Ynot Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Looked at our pair of Pea Soupers last weekend as we'll be needing them in January for Panto.They've probably sat in the stores for close to 8 years, so they're looking a little un-loved at the moment, so I need to give them a bit of TLC.The elements weren't bad (I think we replaced one last time they were used) and they heated up the water without any problems, so all good there. The seals looked to be OK, so again no major concerns. One of them had for some reason had some sort of detergent at some stage as it did 'froth' a little!The insides do need a bit of a clean-out, but I'm guessing some sort of no-frothing detergent should sort that. The baskets are the main area I wanted to see if anyone had ideas. They're both in pretty good condition but do have a light coating of rust all over.The plan is to wire brush them down to remove that, but then thoughts run to what could be used to re-coat them to make sure they don't deteriorate over the next few years...Hammerite spray sprang to mind first, but does anyone have any better suggestions (preferably ones that suit the needs of a wire mesh basket being dunked into hot water with rather cold CO2 pellets...?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Get them re-plated. You'll be surprised how cheap it can be. And if they do shot-blasting it'll save you a lot of effort with the wire brush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 Hmmm...OK - never having investigated re-plating anything before - any suggestions as to the type of company I should be looking for...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 It's very popular amongst custom car and motorbike types leading to a thriving back-street industry. Think exhausts/cylinder blocks/crank cases/etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyro_gearloose Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 If its started to rust, even if its just surface rust, then its probably going to be better in the long run if you replace the mesh with something else. Stainless steel mesh should last a lot longer than plain old mild steel and shouldn't be too expensive. If you can find one the right size then a basket from a deep fat fryer would be ideal. Hopefully you'll be able to avoid the problem that I had when I last used a Pea Souper. Just before the scene where the dry ice was required it was my job to get the chunks of ice out of the storage bin and put it in the basket over the hot water. Unfortunately rust had bitten deep into the basket, and the weight of the ice as it was poured in was enough to break the bottom of the basket away completely, resulting in an instant column of dense fog being thrown out of the lid of the machine. With the basket broken, there was no way to turn off the dry ice in the usual way by raising the basket out of the water, so there I was trying to hold in the fog by covering the front nozzle and the little chimney at the top so that it didn't reach the stage too early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Hmmm...OK - never having investigated re-plating anything before - any suggestions as to the type of company I should be looking for...? An acquaintance of mine based in Redditch uses this place in Coventry: http://www.marquerestore.co.uk/ It's not far from you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 Thanks.Enquiry sent. However, any solution will need to be less than £30 a basket else it would be more than buying a new one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin D Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 It might be worth a call to Rustoleum to see if any of their specialised aerosols is suitable. I used their combi-colour on railings some years ago and it still looks good with no rust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 An acquaintance of mine based in Redditch uses this place in Coventry: http://www.marquerestore.co.uk/[/quote]Well, contact made, and it appears that one of the guys there is planning to come to a show at my venue next month and has offered to do a trade - zinc plate the baskets in exchange for a couple of tickets!Bonus!:) Thanks again for the contact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Hmmm...OK - never having investigated re-plating anything before - any suggestions as to the type of company I should be looking for...? I'd suggest buying a copy of Classic Bike or similar, and looking in the back ads section for platers. Most of them do plating on things like exhausts, fork legs, "tin-ware", that sort of thing, and are used to having to shot blast back to good metal before rechroming. EDIT: Ah, I see you've probably now found a solution, but for future reference for others this route might be worth considering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 An acquaintance of mine based in Redditch uses this place in Coventry: http://www.marquerestore.co.uk/Well, contact made, and it appears that one of the guys there is planning to come to a show at my venue next month and has offered to do a trade - zinc plate the baskets in exchange for a couple of tickets!Bonus!:) Thanks again for the contact. Sounds like a good deal to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingwalker Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Now why can't we all do trading like that instead of dealing with this fiddling thing called money? :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peza2010 Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Now why can't we all do trading like that instead of dealing with this fiddling thing called money? :D zeigtgeist is a documentary to watch if your not into the monetary system... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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