Originally posted by cliffh
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First off let's clear up the terminology. The (+) positive pole is the anode. The (-) negative is the cathode.
Yes, hydrogen ION is generated at the (+) anode. I misstated that hydrogen ion is generate at the cathode - my error. It is ATOMIC hydrogen which is generated at the cathode, and that is what dissolves into the steel and causes HE. All that bubbling is hydrogen gas, which is being created one atom at a time. Many of those atoms combine to form H2 gas, which bubbles off, but some of the single atoms dissolve into the steel.
Hydrogen is not "trapped against" the steel, it is dissolved into the steel.
Nonetheless it is at the (-) cathode where electrolysis can cause HE. And that can happen at ANY DC voltage. Yes, it's slower at low voltage, but where folks are talking about multi-hour times, it can happen.
The fact that you haven't found a reference on-line means only that you haven't looked far enough. Entire books have been written on the subject, and it is covered in every Military Specification and commercial specification regarding cathodic cleaning I have ever seen.
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