Electrolysis Metal Cleaning in a vat

Electrolysis
I have been asked to to pass this on by dkwelder
I am using a 50 gal plastic drum
One box Arm& Hammer washing soda
Those copper coated scrubies
12volt battery charger
Rubber Cloves
I have removed mega rust ,paint, clear coat with great success.
The process is slow yet very efficient.
Please remember all those darling little bubbles making that nice white foam is Hydrogen gas
Yea that stuff that they used in the Hindenburg
IT’S FLAMMABLE
That being said it is not going to destroy the world either
Do this outside at your own risk.

I am showing you what I did and I am not suggesting you try it.

Stainless Steel is a no no Makes a highly toxic by product.
Dissolves non ferrous metals.

Cast iron and Steel it’s awesome cool.
First the Drum has to be plastic it cannot conduct electricity.
I used 3 pieces of angle iron, Rebar works fine. They go to the bottom of the tank.
I just drilled two holes and wired them to the tank
Wire the 3 anodes or sacrificial rods.(the angel iron) in series
Fill with water
Add one box washing soda
Use washing soda for two very important reasons
1 it’s cheep
2 it works the best with 12 volts
This must be mixed very well (please read again ) I used a Dry wall mixer and ran it for 5 minutes.

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OK Let’s talk safety

The byproduct of this product is Hydrogen Gas

I am running my system on 12volts

Please remember water and electricity can be shocking. I am running
12 volts DC at 1 to 9 amps

Interesting that I am right now cleaning a 8 ton flypress with electrolysis...

and I used to restore vintage bicycles...

Great post with pics Rocketeer!    I thought this could be helpful information for those who are looking for a cheap and easy way of removing rust and old paint,from old cast iron and carbon steel.

Though its not a fast process, it is very effective and Safety needs to be taken as you pointed out in your post. Thanks again, DK    

dkwelder wrote:

Great post with pics Rocketeer!    I thought this could be helpful information for those who are looking for a cheap and easy way of removing rust and old paint,from old cast iron and carbon steel.

Though its not a fast process, it is very effective and Safety needs to be taken as you pointed out in your post. Thanks again, DK    

I load my vat in the morning go to work. I spend a few minutes after work brushing the paint and rust that is lose off. I put it back in and usually do not get back to it until the next night after  work. 20 min. light scrubbing and I am usually done.

I draw 8  to 9 amps the first hour or so then it drops to 3 pretty quickly. The second run is usually around 2 to 3 amps

My first system was a 5 gallon bucket

Here is my currant system I will fire up in the spring (under construction )  
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caotropheus wrote:

Interesting that I am right now cleaning a 8 ton flypress with electrolysis...

and I used to restore vintage bicycles...

I knew this place was special Corporate world hates this kind of stuff 

Rocketeer,

I am curious in knowing, If this process would remove just the rust from gun parts, without removing any of the good remaining protective bluing?

dkwelder wrote:

Rocketeer,

I am curious in knowing, If this process would remove just the rust from gun parts, without removing any of the good remaining protective bluing?

Sorry for the late response my lap top died and Ijust got back on line. To answer your question I would say it will remove all the coating but I have never tried it on gun bluing. I would think you would want to try oxalic acid (wood bleach)  just a tea spoon to a gallon of water. This is from Ace hardware