New electrolysis tank and power supply

[mmagic]

Fried another cheap power supply and it was time to start over.

Started with a 55 gallon plastic drum to replace my 36 gallon Christmas storage tub. Much more substantial and even has a drain. Inside the garage may be OK for a demo in a half full 5 gallon bucket... but this hydrogen thing I've been ignoring might go booooom inside with 30-40 gallon tank and a good power supply!

For power supply this time I started with an unused computer power supply. Grounded out the green load wire and grouped other wires by color/voltage to a handy bar.

Pictures below show the result after a lower control arm was in the tank 5 to 10 minutes. The brown foam around the rebar is rust that has already migrated from the part. Power supply is from the 12V 16 Amp lug.

1 table spoon washing soda per gallon of water.
Part on the negative, rebar on the positive.
4 hours to overnight in the tank then brush/rinse off remaining crud
Spray with OSPHO to prevent flash rust until you can get around to painting party.

After the needle scaler this is an easy way to get clean down to ready to paint condition.

[StudeRich]

That is TOO slick Merlin! The perfect setup. But what is OSPHO?

[GThawkwind]

I read a huge article on this in muscle car review. It look like an awesome way to do it. How well does it actually work? Can you use To free up mechanical parts? Like say my vent windows Are froze solid, I planned on soaking them in brake fluid, but wonder if this would better, of course I wouldn't this just for vent windows I havea lot of small parts and no sand blaster.

[mmagic]

It works, no sand blast dust, no labor and its pure CASO! If I could put the entire frame in the tank I would. It is somewhat line of sight so you need to turn parts and/or place re-bar around the tank. It removes rust and most paint. Just be patient with a part or two at a time... 6 to 8 hours usually does it.. I like to get on a roll cycling 2 or 3 batches a day.

When you remove parts they will have a slimy residue that quickly rinses off. I take as much of the thick crud off as I can with the needle scaler before I put parts in the tank.

Ospho is available at ACE and some other places for around $35 a gallon and creates Iron Phosphate preventing flash rust. It protects the metal so that you can paint over it 6 months or a year later. When I pull parts out of the tank, I rinse them, Ospho them and throw them in a plastic tub until I'm ready to paint and re-install. Just keep a squirt bottle full for easy application.

The water will quickly turn gross but remains effective. The process separates some hydrogen and oxygen from the water so it should be in a well ventilated location. Your yard loves the high iron content dirty water residue whenever you decide to dump it.

Total cost for this setup--- Plastic Barrel free, hand full of wire nuts and left over wire and copper pipe, 500 Watt power supply from a junk computer, a $7 patch bar from home depot and part of a box of washing soda at $5 a box.

Free up parts? Perhaps but being somewhat line of sight if the part is frozen with deep hidden rust likely not. Many use a cheap battery charger and plastic storage tub or 5 gallon bucket but the auto cycles on battery chargers are problematic. Hopefully the Computer power supply will work better.

[8E45E]

Got any 'before' and 'after' photos of the items you used this process on last year? http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...t=washing+soda

Craig

[TXmark]

I've done this and it works very well especially on cast iron parts

[mmagic]

Yes, there are other good threads on this. I was not happy with battery charger as my power source and was anxious to try the Computer power supply. The cheap battery chargers seem to be satisfactory for demo or small parts but I don't think they are strong enough when you get to larger pieces and their battery is charged circuitry seems problematic for this use.

One piece overnight with the new set up and I'm elated with the results... think it did a better job... now to see how the power supply lasts... Passed test #1 so now I'll hang the PS on a wall inside and run a wire out to the tank.

No before and after on this part but here is it's left side twin as it came off the car and this part after about 10 hours in the tank. Note that the pivot bar was isolated from the main part with the rubber bushings and did not clean. I should have run a lead to it.

[8E45E]

Thanks for those photos. Indeed, it appears to be much improved over last year's efforts with only a battery charger. Please keep us posted for sure!

Craig

[Roscomacaw]

Yeah, JDP and I and others embraced this some years back. There's gotta be some old threads detailing our experiences. I used a 55 gal plastic drum and there's LOTSA stuff you can fit in one of those. I quit using mine about 2 years ago - not that there was anything wrong - I just lost steam. I've got an old chest style freezer I was gonna press into service - do whole engine blocks 'n stuff. Gotta honkin' big 24 volt DC charger that I found at a yard sale - it's a CLARKE (yeah, THAT Clarke!) unit for some cordless floor polisher that I used with the 55 gal drum. Also, the recommended anode is Stainless steel. For this I used a mangled old Stude hubcap. Using a length of 10Ga. insulated steel cable, I bolted the end of said cable to the valve stem hole of the wheelcover and this worked really well.

[altair]

electrolysis

Yeah, JDP and I and others embraced this some years back. There's gotta be some old threads detailing our experiences. I used a 55 gal plastic drum and there's LOTSA stuff you can fit in one of those. I quit using mine about 2 years ago - not that there was anything wrong - I just lost steam. I've got an old chest style freezer I was gonna press into service - do whole engine blocks 'n stuff. Gotta honkin' big 24 volt DC charger that I found at a yard sale - it's a CLARKE (yeah, THAT Clarke!) unit for some cordless floor polisher that I used with the 55 gal drum. Also, the recommended anode is Stainless steel. For this I used a mangled old Stude hubcap. Using a length of 10Ga. insulated steel cable, I bolted the end of said cable to the valve stem hole of the wheelcover and this worked really well.

I have been doing this process for about 15 years, I have an old EXIDE antique battery charger and yes the modern light duity chargers should be reserved for charging batteries because they can be problematic when used for electrolysis. High voltage and high amperage isn't necessary for a successful bath. A fully charged 6 or 12 volt battery works well. A good sacrifical anode is a soup can cut the bottom off and cut the can open it up and you have a nice wide anode with good conductivity, as the anode becomes contamonated get another can. If using aligator clips to hold the part (cathode) you can imerse the clip in the electrolite and it won't hurt it, however do not imerse the anode clip or it will eat it up and destroy the spring. Baking or washing soda is necessary to create the electrolyte. Distilled water will not work. Antifreeze even works. Another good method for rust removal is vinegar and lemon juice, about one gallon of vinegar with two quarts of lemon juice, but make sure you have no small cuts or nicks on your hands or you will feel it. I cleaned the steel plate that holds the spring and shock assembly in about 4-5 days to bare metal but when cleaned off must be treated immediately to prevent rerusting as it will rust before your eyes. I usually use solution called PROLAN it is a lanolin from sheep. It will prevent rusting and will dry in about 2 days. I clean all my rusty bolts and nuts to keep things original and squirt a little lanolin in the container shake it about to cover all the bolts and pour them out to dry, store them away for future use, you can't tell them from new

[mmagic]

Yes, you pro's have been using this technique for years. Now that I've used it myself for a couple years with success but frustration with inconsistency I'm kicking myself for not doing it right the first time. The only commonality between the 50+ Youtube videos and internet articles, my base source of how to, on this is 1 tablespoon of washing soda per gallon of water.

While a $50 battery charger is a simple power source for demonstrations with a half full 5 gallon pail demonstration, it was my bad for not realizing this is not a production solution as I kept using larger and larger tubs for bigger and bigger parts. The embarrassing stupid is that I had the plastic barrel and a half dozen trash computers, the key components in my current system, before I ever tried my first skeptical test of this technique. I could have done it right the first time for almost no money!

Whether my frustration was due to battery charged systems in the chargers or my attempts to de-rust half a car at one time, the current system is performing faster and better and the residual scum quickly cleans off with my 1,700 PSI power washer. If sharing my experience helps anyone else who's not yet tried this technique I'll be happy.

[Tom Bredehoft]

When I was doing this, I used a 5 gal pail, and used a circle of coat hanger, half way down the solution. I had to replace the coat hanger every couple of days, but I was amazed at the results, pieces looked NOS on occasion. And yes, some bolts/nuts rusted together were unscrewable by hand.

[doug]

Thanks for the information everyone. I have all the material here already and will give it a trial run.

[Spannerbird]

That looks like the one I have. I use a battery charger, but thinking about getting a larger one since I believes the ampres should be higher, but not entirely sure.

I have a rectangular one I made from a plastic storage box.

[StudeRich]

What comes in these "55 Gallon Plastic Drums"? That would be a really good clue as to where to find one.