Saltaway....I tested it and guess what

[wheels 543]

It doesn't work. I had Saltwater blow all over my Genset, which was in a sound proof cabinet, so you can imagine the mess. I really didn't believe the stuff would work, but I figured that maybe I could be wrong and that if i didn't do something, i was going to have some major damage. Off I went to the local marine shop and was horrified at how expensive the stuff was. Blimey, this had better be good. I read the instructions and it said it was highly concentrated and you could use it anywhere from 500:1 down to 20:1 depending on what you were doing with it. So I made up a spray bottle full and tried the concentrated rate and sprayed it over everything. Rinsed and repeated. Many times. Next morning after everything had dried, I had corrosion everywhere. In fact, the Alternator had completely corroded away inside itself and the Ally casing was white with corrosion. The Starter was no better and the Steel mounting was rusted real bad.
I did some investigating into what is in the stuff. All it is, is a detergent. There may or may not be a little tiny amount of Sulfamic acid. But such a small amount it would do nothing. You would likely have the same result with a dishwashing liquid or Car shampoo.

[Hurts 6]

That's kind of interesting - the guy I bought my fizz-nasty off swore by the stuff and gave me a bottle + mixer etc - I too was horrified by the cost but thought I should carry on the "good work". So if it's bollocks then what should we flush our engines with - water?

[erice 732]

as long as practical with fresh water

[harrytom 648]

good old fresh water,run till nice and warm,even do a taste test(dont laugh) i use to)

[ex TL systems 63]

I just got a 2 hp honda air cooled outboard , awesome , no flushing , no blocking up , no impellor and no overheating, I thought they must not do the bigger motors ie 10 or 20 hp in aircooled as they would overheat but plenty of mowers ,rideons etc in that size are aircooled, so why don,t yamaha etc make decent air cooled motors for use as auxiliaries. Would they last too long, not enough parts to service?

[John B 106]

As I understand it TL, those Hondas don't tolerate lying down like a good ole 2 stroke waterbus. So not great for people transporting the things in cars or for lying down in a locker.

[waikiore 400]

No you can lie them down, just on one side though- like all four stroke outboards, I have a Honda 2 bought in 89 still starts first pull.

[ex TL systems 63]

yes I have already put oil through a friends car , lay it down prop down as the yamaha but no good , looked for a label to tell me which way to lay it but have not found one yet, so which way can it lay handle up or down or does it need to stand up always,

[Clive 13]

Interesting... I have been trying to find out what was in this stuff for ages!

Water seems to be the best thing to disolve salt. 

Would the Sulfamic acid remove some of the mineral deposits?

[wheels 543]

Always lay a motor with Sparkplug up. That usually means the piston is pointing up. This stops oil from seeping past the piston rings and into the cylinder. That results from a smokey start, to hard to start to worse case, a bent conrod.

I have always said that fresh water is the best at washing away salt.
This is why. Salt (or Salts, because there are ,many chemical forms) can not be neutralized. Salt is produced by the reaction of an Acid and a Base(Alkaline). Salt has a neutral ph level of 7. Once salt is formed, it can not be reacted with Acid or Alkalines to turn it into something else. The only way a Salt can be turned into something else is via an electrolytic process.
Seawater salt(Sodium Chloride) readily dissolves in water. So the best way to get rid of it is to freely wash it with plenty of water till it is gone.
The reason why Salt oxidizes metals is that the Salt attracts moisture from the air. As the water dissolves the Salt, an electrical action on a metal surf takes place. Not unlike a battery. A small amount of hydrogen is produced and a small amount of that hydrogen mixes with the water and produces Hydrochloric acid. The acid attacks the metal and etches it and a very clean metal surface oxidizes very rapidly.

Yes the Sulfamic acid would, IF there was enough of it and it was able to soak. Boat the product has .5% of the stuff. Hardly going to do anything.

I did a further experiment with the Saltaway. I tried neat through to dilute on a blob of salt crystals. Nothing. I expected the the neat to cause some form of reaction. Nothing. The dilute dissolved more as the mix became more and more dilute. I think all this stuff is doing is reducing the surface tension of water and causes the saltwater to run off a boat hull better. Which is what any detergent does anyway.
 

[Clive 13]

"surface tension of water and ..."

 

Good point, maybe it's not working as we assume it should be. 

Salt Away - as in salt washed away easier?!

[wheels 543]

Another thing I found out about it was it's claim to being a corrosion protectant is not altogether the full story either. I found in the fine print that it supposedly only does so when the whatever it is protecting remains wet with the product. It no longer works when t dries out.

[Beccara 25]

Vinegar at 70deg or so would be your best best to dissolve any deposit's chemically speaking without being harsh and hard to come by, Formamide would be king at around the same temp. Either heating the solvent or heating the item

[southernman 73]

Sulphamic Acid works best with heat also. You would possibly be better using an aluminium corrosion inhibitor and regular passivation of the alloy surfaces could work also.  Thus no need for Salt Away. 

[harrytom 648]

As I understand it TL, those Hondas don't tolerate lying down like a good ole 2 stroke waterbus. So not great for people transporting the things in cars or for lying down in a locker.

i lay my honda down with oil window facing up and still give it a run fresh water every now and again,no need though