Electrolysis Failure

PG-Zac · Post by **PG-Zac** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 2:12 pm

Goop Soup anyone?

Can anyone say why this appears green?

The temperature of the liquid went up from the ambient 25 deg C to 42 deg C

Before

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PG-Zac · Post by **PG-Zac** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 2:13 pm

After Electrolysis

After 15 minutes with sandpaper and steel wool.

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PG-Zac · Post by **PG-Zac** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 2:22 pm

Out of interest, I cleaned the scrap angle irons to see what affect this process has on the sacrificial parts.

It looks like the angle iron was plated ?? Maybe galvanized ??
Maybe that's why the goop was green.

My next clean was a saw table riser pipe, and the surface goop definitely went brown-red instead of green.

That's it - no more episodes.

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 2:27 pm

Can anyone say why this appears green?

Perhaps the copper wire is responsible.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 2:49 pm

I have cleaned about a dozen items and I have yet to have anything other than a brownish red goop and most of mine does not rise to the surface; it collects on the bottom.

I have a large steel plate (flat iron) that I use for the anode ("positive node").

I suspect that the various colors are from the elements that make up the material used for anode. I haven't used anything else for the anode. When I do, I'll report any color change that might occur.

I suggest that you avoid breathing in the fumes that come off these technicolor solutions. It is not oxygen that you will be breathing. You also do not want to inhale the hydrogen that comes off the nice clean solutions either.