Tapers, how do you clean your tools?

alltex

I had the same tube 12 years.2 nail spotters ,2 boxes (tape teck),same pumps for about 15 years,same drill motor for about 10 years.cleaning tools isn, a big deal.Oil son , regular oiling and repair is the secret.

drywallnflorida

wash them after every use! they cost to much money for me to just throw in a bucket of water.

Tim0282

I agree with Florida! Mud is corosive. Water is corosive. Can't tell me not washing is good for your tools. I'm glad you haven't had any trouble with your bazooka. I tried leaving a pump with mud in it and just stuck it in water. Didn't take long and it was so junked up it wouldn't pump anymore. Took twice as many pumps to fill the bazooka as a new pump.

McDusty

Mud is corrosive? Yes, when you are sliding your tools along it, definitely. If mud is just sitting on a tool you think that is going to corrode it? maybe after a millennium. Water, it would take still standing water a few lifetimes to corrode tools, running water would corrode them in a shorter time. Our tools are made out of aluminum & stainless, not recycled cardboard.

I don't use a bazooka so i wouldn't know about trouble with cleaning one. Had one, sold it, never looked back.

My pump is about the only thing i do 'clean'. My cleaning involves pumping the mud out, 6 pumps of water through it, and into the water pail ready for next use. I would not leave mud in my pump unless i had some sort of air tight cover for the nozzle.

I'm not saying cleaning your tools is necessarily a bad idea, i'm just saying it might be a total waste of time and energy. to each their own, some guys might like the idea of 'just throwing them in a pail of water'

Tim0282

Have you ever left a six inch knife in a bucket of mud? Try leaving it in the mud over night or a couple days. Pull it out and see what it looks like. I beg to differ with you. Mud is very corrosive. Leave a six inch knife in water a day or two. Water is corrosive. If you leave your thousand dollar bazooka with mud in it a week or two, you'll be sorry. No it won't dry out, but it won't run like it used to. Man there are a bunch of moving parts in there that the mud will corrode. But, like you said, to each his own. Look inside your pump that you leave mud/water in. Bet you can't get it apart to see inside. You don't ever rebuild your pump? How do you prime it? Or will it prime because you have the water in it and the mud will push the water. Hummm, works for you. You're one of the lucky few...

McDusty

you are correct about knives, i don't leave my knives in water because they are not stainless, well some of them are. rust = bad. and again, i do not use a bazooka, had one, sold it.

it's not like i have all my tools in water.
h2o soaking as we speak:
- pump
- 10" & 12" boxes
- super taper
- 2.5" & 3.5" flusher heads
- flat, bead & angle mud applicators for tube.
- angle roller
- pan
- mixer

none of my trowels / knives are in water.

Kiwiman

I leave the mud in my pump, I just cap the ends and wash the outside, the only sign of corrosion is on the bottom of the cast iron part that sits in the bottom of the bucket (finishpro hot mud pump). There are different grades of stainless steel for different applications thats why some stainless will still rust when left in mud or water.

miket

I wouldnt leave anything in mud that wasnt good stainless or plastic.

D's

I'm not big on cleaning my tools except for hand tools which get cleaned at the end of each day and are kept dry.

I generally choose only stainless or aluminum tools for this exact reason

Autotools get kept in either a bucket or rubbermaid tote filled with water. This way nothing dries out and gets caked on. The bazooka gets cleaned out on site while the pump and gooseneck are still assembled. At the end of the job the water is drained off and the tools are either transferred to the next job where the containers are refilled with water, or I bring everything home and spray it all off. I try to clean all the tools in the tote so the mud stays put. When done cleaning I'll let the goop settle, pour off the water, then dispose of the goop in an empty mud bag. The tools dry in the sun, or on my radiant floor in the winter, and then get put back into the now cleaned tote, ready for storage or the next job.

I don't believe water has any corrosive effect on the tools, except for the odd steel component(signifying that tool wasn't designed well).
You can't wait too long between cleaning because all that goop starts getting stinky after a couple of weeks.

Good thread,
D'S

Stormy_Ny

I am a McDusty .....

miket

How corrosive is mud in comparison to water or the very corrosive saltwater?? Im curious.

Disimilar metals touching each other in water can cause galvanic corrosion. There will be less corosion if tools made of different metals arent touching.

Stainless can get a thing called crevice corrosion.

Boats are coated and they attach sacrificial anodes to protect the metal components. Being more reactive the anodes corrode preferentially and protect any metal they're electrically touching. In saltwater those anodes are often made of... certain aluminum alloys. Even the lesser reactive marine grade aluminum alloys will pit and corrode away so aluminum boat components in salt water have to have either an anodized or a powdercoated surface to help protect them.

Anything that will corrode in storage would corrode in use it will just happen several times faster because of the hours involved.

MudMonkey

i clean them out but keep my boxes in a pail half water....how about that smell? Rotten eggs when you open it...people love it lol

croozer

Have to say that I clean every tool I use every day.Not only do I clean them, they are spotless, inside and out.Kinda gives me the warm and fuzzies to pull out tools that look and work like brand new every day, Living in New Zealand, we cant just drive down the road and get parts if something goes wrong, so I feel that every preventative measure should be taken.My columbias are comming up a year old now and still look they did the first day I used them.I also agree that a good oil/lube regiem helps out no end. I sometimes wonder though at 8pm and its zero degrees and Im wet from head to toe...lol...all the best ...

cazna

Im with you croozer, i made plywood boxes with seperate places for my tools so they cant get damaged, they are used, then wash throughly, hand dryed, checked over, then applyed with lanox were needed and proudly placed back in there spot ready to go again.
They have cost me a small fortune and i have everything and as you said parts dont come easy here so the risk of damaging them through neglect would just be very foolish indeed.

tricounty dwall

im with u guys. After each use i was all my tools out. I never let them sit in a bucket of water. I paid to much money for my tools to let them sit dirty and soak. But as far as my hand tools i never was them. Ive noticed when u wet them they start to corode. But i do spray them with wd 40 every afternoon. If u do the mud cleans off so much easier. U will never have to scrape your knife hard again. Beater bar after every time i mix i tap it with a hammer in my water bucket and its clean as a whistle. Might be worth u guys trying those 2 things also

alltex

Empty them of mud and let em freez ,just like meat. They will look the same after a day, or a week.

Saul_Surfaces

I do that too But it's a real pain when I forget to thaw out my pump far enough in advance.

alltex

Glad to hear that i,m not the only shortcutting slob who learned how not to clean tools .I suppose you wrap them in mud bags sometimes too!

rebel20

Ya I see Tim0282 has a new way he let's Public works do it for him

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Saul_Surfaces

Geez!! I've got to try that. It'll save on garbage bags for sure. One of my Columbia hot muds pumps doesn't open so I'm always glad to dodge cleaning it. I bought it used, got a pretty good deal on a bazooka, and the pump came with it. The pump works fine, just doesn't open. I figure there's no point risking damaging it by forcing it open until it stops working. When I have to clean it, I pump enough water through it to fill a small lake.