Good question, one I was wondering the other night when I drove down a freshly salted road where it sounded like driving down a gravel path with the amount bouncing around the wheel arches.
I know modern cars are well protected but I can't get to wash the car until the weekend, so will leaving the salt residue on there for a few days cause any problems?
I did think about just turning the hosepipe on the car and under the wheel arches, but being dark I couldn't do a proper job so maybe doing a little would do more harm by wetting the salt than leaving it and doing a proper job on Saturday?
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Hosing the arches may force a saline solution behind the wheelarch liners.I stripped mine out last W/E and found a few pockets of trapped mud.Wirebrushed the loose stuff off,blew it out with an airline and Commawaxed vulnerable areas.
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The salt used on the roads isn't the same as that you sprinkle into your soup, it is a mixture of all sorts, mostly calcium chloride, this attracts moisture from the air like there's no tomorrow, in fact it has many industrial uses for drawing moisture and will draw it until it becomes a solute in the water it attracts.
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If you are really worried about salt corrosion then I would hose down or rinse the affected areas with water, including the nooks and crannies.
Salt has an affinity for moisture and therefore will be the last material to dry out when you use a dehumidifier. In fact I would be very surprised if the salt-rich areas dry out at all.
To dry salt completely you would have to heat it to over 100°C to drive off the water. Moisture in the air and a few ions of salt is all it takes to corrode steel.
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A lot of dehumidifiers don't work lower than 5C. So in this weather it may still be damp?
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A lot of dehumidifiers don't work lower than 5C. So in this weather it may still be damp?
Fortunately my garage is an integral one with insulated cavity walls, double glazed window, and a radiator. (Not relevant, I know, but it also has plastered walls, with skirting boards!) The temperature rarely drops below 10 degC.
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L\'escargot.
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I always use an Arc car wash (used to be Imo), which has water jets that spray the underside of the car. Not sure but you might be able to choose underbody protection also, can't remember for sure..
I've noticed my girlfriends 03-plate MX-5 is developing a surprising amount of surface rust on the rear suspension arms, we'll have to get it Waxoyled or something. Is it worth doing?
;o)
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Road salt is surely still sodium chloride in the main?
The rock salt from Winsford in Cheshire has an analysis of 90% Sodium Chloride a few percent Calcium Sulphate and some anti caking agent. I presume the rest is insoluble grit?
I did note there was a new formulation for wet spreading.
As calcium chloride does not seem to be a natural consistent of rock salt it would be a very expensive change to make.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Surely underbody rust on a modern car is neither here nor there due to the excellent protection?
The only time the underbody of my car gets cleaned is when I drive through a particularly deep puddle.
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Surely underbody rust on a modern car is neither here nor there due to the excellent protection?
Yes the underside of the chassis itself is coated in a thick layer of underseal. But most of the brake, suspension, fuel tank, exhaust parts bolted underneath are not, so these are the bits that can rust.
I had a Mk3 Golf fail its MoT on 2 badly corroded brake lines and rusty support straps on the fuel tank (admittedly it was 8 years old at the time).
Like sierraman says, I was surprised how much mud and grit can get stuck behind wheelarch liners too.
:0)
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eh?
I don't know where Calcium Chloride came from. This is a gelling or thickening agent used in aqueous solutions. I couldn't comment as to its potential in lowering the freezing point of water.
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eh? I don't know where Calcium Chloride came from. This is a gelling or thickening agent used in aqueous solutions. I couldn't comment as to its potential in lowering the freezing point of water.
Ishok Leyland made the claim about a new formulation which got me checking.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Aided by the intense heat evolved during its dissolution, calcium chloride is also used as an ice-melting compound. Unlike the more-common sodium chloride (rock salt or halite), it is relatively harmless to plants and soil. It is also more effective at lower temperatures than sodium chloride. When distributed for this use, it usually takes the form of small white balls a few millimetres in diameter (see picture at top of page).
(Above info. plus lots more in Wikipedia).
IIRC rock salt is intended to prevent the snow freezing onto the road rather than melting it.
As it is chemically reactive, the distribution/storage process of calcium chloride is going to be different and how do you avoid chemical burns etc. when you shower pedestrians?
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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