Maintenance of dip tank health is an important task for anyone using Cortec® products in a dip bath or recirculating application. As the rust preventative, cleaner, hydrotesting additive, or other product is used over time, it will gradually decrease in strength and volume. Products may also become contaminated through improper storage or the buildup of dirt, grease, or machining oils from the metals dipped in the tank. In either case, the product becomes less effective.
Following these six maintenance tips can help you avoid failures and ensure best product performance in your dip tank applications:
1. Keep the tank covered and agitating for best results
Product can sometimes go bad if it is left exposed to the air or allowed to stagnate.
2. Titrate periodically based on how often you use the bath
For example, if you are dipping hundreds of parts in BioCorr® rust preventative every day or week, you may need to do titration daily or weekly. Titration kits are the easiest route, offering more accurate, more immediate results than pH and refractometry.
3. Add more product as needed
Based on titration results and desired concentration, you can figure out how much new product to add. When using pH and refractometry, you will need a calibration curve from Cortec® Technical Services to determine concentration; whereas titration kits will allow you to calculate current concentration immediately.
4. Filter out sediment if you see it building up in the bottom
5. Check for contamination
If you suspect contamination—for instance if the product is not working as well as normal—you can check for contamination using both pH and refractometry. Contact Cortec® Technical Services for further assistance.
6. Dispose of contaminated product
If the product is contaminated, dispose of it and replace it with new product. Sometimes this is obvious, for example, when a product smells bad or a tank of BioCorr® is no longer milky white.
Good maintenance of a dip tank is almost as critical as selecting a good product. It can mean the difference between product failure or success, product waste or economy. Get started on good dip tank maintenance habits today by contacting Cortec® for a titration kit or for further assistance: https://www.cortecvci.com/titration-kits/.
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