The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Electrolysis

Well, I tried the tech tip wrt removing rust with water and a battery charger...WHY DID I WAIT?! AMAZIMG! I was determined to give it a "good" test, so I used an old exhaust manifold. Seeing a rusted chunk of crap turn into a useable piece of gear was truely amazing. If you haven't tried this yet you should.

I will agree. Did you use washing soda or lye. The only thing I found hard was finding a stupid battery batery charger that didn't know when to quit. I've saved many a part that was destineed for the scrape pile.

You sold me, but I'm not sure how it works.
Is there a newbie site explaining this somewhere?
MV

Mike - see the tech tip pdf for electrolytic rust removal toward the bottom - does work great - I use sodium carbonate that I have for my bottle washing machine, but the washing soda sold in the laundry section of yer supermarket is the same

ttodd - need the old style charger that doesn't 'detect' the battery condition, find an old timer at a swap meet, they're great for all kinda power supply duties

Bill

Thanks Bill,
I can't wait to try it!
MV

I cleaned a hundred parts this way over the last few months. Can't do it in winter here the solution freezes. Don't try to do this indoors. You need good ventilation due to the hydrogen gas that is produced as a by product. Not a lot of gas but i would still recommend a well ventilated area.
It works great!
Rich

If your battery chargers quits, because it thinks the battery is charged, (while your cleaning stuff) hook up a battery in the loop, if the chargers quits, you'll empty the battery and the charger kicks in a gain. No need for a "special" or old-fashioned charger.

Richard

I used baking soda because we had it in the house and I didn't want to go to the store and it worked great.

I've used baking soda, washing soda and lye. Had the fastest results with lye.

For a battery charger I have an old Western Auto without a computer chip in it.

They still sell the "Dumb" battery chargers. The one that I bought at Meijer's not too long ago for $30.00 is like that. Of course, it was only thirty bucks, so... I didn't expect it to be very nifty.

I've never tried it, but I've got a headlight bucket off of the truck and I'm thinking really hard about it.

Has anyone derusted nuts and bolts with this method? I am wondering if you could place them in a metal strainer and shake them occasionaly if it would work. Sometimes when working on the real old autos you run across bolts that are not standard and can not be purchased any longer.

Old stovebolts in Rockwall TX

I used a battery charger that I bought from harbor Frieght. It is just one of those cheap ones.

Read the article and can't wait to try it out.
How many amps should the charger be set at?

and in addition to Gazim's question about what amps to set it at I would like to also ask how much baking soda or washing soda do you need to put to....say a five gallon bucket? I have read about this a year ago but just now getting interested as I have a panel to restore.

i used a 10 amp battery charger.on a door it seemed sloooooow to me but got the job done pretty good. i 've got a 35/100 amp charger with a three year warranty to try on some rear barn doors that some nut (p.o.) blasted clean amd left out in the rain for a year or so. i hope thie don't go the tim allen way with too much "horse power".tech tips has the formula for the mix of powder to gallon of water. tom

Duhhh.... why didn't I go there first. I've read it before. Thanks for reminding me of my CRS.. :confused:

I don't think you can us toomuch horse power with this method. Just be sure you hook your part to the negative and you can leave the part in for weeks. The annode (positive connection) is what gets eaten away.

Rich

dont use the stainless steel get some iron pipe for the electrode. the stainless breaks down and chromium is a by-product bad stuff that will contanate the soil. rustbucket , i left that door for 2 weeks (forgot about it really ) no harm tom

Tom,
I agree the Stainless is nasty. I use a piece of angle iron. I don't typically leave mine running at night. I run all day then off for the night.

I guess I am paranoid about the Hydrogen build up. (you probably couldn't produce enough hydrogen gass to blow you nose with a 12 amp battery charger.
Rich

i made a vat under a lean-to shed built off the back of my shop, so it's open on three sides. i would assume that would make for good ventilation.that may have made for confidence or ingorance i dont know which