Welding Tips and Tricks

I've searched on the web and searched here as well, but don't see an answer.

There was a thread on Reddit that said you could soak the cups in muriatic acid overnight, but not sure that is a good way to clean them.

Is there any way to clean the Furick pyrex cups?

I did a dumb thing about a week ago and was fooling around with my torch, stinger and ground dinse connectors and in the process loosened up the quick connect for the gas. Well, after swapping the torch back and forth, crapping up a few tips of tungsten, and figuring out why my tig was blowing holes in the metal, even after turning down the amps, I realized I forgot to tighten up the connector and air was being sucked in...let that be a lesson to me.

In the process a Furick #8 cup is a toasty brown color from the blow back.

Any way to clean them? I have another Furick, and have alumina cups, just wasn't sure if there is a way to clean the pyrex cups...but I think I know the answer...which is NO...

I'm not having very good luck with the Furick cups, broke one, fried this one, seem to have lost one, and have one left...

At $8-$9 each, I think I'm gonna stick to alumina.

Not to be a downer, I'll end this with a piece of humor...

sorry I can't help you out with the furick problem...

THANKS FOR THE HUMOR ... I needed it and I can imagine there are others that can use it too.

stay safe.
gramps.

Dish washer

Pyrex is tough stuff when it comes to chemical resistance, I'd just try soaking it in some of the toughest cleaners you have in the house or in the shop (even oven cleaner) and then scrubbing it out with a kitchen greenie scrubber. Proper scotchbrite pads may be a bit too abrasive and could potentially scratch up the glass over time, but that may be worth a shot too. If that doesn't work, mild shop acids may be the way to go as another person mentioned. Pyrex is lab-grade glass so should be able to handle most mild acids...however, whatever you are using to scrub with may not handle the acids so well, so keep that in mind

Spartan wrote:Pyrex is tough stuff when it comes to chemical resistance, I'd just try soaking it in some of the toughest cleaners you have in the house or in the shop (even oven cleaner) and then scrubbing it out with a kitchen greenie scrubber. Proper scotchbrite pads may be a bit too abrasive and could potentially scratch up the glass over time, but that may be worth a shot too. If that doesn't work, mild shop acids may be the way to go as another person mentioned. Pyrex is lab-grade glass so should be able to handle most mild acids...however, whatever you are using to scrub with may not handle the acids so well, so keep that in mind

I wish I had an ultrasonic cleaner, that might be the ticket, not sure.

Josh's suggestion to use the dishwasher might not be a bad idea, but if I get caught once more trying to clean my stuff in the dishwasher, my wife is gonna filet me... I promised her I wouldn't do it again.

Why not use an old toothbrush with something like simple green, if it's soot or smoke it will come off no problem.

Or how about a call to Michael Furick and be done with it already.

LtBadd wrote:Why not use an old toothbrush with something like simple green, if it's soot or smoke it will come off no problem.

That much I did try, not just soot, it's a bit crusty. I also know the pyrex scratches, so don't want to use anything more than a brush or paper.

LtBadd wrote:Or how about a call to Michael Furick and be done with it already.

I will do that, but for now it's a non-issue...I put an alumina cup on it that I was using last night.

cj737 wrote:https://www.growinglabs.com/pages/12-do ... -glassware

Thanks, I read through that but not too much other than washing it out with soap.

Seems like similar splatter/crud that gets on the alumina cups over time, I just take a file to that stuff, but know the pyrex will scratch up. I'll ping Furick on IG with a DM. I bet an ultrasonic cleaner would be the ticket.

I’ve just cleaned my Furick cup using caustic soda because there were minute specs of aluminium on the inside. I’ve been doing lots of Jody’s aluminium drill. I don’t know what causes it; I presume it’s normal. Anyway, a strong solution of caustic soda cleaned it in 10 minutes. I tried an ultrasonic cleaner but the debris was too well stuck. Whilst I had the ultrasonic cleaner out, though, I decided to put the caustic soda into a small plastic cup (with the Furick inside) and put that into the cleaner. I’m sure it didn’t need the ultrasonics as well, but it did no harm. If I were to get similar deposits from steel, then I might try caustic soda again or brick cleaner (hydrochloric acid). Nevertheless , it’s now as clear as it was when new.

martinr wrote:I’ve just cleaned my Furick cup using caustic soda because there were minute specs of aluminium on the inside. I’ve been doing lots of Jody’s aluminium drill. I don’t know what causes it; I presume it’s normal. Anyway, a strong solution of caustic soda cleaned it in 10 minutes. I tried an ultrasonic cleaner but the debris was too well stuck. Whilst I had the ultrasonic cleaner out, though, I decided to put the caustic soda into a small plastic cup (with the Furick inside) and put that into the cleaner. I’m sure it didn’t need the ultrasonics as well, but it did no harm. If I were to get similar deposits from steel, then I might try caustic soda again or brick cleaner (hydrochloric acid). Nevertheless , it’s now as clear as it was when new.

Good to know.

Muratic acid won't hurt Pyrex, only Hydrofluoric acid attacks glass, at least of the common acids, lab glassware is made out of Pyrex itself after all. However generally caustic cleaners tend to do better with soot and carbon, I'd definitely try oven cleaner.

sbaker56 wrote:Muratic acid won't hurt Pyrex, only Hydrofluoric acid attacks glass, at least of the common acids, lab glassware is made out of Pyrex itself after all. However generally caustic cleaners tend to do better with soot and carbon, I'd definitely try oven cleaner.

D’uh! I thought I’d see what muriatic acid is and what it’s used for, so I googled it only to find that it’s hydrochloric acid under another name, and I have a container of it in the garage under the guise of brick cleaner. And I’m sure it’s concentrated enough to clean off any other debris such as mild steel, although I suspect, unless mild steel is poorly cleaned or the electrode dips into the puddle, debris deposits from mild steel would be far less than from aluminium.

“Muriatic acid is one of the names for hydrochloric acid, a corrosive strong acid. It is also known as spirits of salt or acidum salis. "Muriatic" means "pertaining to brine or salt".“

You learn something new every day!