Electrolytic Rust Removal - 1st Run

Finally put together a tank yesterday and fired it up.
(30) Gallon barrel, (6) Ø3/4 rebar as anodes, Soda Ash (Sodium Carbonate), 10AMP old Craftsman Battery Charger,
GFCI Ext. Cord, Rubber Gloves, Eye Protection, Hops/Barley Concoction for parts loader...

Used the '73 Front Spring Plates for the first run. (14) Hours cook time. Gotta figure out the 'Line of Sight'
of the rebar. Missed a couple of places.

 

Did that to my old tractor gas tank.
Worked well on all kinds of things that went to it. Battery charger died soon after doing all the cleaning.

 

The result would have been the same just with polishing, it is not really powerful but good for complex shapes I suppose. I am surprised.

 

Interesting. I'm getting ready to build myself a tank, I have some old wheels I want to try this on.

 

Don't know if it helped but i put some cheap laundry soap in the water (powder kind)

 

So, are there any good tutorials here about doing this? It's late and I'm going to bed, don't wanna search. I figure several here have done this already.

 

Agree with alan28.
Don't know if the outcome would have been much different with just a wire wheel..

I've found blasting or other mechanical means are still the best way of removing rust and scale..

 

Maybe not. I've got extra sets of plates from the donors I've been salvaging, all pretty much the same condition.
I tried to just wire wheel a plate with a busted shock mount and it takes a lot more pressure on your part to get the rust off.
With electrolytic the rust is separated from the base metal leaving the metal in place, so when you do place it under the
wire wheel it comes off very easily.
Keep in mind when mechanical means are used, depending on the media used, you may also be removing parent metal material along with the rust.
Not to mention the mess in some instances. For non critical parts, body panels and such blasting is fine, but with the suspension parts
I'd like to keep as much base material on the part as possible - mainly the threads. We'll have to see after I pin gage the threads.

_Dan

 

Thank you sir! Any other success reports from members here that have done this?

 

If you want to physically wire wheel the rust and paint off a stack of nasty old steel wheels, you're welcome to! Me personally, not so much. I'm looking to try this to knock all the major nastiness off first so I can finish up in my bead blaster. They're much too tough to beadblast as-is, and a commercial blaster is cost-prohibitive.

 

-=- links -=-

What I've found:

http://schoepp.hylands.net/electrolyticrust.html

http://www.instructables.com/id/Electrolytic-Rust-Removal-aka-Magic/

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/andyspatch/rust.htm

http://www.oldengine.org/members/orrin/rustdemo.htm

http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/miscellaneous/rust_removal.htm

One item that seems to be in contradiction is the use of stainless steel for the anode(s)
Given the state of the unknown origin of some metals, and the slightest possibility of it being toxic
I would err on the side of caution and just not use it for an anode.

 

Might also do a search on here. Many members do or have done this with good luck (myself included) and this has been covered a lot with some interesting discussion.
I've had good luck with it and have found that frequently there is a residue that the wire wheel or even scotch brite pad will readily remove to get at the shiny metal. Plus I can work on other things while it's bubbling away. I've found washing soda works well for me.

 

I've had all the components for years, just never assembled a contraption and tried it. Now that I have enough wheels to assemble a good set of five, it's time to try this! Like I said, I want to get the major funk off first, so I can finish them up in the bead blast cabinet without stressing my air compressor so bad for hours at a time.

 

One thing for this to work as good as possible, remove as much grease and paint as possible first!

 

It is obviously good for metal parts difficult to brush, it really works; but when it is de-rusted you have to protect the metal with something.

I use anti-rust painting or treatment (rustol, etc...) to get a good protection. I just need to take off the excess of rust. And I put the paint or the treatment. The electrolytic process is a PLUS solution to have a good result, but it is some work to make it for large parts.

 

Ron, you might want to get a pressure washer ready. I did some painted parts overnight and right after I removed them I hit with an 1800psi and it peeled most the paint off.

 

Most definitely the grease has to go. I'm using ZEP concentrated degreaser right now, have a bucket made up and I'm running the parts since there
is so much penetrate oil on them. How much PB can one use re-doing springs on a 40yo Jeep®...?

 

I had tired it a couple times before on motorcycle parts and a gas tank. Never was impressed with the results. Ended up having to use physical removal or acid on them to finish the job.

On the sacrificial metal, stainless is ok (doesn't work as well), but do not use galvanized!