hoppes 9 damages finishes and eats aluminum?

[rustymaggot]

i keep hearing that hoppes eats aluminum. is there any proof of this? ive seen it eat some cheap finishes but i dont know what they were. anyone know for sure about this stuff?

 

[Azrael256]

Yup, it does. Run into the kitchen and find your bottle of ammonia. If you look at the label, you'll find something to the effect of "do not use on aluminum surfaces."

So, guess what common household chemical is ~10% of Hoppes #9...

 

[30Cal]

Somewhere on the bottle it says not to leave it in contact with nickel surfaces for long periods of time, but it took me years to spot that. Prior to that, I've left it on anodized Al and nickel surfaces for days at a time without issues.

 

[rustymaggot]

azrael256

household ammonia is only 3% are you sure that hoppes 9 is 10 %? where does it say 10 percent? i cant find an ingredient list for hoppes anywhere.

 

[Azrael256]

MSDS can be found here. It won't dissolve a whole gun in an hour, but I wouldn't use it extensively on aluminum parts.

 

[rustymaggot]

ok, it makes sense now. aqueous ammonia makes up 10% of hoppes9. aqueous ammonia is 30% ammonia and the rest is water. so hoppes is down around the same % as household ammonia. thats still kinda scarry.

thanks for the info.

 

[hoghunting]

It shows that aqueous ammonia is LESS THAN 10% - meaning that it could be 1% or it could be 0%. If Hoppes had 10% ammonia, it would clean copper like Sweets 7.62 or Barnes CR-10. It doesn't. As many years as I have used #9, it will clean powder fouling, but doesn't work well on copper fouling. I have never had any damage on any material caused by Hoppes #9. I wipe it off nickled surfaces, but it has stayed on other metals for days.

 

[1 old 0311]

I have my 32oz bottle in front of me, yea I go through a LOT. NOWHERE on my bottle does the word "Ammonia" appear. The only warning is " Do not soak nickle plated firearms in No. 9. Wipe nickle surfaces dry after cleaning."

Kevin

 

[rustymaggot]

hoghunting,

ok, i didnt see the less than signs. well, i saw em but didnt understand. then after your post i went back and added up the %'s and i get it now. thank you.

i wonder if anyone has done any testing to see how bad it eats aluminum. now i want to get identical aluminum parts and try tests. soak em in a known% ammonia solution and also hoppes9 and see the differences. i wish i had a good scale.

how fast does ammonia evaporate? when used to clean and coat, not soak, aluminum parts does the ammonia evaporate out fast enough so the aluminum doesnt get eaten very fast?

 

[mrmeval]

Ingredients

Kevin they don't list ingredients there but her is what is in it.

http://www.copquest.com/knowledgebase/MSDS_Hoppes_No_9_Solvent.pdf

• Ethyl Alcohol <35.0
• Kerosene <35.0
• Trade Secret <25.0
• Organic Ester <10.0
• Ammonia, aqueous <10.0

Remaining components are not hazardous and specific chemical identities are withheld as a trade secret under the provision of OSHA Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200).

 

[Jim K]

The problem with nickel plating is that common nickel plating will not adhere to steel. So the gun is first given a copper plating (undercladding) and then the nickel plating is applied.

But Hoppe's (like any ammonia based cleaner) attacks copper. It will not harm nickel itself, but any crack or nick will allow it to get to the copper undercladding and attack it. The nickel will then peel off. (Ammonia based cleaners were developed in the days of cupro-nickel bullet jackets, which left clumps of jacket material in the barrel. The light copper wash left by modern gilding metal jackets does little harm and its removal is generally not necessary.)

Any ammonia cleaner (e.g., any cleaner that removes copper wash from the barrel) can attack copper and aluminum. If it is felt absolutely necessary to remove that copper, the cleaner should be used very carefully only on the steel barrel and kept away from other surfaces.

Jim