Electrolysis rust removal

[thehomeengineer]

As usual, an extremely neat and well built iteration, of an electrolysis setup. Your red jumper wires - to the cathode bars - look heavy enough to start a car. (Jumper cable?) ☺

Hi Scotsman
You are right I made it from bits and pieces I had lying around the workshop and not being that into electronics or electrical I tend to use what ever I have to hand. I can't remember where the link cable came from but it fitted the crimps I had that fitted M10 bolts. The crocodile clips and leads were from a old battery charger I found that didn’t work so cut them off and used them. Total cost of build was under £20. I quite like the thick cables I could use them to hang it up when not in use
Thank you for viewing and the kind words
The Home Engineer.

[thehomeengineer]

Knowing the UK is single phase but higher primary voltage, resolves questions about the power supply input. I do pause at appropriate amperage, but constructing one is in my future.

Hi Toolmaker51 the output is 12v DC 10 amp

[DIYer]

Thanks thehomeengineer! We've added your Electrolytic Rust Removal to our Cleaning category,
as well as to your builder page: thehomeengineer's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Electrolytic Rust Removal by thehomeengineer

tags: power supply, rust removal

[Daturat100r]

hi good on ya I have been doing this for past 10 years ,tractors ,motorcycles ,cleaning chromework etc.A light bulb in the circuit will protect against system damage from shorts and give idea of current flow if you dont have an ammeter showing actual current(highly recommended shows gradual drop off in current as corrosion builds up on sacrificial electrodes).Ya dont need such heavy cables the current limiter is the surface area of the work and electrodes and their closeness to each other 4-7 amps will suffice so only small cables needed and wire the scrap electrodes in parallel so when one or two stop working it doesnt affect the others.
Started with a setup much the same as you but any bolted connections soon become highly resistant so now i just use alligator clips and a pinch of fine steel wool to help maintain the contact,make the connections well clear of the water and if done outside keep them dry.A rinse with phosphoric acid/jenolite or other proprietary solution eats off the black oxide adds a phosphate coating protecting bare metal and excellent etch for priming.
My last big setup for doing a 79 z1000 frame an parts,frame to big to fit in barrel so had to do it in 3 passes and use extra electrode to get into places that are masked by the tubes of the frame ,process only works line of sight so extras to hang where needed are a must

[thehomeengineer]

Hi Daturat100r
Thank you for the advice, information and the photo of the frame. I take on board all the suggestions. I have just added a cheap digital volt/amp meter I bought on eBay to the project box. It didn’t arrive until after the initial build so decided to run without it until it arrived.
I am really impressed with how effective and the results of this process work.
It’s funny the little trowel which was once my late mothers has been painted red and was used by my little girl today for the first time, while we were potting up some seeds for her in the greenhouse.
If I need a large item to be cleaned I will be using your method thank you again for taking the time to share your experience with me.
The Home Engineer

[thehomeengineer]

This is a link to the results of the trowel rust removal I posted on HMT. I was shocked at the result http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/e...n-trowel-67219

[MeJasonT]

Hi Guys,
I have used a similar process for anodising. using an aluminium sacrificial plate and the aluminium part as the Anode. 12v 10A was about the norm for the parts i was anodising. This figure would obviously have changed with surface area/part size. The cleaning process was to submerge the parts in a bath of diluted caustic soda (old Fashioned household detergent and drain cleaner) Its dirt cheap. The part was then rinsed in fresh water and then inserted into the anodising bath. The anodising bath used sulphuric acid (car battery acid), I actually purchased a drum of acid from an automotive supplier for the purpose instead of raiding old car batteries from a scrap yard.

thehomeengineer has missed out one small detail regarding the UK, we now have anal regulation imposed on us regarding the purchase, handling and use of chemicals in the UK, following a spate of acid attacks in London and the impossible task of controlling chemical purchases by would be nut cases. we now have to apply to the UK home office for a chemical licence. Our Diy stores are starting to remove such items as drain cleaner from their shelves as we speak. Strange but hair dressers can still purchase peroxide and ammonia based hair bleaching products and yet these was ere some of the chemicals used in the London attacks.

I'm starting to realise engineering is becoming a dirty word and the government are trying to get rid of what they consider to be dirty industries, with the price of hobbies these days and the amount of legislation put in place to curtail any out of work activities is definitely killing the skills market, Its getting harder to repair your own car now unless you can program your CAN bus to accept the replacement part. Hell even the light bulbs have CAN bus.

Whats next charges for breathing oxygen (quite an explosive gas).

George Orwell predicted such nanny state control in 1984

[drum365]

Beautiful build - much more finished than a lot of stuff I've seen on YouTube. Not to be Debbie Downer, but...

What ends up in the used bath, chemically? Are there environmental concerns with disposing it?

[hemmjo]

I used a 1" round x 8" long graphite rod as the anode in a rust remover set up I set up to clean the rust lathe I got. It was left over from one purchased from McMaster Carr to make a bearing for an earlier project. I was surprised to see it was only about 3/4" round when I had finished. The process worked great, but the anode rod is consumable during the process.

[Geffre]

The anodes, if made of graphite, will not corrode and the material removed from the steel will simply settle to the bottom of the bath.

How about an broken shaft of a golf club? Wondering what those would be good for.
Geffre