I just used acetone for the first time tonight and when i put it in for a couple of minutes and took it out, it was sticky and dried like glue. Has that happened to anyone before? and I am putting the acetone in a plastic cup. Even when I swish the bearing in the acetone, it sticks to the bottom of the cup. I just want to see if it is normal or if I should be concerned about my bearing. Thanks
Acetone will melt many kinds of plastic. If that melted plastic got into your bearing, you’re going to have to give it a few acetone baths (use glass or metal if you don’t know which kinds of plastic are safe!) to wash it through. It’s possible the bearing is compromised, but you should be able to dissolve and clean out the rest of the plastic with some patience and effort.
oh, I did not know that. Now I do. Well that is a waste of a cup. I am going to find a glass jar of some kind and let it sit in it for a bit. Would mineral spirits help as well? I hope I can fix this bearing, but thank god i just bought some bearings and I am going to a contest tomorrow. So i can replace it if need be.
You can use mineral spirits OR acetone, but you don’t really need both. Since there’s probably some plastic acetone solution in the bearing, just use more acetone… rinse and replace the acetone a few times. If it’s not seeming like it’s getting cleaned up after a short time, give up on it. It’s not worth your time!
Mineral spirits won’t dissolve plastic. You will need to clean it good with acetone to remove any residue. After that you can use mineral spirits to clean the bearing.