Electrolysis Question - So I don't burn the house down

BuckeyeDennis · Post by **BuckeyeDennis** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 3:34 pm

idcook wrote:Well, as I understand it, the anodes, usually not having any rust, are eaten away at the same rate as the material being de-rusted.

To minimize this concern I try to submerge as little of the anode as possible and use slight things, such as loops made from hanger wire for that purpose.

Though firmer contact is best I feel it’s more important that the path between the item and graphite plates is more important to the process. Making sure the plates face one another with the target item hanging between the two.

As the season warms I intend to line a large, square plastic tank on all sides and the bottom with a plastic grid over the bottom slab.

It’ll have a couple of 2 x 4s drilled with 1 inch holes to allow me to hang several items at once, and a spigot on one end to allow me to empty the tank into a dry well whenever I’m through with a job.

One of the good things about using graphite is that it doesn’t produce that rusty sludge produced by the metals. The water blackens but maintains its character.

It’s also very easy to clean the graphite slabs.

You might like using graphite. I’ve been happy with the results myself.

Sounds good, and I do have a few items to de-rust that are a bit large for Evaporust. Where might one be able to acquire these graphite plates/slabs?

idcook · Post by **idcook** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 3:44 pm

BuckeyeDennis wrote:Sounds good, and I do have a few items to de-rust that are a bit large for Evaporust. Where might one be able to acquire these graphite plates/slabs?

I’ve been getting mine in the bay.

You’ll find lots in various sizes (matched pairs, cylindrical bars, thick slabs and small chunks etc.) and price ranges. So don’t shy away if you see a price too high for your plans. Scroll through until you find something that works for you. You can also contact the sellers to negotiate price reduction based on purchasing a larger order than they offer on a given page.

idcook · Post by **idcook** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 3:50 pm

One example:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GRAPHITE-PLATE- ... 3a8be40d1f

They drill pretty easy too.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:41 pm

I like MickyD's source. Go curb shopping for discarded filing cabinets.

idcook · Post by **idcook** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:06 am

http://www.robotroom.com/Rust-Removal-5.html

This guy offers a pretty comprehensive discussion of the subject.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:43 pm

idcook wrote:http://www.robotroom.com/Rust-Removal-5.html

This guy offers a pretty comprehensive discussion of the subject.

Indeed he does.

reible · Post by **reible** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 1:44 pm

idcook wrote:http://www.robotroom.com/Rust-Removal-5.html

This guy offers a pretty comprehensive discussion of the subject.

He does have some interesting things to say.

I'm a bit uncomfortable with some of it as it not quite the same as I've read other places.

Who is right or wrong I can't say as I only have a working knowledge of what I have set up. My set up is a bucket with vertices rebar rods around the buckets edge. I don't think I will live long enough to need to replace the rods but if I do they are pretty cheap material.

The information I used when building mine was from stovebolt.com (2005 vintage) and antique-engines.com (2009 vintage) both of which were recommended to me by my car buddies.

I have these as paper in my loose leaf note book and have not gone to see if updates exist.

Just remember everyone on the internet is an expert and everything they say is correct.

Ed

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 3:08 pm

reible wrote:He does have some interesting things to say.

I'm a bit uncomfortable with some of it as it not quite the same as I've read other places.

Who is right or wrong I can't say as I only have a working knowledge of what I have set up. My set up is a bucket with vertices rebar rods around the buckets edge. I don't think I will live long enough to need to replace the rods but if I do they are pretty cheap material.

The information I used when building mine was from stovebolt.com (2005 vintage) and antique-engines.com (2009 vintage) both of which were recommended to my by my car buddies.

I have these as paper in my loose leaf note book and have not gone to see if updates exist.

Just remember everyone on the internet is an expert and everything they say is correct.

Ed

Me too! I thought the graphite detail was interesting(and the reason for the link being posted).

Some of his 'conclusions'/assumptions are I think accurate, but a couple are questionable.

The 12V elsewhere is likely the result of readily available dumb 12v battery chargers at the time this procedure was being posted to the web etc.

FWIW, that nasty gunk will settle to the bottom eventually.

Picked up a new detail - cathode connectors will not get involved in the reaction. We shall see!;)

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 3:36 pm

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

[ATTACH]24160[/ATTACH]

pds0006 · Post by **pds0006** » Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:48 pm

Well after several abortive attempts I finally got a charger that would work and a vessel that would hold enough water. The results are pretty impressive and I'll post a few pictures when I get a chance.

What I'm surprised and frustrated to see is that the day after I have rust reappearing on the metal?! Is that because I didn't leave things in the "soup" long enough or is this some kind of flash rusting because I towel dried the metal but moisture was still present and it was vulnerable? If I take steel wool to it will it go away and come back? Do I need to take a wire wheel to the metal even after electrolysis? I'm enjoying this experience but it seems like every question answered brings up two new ones.