electrolysis

[busdiver]

For rust removal,

i was using a shotblast cabinet i borrowed from work, (not used in over 10 years) had it for a couple of weeks and directors decided they wanted it back on site. (to sit for another 10 years) worked ok but to remove 40+ years of heavey rust took some time did a rear wheel hub in less than an hour, but the rear bearing case is more exposed to the elements and has very heavy scale and was taking forever time that was not being spent on the welding.

so had a little squint on google and found this idea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We-SqDGDWQQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
i knocked up a quick little tank using a battery charger and sodium carbonate crystals bought for 70p from wilko's dropped in the casing and left it for about 5/6 hours while i was up the unit,... WOW removed a hell of a lot of the rust and with longer cooking i think i should get good results, gonna set a larger bath up in my greenhouse at home and let it run for like 24 hours and see what i get will drop in the the trailing arms brake drums etc, all cooking while i am doing other things, hopefully productive.

will let you know just wondered if anyone else had used this idea and what your experince was.

 

[RePhil]

Used this method quite a bit with alsorts of rusty items.
I read about a guy who built a large wooded frame in his garden, lined it with a big sheet of polythene & dropped in a complete car trailer chassis.

Tips I have picked up are:

Go with low current as possible - it takes longer but finish is better. I have a few old phone chargers with different O/P voltages. I select the best for the job at hand.
Avoid stainless steel anywhere (anodes or components) - use any old mild steel
Try & wrap your plates (anodes) around the part so that current can flow from all over the part you're cleaning.
You are generating Hydrogen so well ventilated area & Nosmo King


Phil.

 

[busdiver]

cheers phil,

i have it set up in the green house for ventilation with a large plastic box as my bath with a flat 2" x 1/8" mild steel anode in each corner to cope with "line of sight/current flow" and using an old internal power supply from a computer only manages to push 11.5 volts so don't think amperage will be high.

had the rear bearing housings cooking from sat night thro' yesterday and looked like it was doing the trick will fish them out tonight and give them a scrub and dry 'em off see how they look then will post some result pics.

Aj.

 

[busdiver]

So fired up the work lights in the greenhouse
[photobucket] [/photobucket]

this was the tank of doom after 2 days cooking
[photobucket] [/photobucket]

and this is the result the one on the right had been partially shotblasted the left not just loose stuff wire brushed off.
[photobucket] [/photobucket]

and dont tell the misses dried in the oven after dinner...
[photobucket] [/photobucket]

overall it removed the really heavy crusty stuff, enough to perhaps use like a rust converter before painting, any thoughts anyone could keep going till you can see your face in 'em but do i really need to................................

 

[Bluesnailman]

i like this approach wet much. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm going to use it. You look like you get good results

FAB

 

[gvee]

That sludge reminded me of that scene in Dogma :lol:

Results look good though! Any shots of the "before"?

 

[Happystamps]

Here's a cylinder I did...

Mine's pretty similar to most folks', just a curver box with two plates bolted at each end, connected by copper wire, which goes to the positive of a car battery. Loose wire from the negative which gets wrapped around the part, and a battery charger is connected to the battery itself (since it's ******, and acts more like a buffer of sorts....)

 

[neilswheels]

Thought i'd add this to the post, a different method, a Molasses bath. read the attached link, a couple of pages on the bath and them neutralizing it.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/kiwi-1939-coupe-de-jure-runnin-from-johnny-law.853214/page-5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;