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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Rust Removal by Electrolysis

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Discussion Topic: Rust Removal by Electrolysis

Dolman

02-20-2011 @ 5:47 PM

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Posts: 177
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Just read an interesting article about rust removal by suspending rusted parts in the center of a bucket filled with a sodium carbonate electrolyte solution with other iron material arrayed around the perimeter of the bucket with the negative lead of a battery charger attached to the part to be cleaned (cathode) and the positive lead attached to the other material (anode). Might be easier than scrubbing small parts with a wire brush. I can envision submersing a basket full of bolts, nuts, screws and washers in an inert basket with a piece of chain as the conductor. Has anyone tried it? It's ok to call me the resident kook. If I no longer post, you will know that I forgot to turn on the vent fan and blew up the garage.

Here's the URL for the article:

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

47Fordor

02-20-2011 @ 6:22 PM

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I found an article on it at the 8N Ford Tractor website. I used Arm & Hammer wash powder and a 10 Amp battery charger. Note: the battery charger has to be manual. I tried both of my automatic chargers: one just seemed to tell me "Duh...this is NOT a battery" while the other apparently wasn't QUITE as smart and tried for a little while but then told me that my battery was beyond help.

Anyway, once I borrowed a friends charger, it worked AWESOME! I had a flat piece of steele as an anode, so I did have to turn it (electrolysis works in a straight line). I left it over night and by the next morning, the old paint and rust were gone and it looked like a new part. Your basket idea may have a flaw or two: you would have to find a way to connect the power to each piece in the basket and, with a basket full, they would block each other's path to the anode. I think your best bet is just to run a bare copper wire around each of the nuts and bolts you want to clean (look like a stringer full of strange looking fish) and and clip both ends of the wire in your chargers negative battery lead.

One variation that I used: I had one tractor part that incorporated about a 1" diameter tube. To clean the inside of the tube, I found an old nail (probably about a 12d) and cut out two 1" cardboard disks to put around the nail as insulators, I connected the negative to the part and the positive to the nail and it worked just fine.

I'm sending the address for the How-to that I used to make my tank. I'm sure the guys on the tractor site won't mind me sharing this with you:
http://www.ntractorclub.com/howtos/pdfs/Electrolysis.pdf

BTW: the size of the part, in general, is only limited by the size of the tank and the size of the anode. I know some of the guys on the tractor were talking about using some large, plastic (of course) cattle watering tanks to make their next tank, so they could clean their larger parts.

Chris

Dolman

02-20-2011 @ 6:58 PM

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Chris,

You just solved my small parts problem. The article I read warned against immersing copper in the electrolyte but I have some good old fashioned baling wire that once I clean it will be a good conductor and maleable enough to wrap around the small parts. And I liked the sheet metal idea in the article you referenced. Sure beats wiring a bunch of rebar together. I will look for some thin enough that I can bend it into a circle that will cover the entire interior of a plastic bucket. That should accommodate the line of sight criteria.

Thanks for assuring me that I hadn't gone around the bend.

supereal

02-21-2011 @ 7:31 AM

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There are commercial places that have used the process to clean whole car bodies by immersion. We often used "washing soda", a form of sal soda, to clean parts without electricity. The biggest drawback of electrolysis is that when a very rusty part is removed from the bath, it often looks like a sieve. The process is efficient, but will erode the less rusted metal, as well, so it has to be carefully watched to prevent excessive material loss. Hot tanking with an alkali solution removes much accumulation without damage to all but non-ferrous items.

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