# Iron X...ruined my calipers



## R0B (Aug 27, 2010)

Right im wondering if this has happened to anyone else...
I decided that i would give the car a decontamination and polish today as i was off work and have been putting it off since i bought the car 4 weeks ago.

As a rule i would use wolfs brake duster for wheels and iron x for the body,anyway had no brakeduster left so cracked open an Iron x and used it on the wheels and rinsed off etc in usual manner then carried on and finished the car off.
only then didi i notice my brake calipers when i came to apply tire gel...
now bear in mind this is on a 4 week old car that has done 423 miles so the calipers previous to this being used were perfect and a bright silver,not so now.



















I will be getting in touch with the manufacturers to get there take on it but from my point of view i dont care how much it bleeds and looks great removing iron contaminents,that aint cool so as far as Iron x goes im out

Anyone else had any issues at all?


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

To be honest, No.

Not the best of pictures either??


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

I'd hardly say they're ruined, it's just back to natural cast finish.


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## davies20 (Feb 22, 2009)

bigmc said:


> I'd hardly say they're ruined, it's just back to natural cast finish.


Ah this guys got a point, not naturally silver - i thought they were.

Yeah, you'd probably find you'd paint them black in a month or two anyway......

Ups with the downs i guess, its sh1t hot at removing fallout, this is just a pit fall - no biggy though really


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## R0B (Aug 27, 2010)

bigmc said:


> I'd hardly say they're ruined, it's just back to natural cast finish.


yes but not an ideal piece of collateral damage for a set of clean wheels.

I guess its done this as the calipers are new so has removed the silver finish and left it as you say,the cast finish.

Ive been using Iron x all year on many different cars and have never come accross this before so am dissapointed as they now look terrible .


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

un treated forged cast iron and a product designed to er remove Iron :speechles


Its not marketed as a Alloy cleaner but as a fall out remover use it to remove fall out from painted finishes as intended 


(not having a dig but you wouldn't use wheel cleaner on the cars paintwork would you?)


only option i can see is now they are dull/ tarnished get the hammerite out


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

andy monty said:


> un treated forged cast iron and a product designed to er remove Iron :speechles
> Its not marketed as a Alloy cleaner but as a fall out remover use it to remove fall out from painted finishes as intended
> (not having a dig but you wouldn't use wheel cleaner on the cars paintwork would you?)
> only option i can see is now they are dull/ tarnished get the hammerite out


It's marketted as a fallout remover for iron contaminants though which mainly come from brakes tbh, saying that though if I was going to use ironX (which I wouldn't tbh) I'd remove the wheel to give it a proper going over and reseal. 
Rob get the black/silver hammerite out and do a nice job, probably look better than factory when finished, not ideal but turn that frown upside down.


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## R0B (Aug 27, 2010)

andy monty said:


> un treated forged cast iron and a product designed to er remove Iron :speechles
> 
> Its not marketed as a Alloy cleaner but as a fall out remover use it to remove fall out from painted finishes as intended
> 
> ...


yep thats the way im going.

I appreciate that the flaming will commence as you jump on to my stupidity at the outcome and finding this dissapointing but ,from my point of view as its states its for wheels on the bottle a little warning as to the fact it will blacken any unpainted silver calipers and if you dont fancy that dont use it.

I think im on my own with this one by the look of it though:lol:


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## MK1Campaign (Mar 27, 2007)

Its threads like these that give perfectly good products a bad name. People need to think before they type. Your calipers are cast iron and wouldnt have corroded in no time anyway.


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## R0B (Aug 27, 2010)

bigmc said:


> It's marketted as a fallout remover for iron contaminants though which mainly come from brakes tbh, saying that though if I was going to use ironX (which I wouldn't tbh) I'd remove the wheel to give it a proper going over and reseal.
> Rob get the black/silver hammerite out and do a nice job, probably look better than factory when finished, not ideal but turn that frown upside down.


Lol at 'turn that frown upside down' :thumb:

tbh my mrs said "just paint em and stop moaning" :lol:

Hammerite it is then........


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## Cquartz (Jan 31, 2009)

Rob 
i answered your mail, please check

i do say in my ironx site page..
ironx can affect Acrylic painted calipers so better to avoid spraying on them as much as possible , even if you are sure its not acrylic painted.
check your mail.

Avi


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## R0B (Aug 27, 2010)

MK1Campaign said:


> Its threads like these that give perfectly good products a bad name. People need to think before they type. Your calipers are cast iron and wouldnt have corroded in no time anyway.


erm i think the views of, it would seem just myself, will hardly turn the tide against the massively popular iron x tbh.

More likely i will be ridiculed for being annoyed by this and everyone will side with iron x in all honesty 

Yes they would have corroded but didnt expect them to go from as brand new to looking like theyd done 30k in an afternoon thats all.


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## R0B (Aug 27, 2010)

Avi thanks for the email, i will reply.

Mods will you please close the thread as people are assuming im trying to bad mouth car pro ,not the case,mearly unhappy with the outcome of my use of a product today.

Sorry for any offence caused to anyone


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

I suppose these chemicals arn't generally available on the high street due to them been aimed at Professional users due to the risks involved in using them (not that i am a Professional user you understand) Although i do have some rather nasty stuff for other tasks which are trade only and the supplier wanted to see me before selling it to me (special paint remover)

Think you wont get too far with car pro read the packaging........

Test on a small area.....

and other precautions see their website....

http://www.cquartz.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78:iron-cut&catid=37

3.5 Avoid as much as possible spraying on the brake callipers,

I f you think im been holier than Thou in the past i have ruined a £250 pair of mountain bike forks cleaning them with degreaser that had avoid contact with aluminium on the bottle it ate into and pitted the sanctions ruining the forks. So i am now very careful as to what chemicals i play with 

Take the abuse and ribbing on the chin if it saves another member from doing the same to their car your rant might just save someone else the heartache and hassle


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

hadnt seen carpros reply (wandered down to the garage to get the web address off my pack of iron-x)



Now for the most important question what colour are you going to be painting your callipers


did mine with silver hammerite looks standard but nice and easy to clean


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## Ultra (Feb 25, 2006)

R0B said:


> Avi thanks for the email, i will reply.
> 
> Mods will you please close the thread as people are assuming im trying to bad mouth car pro ,not the case,mearly unhappy with the outcome of my use of a product today.
> 
> Sorry for any offence caused to anyone


In all fairness the cheap paint thats of the caliper would eventually burn off anyway, just re-paint them with something heat proof.


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## R0B (Aug 27, 2010)

Silver Hammerite Andy 

Can i just say that Avi has been fantastic with regard to this matter having just been conversing with him via email, top guy and all sorted :thumb:


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

I think some people are being a little bit unfair to the OP.

He hasn't slagged of Iron X and appears to be a loyal customer to the manufacturer. 

This site is all about people sharing thoughts and experiences and as long as they are clear, not offensive or plain stupid then these threads SHOULD be posted.

No need to close the thread ROB and I for one appreciate the feedback and also kudos for emailing Avi first aswell and the same to Avi for the quick reply.

We can't just post the good stuff about a product and maybe this thread will highlight the issue to someone who didn't know iron X does this.


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## flawless1987 (May 3, 2011)

I'm sort of glad this topic came up because I'm looking to buy a fallout remover soon and now I know not to do my calipers  I would have if I wouldn't have read this.. 

So thanks for the heads up.


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## DampDog (Apr 16, 2011)

Showshine said:


> We can't just post the good stuff about a product and maybe this thread will highlight the issue to someone who didn't know iron X does this.


I don't see anything wrong at all in posting your experiences with products, good or bad. So long as they are constructive. The "guys" will lean from others mistakes/experiences. Plus suppliers/manufacturers may well want to change their instructions of formulations, even bring new products to the game should they see a niche.

I've certainly learned from this thread, my cars done about same miles and calipers are still shiny (for now) I can understand OP's frustration in taking the shine off his "new baby."


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Exactly mate

This is what I tried to get across.

There is no point posting insults and nasty threads I agree and if they're constructive then people will learn from it as has happened here in the post above yours :thumb:


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Does say to be ware on callipers, all we do is share our findings.
What happened is pretty much what i would expect and the brand new look wont last long they all tarnish its just cast iron... One thing though they are all ready for the Hammerite or even the dedicated colour matched calliper paint...:thumb:

The iron would react with other chemicals also.. So what colour you going on the callipers the standard black or silver or even colour matched?

Oh missed it first scan... see its decided on Silver....:wave:


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## DampDog (Apr 16, 2011)

Think we've all been guilty of not reading the instructions at some point in our life, it's a bloke thing..

If we're lucky we get away with it... 

I hate it when people build video recorders that are cleverer than I am...:lol::lol::lol:


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

DampDog said:


> Think we've all been guilty of not reading the instructions at some point in our life, it's a bloke thing..
> 
> If we're lucky we get away with it...
> 
> I hate it when people build video recorders that are cleverer than I am...:lol::lol::lol:


:lol:

I never read instructions either


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## chillly (Jun 25, 2009)

Showshine said:


> I think some people are being a little bit unfair to the OP.
> 
> He hasn't slagged of Iron X and appears to be a loyal customer to the manufacturer.
> 
> ...


Great post mate:thumb: Im sure someone somewhere was maybe thinking of spraying it all over ( including me i might add ) So nice one op nothing wrong with your post Bob:thumb: It would also be nice to see avi,s response out in the open to. To me this is a great forum for all to learn ( including manufactures ) Thanks for your post Bob. chillly


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

chillly said:


> Great post mate:thumb: Im sure someone somewhere was maybe thinking of spraying it all over ( including me i might add ) So nice one op nothing wrong with your post Bob:thumb: It would also be nice to see avi,s response out in the open to. To me this is a great forum for all to learn ( including manufactures ) Thanks for your post Bob. chillly


:thumb:


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

Showshine said:


> I never read instructions either


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## McClane (Dec 9, 2010)

To be fair, this post is useful. I've noticed (only with hindsight) that the cheap FoMoCo paint calipers and drums (yes, drums ) is a lot more dull on my car than on others of the same age that get washed a lot less often or thoroughly.

Some of that could be due to the 20k miles vs. lower mileage. But I expect some is due to fairly liberal/careless use of Bilberry, Iron X, wolfs etc. Shiny wheels.... dull brakes.

Not sure I'm up to removing/painting them myself however. Normally the sort of job I can mess up. :wall:


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Showshine said:


> :lol:
> 
> I never read instructions either


Seconded... until it all goes wrong or bits left over...:lol:


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

james_death said:


> Seconded... until it all goes wrong or bits left over...:lol:


:lol:

We put together a desk and wardobe for the nippers bedroom and we had half the stuff still on the floor 

Somehow it is still together but i'm still confused.com


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## Strothow (Oct 29, 2009)

Showshine said:


> :lol:
> 
> I never read instructions either


Instructions are for when its broke! :lol:


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## The Doctor (Sep 11, 2007)

Am I right in thinking it works by rapidly oxidising the iron? If so its basically oxidised the bare caliper?

Sent from my HTC using Tapatalk


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## Ronnie (Nov 15, 2006)

TBH I think it is a valid point raised by the OP. I know as I have used this product since it was launched it does affect acrylic paint which includes most caliper paints, smart repairs chip repairs etc etc. Or if the caliper was uncoated it has probably oxidised the surface of the caliper causing it to dull (which will happen over the next few months anyhow from heat cold rain etc etc) Its just part of the make up of the product. The calipers were painted with a coating that is acrylic which unfortunately was removed during the process. IT's unfortunate, but it does highlight the point these products are aimed very much at the professional. It is wide spread but it does highlight the importance of fully reading up on instructions prior to first use and if in doubt a test patch to see if there is a problem. It also highlight that just because one product does not affect something then it cant be taken as gospel that a similar product will do the same. What has happened is we have become so used to products that are sooo diluted down we don't check. Now when great products come along that do need some care in its application we have forgotten about the test patch test.

Thankfully to rectify the problem all it will take is an afternoon and some silver hammerite or a pot of course metal polish and wire wool or Dremel type tool to resolve it but could be worse imagine if it was a smart repair on a door that became affected. Hope you get sorted. i agree slagging the OP or the manufacturer is non constructive but it is something others can take away and learn before they have the same issue.


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## alexf (May 23, 2009)

McClane said:


> To be fair, this post is useful. I've noticed (only with hindsight) that the cheap FoMoCo paint calipers and drums (yes, drums ) is a lot more dull on my car than on others of the same age that get washed a lot less often or thoroughly.
> 
> Some of that could be due to the 20k miles vs. lower mileage. But I expect some is due to fairly liberal/careless use of Bilberry, Iron X, wolfs etc. Shiny wheels.... dull brakes.
> 
> Not sure I'm up to removing/painting them myself however. Normally the sort of job I can mess up. :wall:


Drums are easy to do in situ, but calipers would be harder. I reckon if you were gonna brush hammerite them, bit of thinners in it, and then some small brushes for the edges? Might work. Obviously spray is better though, so maybe even masking up everything and doing in situ gets a good result?

Anyone else done this as Id like to know now too


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

that sucks rob... would be annoyed at myself aswell..

my calipers are a bit dull tbh.. thats the heat though as they were dull before IX/wolfs/ect

might paint them and seal with c5 at some point to keep them shiny lol


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## Pandy (Jan 19, 2008)

I used it on my 1 1/2 year old calipers and it brought them up really well, brought back the zinc colour that looked to have faded.


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Did my callipers in situ...
In fact the backs of the front callipers are black hammered and front facing hammerite smooth silver, a can would have been better finish however.

The rear callipers are smooth silver all round and the disc hub is black hammered again to emphasize the wheel spoke design ... well thats what i hope...:lol:

Talk about over the top stuff i waxed the front subframe after i painted that....:lol:


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## Cquartz (Jan 31, 2009)

Hi All

you may think i asked Rob to close this thread, but i didnt!! and Rob can post my mail to him as a proof, 
the whole opposite, im glad he post this.. 
there is very detailed guide in my site how to use IronX , which why its published , we cant write whole of it on the product sticker.
ironx is SAFE to use on most calipers , and for the past 2 years there were almost no complain, less than 1% even!... and trust me..we sold pretty much allot from it. Even though Rob didnt know that i still insisted on compensating him as a good will.
As i told Rob.. most car producers use cheap quality paint for the simple caliper brakes , which not really heat treat coated on the metal casting. its so thin that brake dust baked+ ironx will affect it.

you must remember.. ironx is maybe pH neutral for paint surface , *BUT very strong iron remover!! *, thats the whole purpose.

some guys here wrote about chrome ... there was not any single complain about chrome staining in the past years.. ironx is completely safe to use on any chrome surface if the application is well made.!!

i hope this clear things up here.


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## R0B (Aug 27, 2010)

Yes i can confirm that closing the thread ws my shout and obviously glad it wasnt tbh.

Avi offered to compensate me and i refused saying it was clearly user error however he insisted that he should,really nice guy.

Can i also just point out so theres no confusion, this isnt my first use of iron x and have used lots of it in the past particularly when i worked at Shinearama as there f/t detailer however its the first time ive ever come accross an issue with it, thinking about it though i cant really recall doing a car that didnt have properly painted calipers so that may be why i havent come accross the issue before.

Its clearly good at what it does hence its popularity and hopefully it wasnt read as an attack on Avi's brand mearly me being dissapointed ,but in hindsight it looks like 99.9% user error as i said to Avi.

You live and learn and im sure it wont be the last time i dont read up on a product before applying to anything.

Thanks again Avi, top guy  .


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## chillly (Jun 25, 2009)

Cquartz said:


> Hi All
> 
> you may think i asked Rob to close this thread, but i didnt!! and Rob can post my mail to him as a proof,
> the whole opposite, im glad he post this..
> ...


Nice one Avi and thank you for clearing this up for Rob for all to see. :thumb:


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