Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

[tortuga]

here goes - after doing some research on the intertubes, I rigged up a bucket to try cleaning rust off some parts by electrolysis.

If you want to check this out, google "rust removal electrolysis". There are a lot of links that all say basically the exact same thing.

http://users.eastlink.ca/~pspencer/n...ctrolysis.html
http://www.secondchancegarage.com/pu...st-removal.cfm
http://www.ucidiver.com/electrolysis.html

and so on.

Equipped a homer bucket with 4 anodes of 20g sheet metal I had lying around, linked together for conductivity. All of the conductive parts are below the rim of the bucket, so I can lay a piece of steel across the top for a bridge to suspend the parts without getting a short.

Using a solution of 5 gallons water and 1 cup of Arm & Hammer washing soda.

Suspended the "cathode" spindle via welding wire so it was not touching anything. Interesting to note that metering across the cathode and anode showed very little resistance.

My battery charger wouldn't kick on, probably for that reason - it is built to shut off when it detects a charged battery. Sooo, I hooked up a battery to the rig and the charger went on the battery. It is now bubbling away quite happily. I left my amp clamp at the office, but my finely calibrated temperature detecting fingers saw no change in the temp of the leads or any other conducting parts in this setup. Not the best way to check but you sure do know when it is wrong.

Gonna pull it after 1 hour and see what it looks like. Should be interesting, I sure hope it works.

If so expect more detail. If not, expect more detail.

BTW, total investment so far: $3.69 for 55 oz. of washing soda, plus crap I had anyway

[PhantomEB]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

I plan to try this with a lot of stuff I got kickin around, particularily nuts n bolts but gotta get a decent sized strainer.

[tortuga]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

Ok, so far my scientific evaluation is HOLY S#$T

After one hour in the vat, the amount of rust and grease in the water was amazing.

Pulled it out, thought maybe things didn;t work so well, still lots of rust visible - but softish-looking! Ah HA!

Wiped it off with a towel. Nothing else. Wow, it looks pretty damn good.

Got some better-than-cell pics too. Not sure what order they will display. The two hand-held show what it looked like going in. The wet-but-rusty pic is straight out of the solution. The relatively clean looking spindle is the same one, lightly rubbed with a towel.

Back in the brew for another hour.

[tortuga]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

Took the spindle out after another hour. Again, no brushing or anything other than wiping it off with a towel. I am quite pleased with the results, threw the other spindle in to bake for a while.

This is not a de-greaser, even though it does remove quite a bit. The areas that were really greasy, such as under the seals, did not clean up completely. On the other hand, those are the areas least likely to be rusted.

The liquid solution should reach bare metal to really get clean, so de-greasing beforehand is a good idea, just not important for this test. It is interesting that the solution this is cooking in is basically soap - it might be possible to pre-wash in a detergent and put it straight in. Gotta try that .

Note - according to every resource I read, and it was a lot, the ONLY thing that is removed is rust. as long as the base metal is intact, it is not affected, etched, etc.. The process is supposed to be self halting, in that the reaction will stop once all of the iron oxide has transferred. That means that if it is pitted, it is because the rust had proceeed too far before this process started.

[71BRONCO71]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

Awesome!

[blwngsket]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

This should be a Tech Stickie. Very cool.......

[PDXBronco]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

Holy crap, this is awesome!

Now you need to show us how to put some sort of cadmium coating to prevent rust on the parts using bucket #2!!!

[PDXBronco]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

So you are using a 12 volt source, I assume positive to the bucket and negative to the spindle/cathode? Or is it reverse...or does that part matter?

[tortuga]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

So you are using a 12 volt source, I assume positive to the bucket and negative to the spindle/cathode? Or is it reverse...or does that part matter?

The source is a car battery, with a battery charger to keep it topped off. Some of the sources I used mentioned this setup to get around the auto-shutoff of the charger as well as the battery acting as a rectifier. Polarity is very important - the part you are cleaning has to be negative.

If the anodes get too gunked up, you should be able to hang a piece of scrap in the middle and reverse the polarity to clean them off.

[Lars]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

This is the coolest thing I've read about all week. Isn't science great?

[CityHick]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

This is the coolest thing I've read about all week. Isn't science great?

Agreed. I'm all into this idea now.

On a related note - a buddy of mine recently bought an electroplating kit from Eastwood and it works like a champ. I am seriously considering one for myself, to apply a zinc coating to parts I clean up and want to keep them nice and rust-free. Might be a good follow-up process after cleaning parts by electrolysis...

[PDXBronco]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

Agreed. I'm all into this idea now.

On a related note - a buddy of mine recently bought an electroplating kit from Eastwood and it works like a champ. I am seriously considering one for myself, to apply a zinc coating to parts I clean up and want to keep them nice and rust-free. Might be a good follow-up process after cleaning parts by electrolysis...

Thats what I was referring to above, awesome to see how it works, especially if you can do it on the cheap.

[tortuga]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

Put a 30 gallon tank together tonight, have a brake rotor baking in it.

Anyone know of a cheap way to get a 12/24 DC power supply with something like 15-20 amps? I am looking on craigslist for a 12/24 car/truck charger. Need some other ideas.

Could be a low voltage supply like a high watt Malibu lighting setup, etc..

[Broncrick]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

I use a Motorola 12v 20a 110v power supply for my 'small' Ham radios at home, should work. I'll keep my eyes open

And great idea/follow through!

[71BRONCO71]

Re: Electrolysis experiment for parts cleaning

I have a 12v wall charger. I just cut the wire and spliced on alligator clips.
I dont know what it use to charge or plug into.

I use it to run my police siren (yes, the real deal)