Thread: electroylosis, what a great method.

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Guys,

I've been cleaning up some parts on the 51' and decided to use the electro. method. I got tell you, it works. Get your self a battery charger, 5 gallon plastic jug, peice of iron, and some baking soda and sit back and wait. I could'nt believe the results. After 5 hours of "cooking", then washing down with a wire brush. The parts look 80 % new. Primed them and WOW !! Give it a try, you would'nt be sorry.


Jase

How do you arrange the parts in the bucket. I guess you put the positive lead to one part of the steel, but what is the rest of the hook up like? And I guess you use water with baking soda in it? What ratio, etc.

Sounds interesting. We just bought an ultrasonic parts cleaner at my job to clean gummed up carbs, and it is terrific. No caustic chemicals, just water and detergent, and the carbs come out spotless in an hour or so.

My useless contribution to the cause
Enjoy

http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp

Useless? No way. Thanks to both of you for the info, I'm going to give it a try.

the model T Ford club had an article a while back in their magazine about electo de rusting parts the opposite of chrome plating parts. as I remember they said to use a trickle charger that had an output of about 2 amps and to use a piece of stainless steel on one lead and to clamp on the other part to be de rusteed. i don't remember which piece they said to have pos and which was negative

I need to tell you guys that there is one concern here that has not been addressed regarding use of electricity to derust parts. There is a phenomenon called Hydrogen Embrittlement, and it is of some concern, particularly when we're talking about the derusting of fasteners, car springs and other iron laden parts that are under stress in their intended application. When an iron or steel artifact is treated using electrolysis it becomes surrounded by hydrogen bubbles. In fact if you put a plastic bag over the top of your bucket you will catch hydrogen gas escaping from the water as a result of the excited atoms from the electrical current. Hydrogen is very explosive, so you don't want to do this around your gas water heater. Back to embrittlement issues. This electrolysis of rust removal using this method allows the hydrogen ions to penetrate the iron lattice where they recombine to form molecular hydrogen. This takes up more space within the iron and tends to stretch the individual grains or crystals of iron apart resulting in the part becoming (possibly) brittle.Over time, the absorbed hydrogen will excape back into the atmosphere, but the theory is that the metallic structure has already been weakened by the stretching of the metal by the hydrogen. All this could lead to failure of the bolt or part.

Very good point, 64!!! I think Tech brought up the same embrittlement issue some time back in regards to chroming critical suspension pieces....

acording to my plater anything that goes in the tank it subjected to this. i learned years ago NEVER chrome a swing arm on a bike. dumbest thing i ever done.

Excellent point 64. I perfrom the "derusting" outside. The parts I did were like brackets, trim peices, and bezels. Technically, you want your electrode to surround the peice your working on. Sometimes thats not possible. so the best thing I did was to get the object as close to the electrode as possible. This insures good current flow. The better the current flow, the better the process. As for mix ratios on soda to water, I only used like a half a cup for that 5 gallon pail. Worked fine. I don't think the amount of "detergent" is critical, it's the proper flow of electrical current thats key.

Originally posted by jasonconnellee
Excellent point 64. I perfrom the "derusting" outside. The parts I did were like brackets, trim peices, and bezels. Technically, you want your electrode to surround the peice your working on. Sometimes thats not possible. so the best thing I did was to get the object as close to the electrode as possible. This insures good current flow. The better the current flow, the better the process. As for mix ratios on soda to water, I only used like a half a cup for that 5 gallon pail. Worked fine. I don't think the amount of "detergent" is critical, it's the proper flow of electrical current thats key.

Well, water is an excellent conductor, so as long as you are not trying to use something like .5mA in 15gallons of water, I think you should be fine placing it in the center of the bucket.

Also, from what I read, the detergent is critical. The proper blend of excited detergent and water is what creates the process that strips the rust. Without enough, you have just water with current, with too much, I imagine you have just too thick a mixture and the water/detergent does not interact properly.

I know nothing about this process though, I gained this only from what I read. If someone else knows better, please inform