2026 at 8:29 PM, Sheryl Cooper <sfcoo...@gmail.com> wrote:

Muriatic acid - but the last time the rails were left in too long and some pitting happened.

For rods - scotch pads work real well.

On Sun, Jan 25, 2026 at 6:44 PM Gregory Wong <s...@soundingrocket.com> wrote:

What chemical (and brand) does the club use for cleaning launch rods and rails?

Greg

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[Sheryl Cooper]

😄  Gmail corrected it for me.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/lunar-general/5d1aba66-201d-4054-bbf0-74480233a2b9%40edison.

[William Orvis]

We use a trough made from plastic sewer pipe filled with muriatic (swimming pool) acid diluted maybe 50 50 with water. We then scrub them with a stainless steel scrub brush and rinse off the acid. When done, deactivate the left over acid with a strong base such as Soda ash (swimming pool) or draino until it stops fizzing. It is then basically dirty salt water and can be disposed of. 

I tried soaking rods overnight so I would not have to scrub them but the acid dissolved the aluminum and pitted the rods so badly we had to replace them. 

Bill

On 1/25/26 6:43 PM, Gregory Wong wrote:

What chemical (and brand) does the club use for cleaning launch rods and rails?

Greg

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William Orvis
226 Joyce St.
Livermore, CA 94550
or...@compuserve.com
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