I've never asked a question here before but these forums seem to have some extremely knowledgeable people so I thought I'd give it a try. I know it's a 1st grade question but I honestly don't have the first idea about this. So, I have a motorcycle, the fuel tank was completely full of rust, extremely bad. I've finally managed to get the tank clean by using a combination of things, mainly white vinegar (at least I know this is acetic acid 5%). I got this idea from watching many Youtube videos and reading online articles. I'm now at the stage where I need to get the vinegar out and clean and dry the tank (preventing as much flash rusting as I can).
My question is... without exception, all of the resources I've seen/read have said "after removing the vinegar, it's important to neutralise the fuel tank with baking soda/washing liquid" - I was planning to just follow this as it sounds good! This is apparently to 'stop the vinegar reaction/ return to a safe ph level'....I've seen how quickly flash rust takes hold and I'm wondering if using baking soda is really necessary. Surely it would need to be in the tank for a few minutes at least for it to do anything? - What exactly is this doing? Looking into this I've also read that baking soda and vinegar will create salt, this is concerning as I'll then need to make sure any salt is thoroughly removed. I could understand the idea to say, neutralise the vinegar itself before disposal (maybe?) but does the vinegar have any lasting effect on the steel after it's been removed?
As a side question, is there any recommendation on the best possible ways to prevent flash rust? I've seen/read many ideas which I think probably work to varying degrees of success, mainly to get the tank dry as quickly as possible then coat it with an oil/wd40/fogging oil/kerosene. I've just discovered water based corrosion inhibitors and was thinking these might be the ultimate best option, so after going through whatever process I need to, as a final step I would rinse with a corrosion inhibitor?