We continued fabricating all the parts for the fuel cells. The holes for the weld bungs, vent valves, fuel pick-ups, fuel filler, fuel sensor mounting and front and back sides. Here are pictures of the sensor mount, including a shroud protecting the sensor from touching the safety foam later:
Something I always wanted to try out was a method I found on the internet to take off anodyzing from aluminum parts. Why one would do that is another issue of course - in my opinion only for aesthetic reasons, as one gives away the protective and surface hardening properties of anodyzing. But sometimes the color just doesn't match with the project at hand. So, on our last USA trip I bought the product in question: Greased Lightning household cleaner and hauled it home (through security with no problems
). My first project would be the tank vent valves on which the outside part should be plain aluminum:
Greased Lightning into our nice espresso cups and the valves and - to my surprise - the liquid really starts to act on the parts
:
I let it work for a few hours, checking in between....
And, Abracadabra, the anodyzing is gone, the aluminum not affected, cleaned it, buffed it and finito! Thin, worse anodyizing goes off quickly, in an hour or two, better quality or thicker anodyzing can take a few hours. I don't know exactly how this works, I guess it must be caustic soda in the cleaner which does that. I only wonder what would hapen if you clean your super dooper Poggenpohl aluminum kitchen with this