Cover with Easy-Clean

[Sandy Glenn]

I'm sure I've read somewhere on the forum that soaking these covers in lye will damage the porcelain finish.  Didn't someone (Steve S, maybe?) also advise to float them upside down in the lye bath?  Or did I dream all this?  Any experience cleaning these with electro?

[C. Perry Rapier]

Sandy, I've cleaned dutch oven covers with electro that had the easy clean surface you are talking about, and never had a problem. I've also put them in lye and never had a problem.

[Steve_Stephens]

Yes it was I who said to float porcelain lined covers in the lye.  Maybe Greg can tell us if lye will etch porcelain which is, basically, glass.   I used to get covers that had the porcelain etched, dull and the finish seemed to be porous and could only attribute it to the lye bath.  Of course the longer the piece is in the lye the more effect it can have on the porcelain.  A quicky cleaning might not show any degradation.  To be on the safe side I don't get lye on my porcelain covers.  Floating works just fine with the cover floating right to where you want it to so ALL of the outside of the cover gets cleaned but usually not the mating surface.

Steve

[Greg Stahl]

 Maybe Greg can tell us if lye will etch porcelain which is, basically, glass.   Steve

I put a porcelain coated cast iron pup in lye for several months and it will etch those pups, so if the porcelain on these is the same, it may etch them.

However, lye should not etch glass at all, as NaOH (lye) in most labs is stored in glass bottles

[Jerry Cermack]

 Maybe Greg can tell us if lye will etch porcelain which is, basically, glass.   Steve

I put a porcelain coated cast iron put in lye for several months and it will etch those pups, so if the porcelain on these is the same, it may etch them.

However, lye should not etch glass at all, as NaOH (lye) in most labs is stored in glass bottles

I've put porcelain coated covers in lye before but didnt leave them for months and saw no change that I could tell.  If it etches porcelain, then why is it sold to unstop drains on porcelain sinks, tubs, and toilets?   [smiley=unsure.gif]

[Jeff Friend]

I would avoid the use of caustic on porcelain, if possible.  The 20 to 50 percent we use in the lab always comes in HDPE containers.  My guess is that the strength we normally use to clean iron is on the order of 5 to 10 percent, which could etch porcelain if given enough time.  Remember, we're talking etch here, which is erosion of less than 0.001 of an inch.  That aint much.

Snipped from Wikipedia. . .

Sodium hydroxide slowly reacts with glass to form sodium silicate, so glass joints and stopcocks exposed to NaOH have a tendency to "freeze". Flasks and glass-lined chemical reactors are damaged by long exposure to hot sodium hydroxide, and the glass becomes frosted. Sodium hydroxide does not attack iron or copper, but many other metals such as aluminium, zinc and titanium are attacked rapidly. In 1986 an aluminium road tanker in the UK was mistakenly used to transport 25% sodium hydroxide solution, causing pressurisation of the contents and damage to the tanker. For this same reason aluminium pans should never be cleaned with lye.

2 Al(s) + 6 NaOH(aq) [ch8594] 3 H2 (g) + 2 Na3AlO3(aq)

Jeff

[Steve_Stephens]

Thanks for that info Jeff.  As I've mentioned many times I used to clean my porcelain coated covers in lye until I noticed one or more with a very dull grey, porous surface instead of the shiny, almost black as when new.   I suspected it might be from the lye and have never put porcelain in since and have cautioned people from doing so.  Now I see the proof that the lye may be causing the etching.  A lye dip for short times probably won't hurt but I won't do it.  Just float the cover on the lye upside down to clean the iron outside and not the inside.  Works perfectly.
I should add that, since I had lye in bulk, that I may have had a strong enough solution to do the etching and I would also leave pans in the lye for some time until I got around to finishing up the cleaning.
Steve

[ysageev]

Is the basic solution in the electro setup also damaging to enamel?  I have a cuspidor that I am "floating" in the electro because I am afraid the process will damage the enamel interior.

[Steve_Stephens]

I don't know Yair but would think not.  You can put your hand in the electro soup when it is operating and not eat your hand up.  Isn't that true Ed A. or DID you burn off your hand when you got badly shocked at your Sidney demo?

Just a joke about being shocked which Ed feigned when he put his hand in the soup.

Steve

[Bob Logan]

I had a dutch oven cover I left in the lye for a couple of days. It did kind of etch the porcelain. Now I just float them or if it is porcelain on the outside I use easy off to clean the inside.
Bob

[Ed Allspaugh]

I don't know Yair but would think not.  You can put your hand in the electro soup when it is operating and not eat your hand up.  Isn't that true Ed A. or DID you burn off your hand when you got badly shocked at your Sidney demo?

Just a joke about being shocked which Ed feigned when he put his hand in the soup.

Steve

     Everything intact here. I wouldn't go sticking my hand in a set up were you're cranking a lot of amps, I've felt a slight tingle at higher amps. To be safe always turn it of before messing with it, ya never know. Never tried electro on a piece that had any porcelain before.  

[Jeff Friend]

I had a "shocking" experience on Saturday [smiley=yikes.gif] while trying to adjust a DO so it wouldn't contact the electrode.  That will teach me to go rooting around in the bath with the juice on.

[ysageev]

Yeah, I been zapped a few times already.  I get a real charge out of it.   ;)

[Steve_Stephens]

I bet that will take the dirt out from underneath your fingernails.

Steve

[Sandy Glenn]

Jeff and Yair... must be your magnetic personalities ;)