Anyone ever use TSP (trisodium phosphate) to clean up a grill rehab?


 
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David Nord

TVWBB Member
Just thinking out loud here while I clean and rehab my first grill with Dawn Power Degreaser, razor blade scrapers and an angle grinder with wire cup brush.

I've used TSP in the past for other degreasing projects. It's potent but considered relatively non-toxic if you handle with care. Perhaps not so environmentally friendly.

I've read and watched videos of the "Hot TSP" method to remove grease/paint from machine parts, etc. Ironically, in the video below, the guy is using a Weber to do it.

I have banjo burner for homebrewing and turkey frying so would just need a large galvanized steel tub or such large enough to put a firebox in it.

Again, just thinking out loud...

 
I use it to clean my frames. It is banned in many states. It contains phosphates which contribute to massive weed growth in rivers and lakes. It was used extensively in lsundry detergent and other household cleaning products until thr 60s. It has been banned many places, but is still used tou clean surfaces in prep for painting.
 
The video was certainly a tease. I would have liked to have seen the end result. I would be all in,
on virtually any method to save the time and $$ required to degrease and grind on grill parts.
Not to mention avoiding the whole coal miner look when I am finished.



David Nord said:
so would just need a large galvanized steel tub or such large enough to put a firebox in it.
Click to expand...

An old 55-gallon drum perhaps? Also, what would you do with the waste water when you are finished?
 
I think I will give it a try and report back my findings. I found a 35-gallon Behrens metal tub at HD that would hold a firebox.

I'm not too fussed about dulling the aluminum finish on a firebox since the insides will turn black anyway and I'll repaint the outside.

Another alternative I was thinking was an Oxiclean soak (with / without heat). That will also oxidize the surface black as well.

As for disposal, I'm thinking I will evaporate it down to a sludge and dispose at the local transfer station as household chemical waste.
 
Every time I use EasyOff it will more often than not take it to bare metal. Also the formulation of EO is far better than TSP for cleaning grills.
 
I would be very careful with Lye. There is an old trick of putting aluminum foil in a solution of lye in a coke bottle (has to be glass). Than you stretch a balloon over the mouth of the bottle and the solution with lye and foil will begin to fill the balloon with hydrogen gas. Once inflated you tie off the balloon with cotton string, dip the string in lighter fluid and light it just as you let the balloon go skyward. Where the flames reach the balloon and ignite the hydrogen in a huge blue flash. Really cool
 
This thread has intrigued me and I have been brainstorming trying to
come up with some ideas on something that will be worth making.
I am considering taking a 55-gallon drum, installing a spigot for easy
draining, and using a turkey fryer to heat the water.
I was considering using lye, but a bit of research after LM's post tells me
that lye will completely dissolve aluminum, so scratch lye off the list.
Aside from TSP, does anyone have an idea for any other type of cleaner?
Also, I still need a good idea on what to do with 30 plus gallons of waste water.
Is this something that would be safe to just empty down the floor drain?
 
Keep in mind dumping that much TSP in the open or down a drain is in most areas illegal. Honestly I don't get why simple Easy Off and a pressure washer isn't used? Seems like everyone wants to make an ant hill into a mountain
 
Larry, I have I have tried Easy off. Even after several applications and scrubs with household steel wool, I can't ever get enough gunk off to make them look "clean".
 
Weird, whenever I have used it they've come nearly sparkling. Either way TSP is something you have to be very careful of dumping just like used antifreeze
 
Yep, I stated it before. It is basically pure Phosphate which is actually one part of all major fertilizers. It was widely used in dish and laundry detergent and other household soaps up until the 60's or so. It was also used as a prep for cleaning walls prior to painting. It isn't really a pollutant in the normal sense of the word like pesticides and herbicides, but rather it is kind of the opposite. Since it is a component of fertilizer N-P-K (nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K)), it causes excessive growth of vegetation. When everyone was washing clothes with it, it would eventually get into out lakes and rivers and cause uncontrolled weed growth which would crowd out everything else to include fish and then it would die and decompose on the bottom and in the process strip the water of oxygen and kill off all the fish and insects in the lake and pretty soon it was just a big mass of weeds and much.

Many states have outlawed or highly restricted its usage in most cases. I know that Wisconsin is one of them, but I was able to have Home Depot ship to store me a box of it a few years ago.
You will still see TSP being sold but if you look closely, it will say it is a TSP substitute in fine print many times.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Sunnysi...er-in-1-lb-Resalable-Pouches-64216C/203226008
 
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