Rust Removal by Electrolysis

[84_t-type]

Hey guys just wanted to put this up here to show another way to remove rust for not a lot of money. I have $3 in the system and all the other materials were scrap from work and stuff I already have around the house I set up an electrolysis system to remove rust an paint from my hard vacuum lines. My set up was pretty simple a 5 gal. bucket, 1" steel pipe, expanded metal( as a sacrificial anode), steel tie wire, battery tender, water, and arm and hammer washing soda. Below are some pics of the set up and results. I lined the inside of the bucket with the expanded metal, cut groves in the rim of the bucket to keep the pipe from rolling off ( my expanded metal was about half an inch from the bottom of the pipe you do not want the too to touch). I suspended the lines from the pipe with steel wire ( make sure you have a good solid connection between the pipe, wire, and part. Also make sure that your parts are not in contact with the expanded metal). Mix the washing soda with the water 1 table spoon to gal of water (dose not have to be precise). Put the water in the bucket so that the water is not over the top of the expanded metal ( in a 5 gal. bucket i put 4 gal. in it). Then connect the positive clamp to the top of the expanded metal and the negative to the steel pipe. Plug in the battery charger and watch it fizz the rust off ( I recommend plugging the battery charger into a GFCI outlet or some other ground fault interrupting device). I let mine run over night some things that are not a rusted might take a shorter period of time. This process will turn your parts black. Once mine was done i cleaned it up on the bench grinder with wire brush.

If anyone has something to add or pics of your setup feel free to share ideas. Happy rust removal.

 

[84_t-type]

Hey guys just wanted to put this up here to show another way to remove rust for not a lot of money. I have $3 in the system and all the other materials were scrap from work and stuff I already have around the house I set up an electrolysis system to remove rust an paint from my hard vacuum lines. My set up was pretty simple a 5 gal. bucket, 1" steel pipe, expanded metal( as a sacrificial anode), steel tie wire, battery tender, water, and arm and hammer washing soda. Below are some pics of the set up and results. I lined the inside of the bucket with the expanded metal, cut groves in the rim of the bucket to keep the pipe from rolling off ( my expanded metal was about half an inch from the bottom of the pipe you do not want the too to touch). I suspended the lines from the pipe with steel wire ( make sure you have a good solid connection between the pipe, wire, and part. Also make sure that your parts are not in contact with the expanded metal). Mix the washing soda with the water 1 table spoon to gal of water (dose not have to be precise). Put the water in the bucket so that the water is not over the top of the expanded metal ( in a 5 gal. bucket i put 4 gal. in it). Then connect the positive clamp to the top of the expanded metal and the negative to the steel pipe. Plug in the battery charger and watch it fizz the rust off ( I recommend plugging the battery charger into a GFCI outlet or some other ground fault interrupting device). I let mine run over night some things that are not a rusted might take a shorter period of time. This process will turn your parts black. Once mine was done i cleaned it up on the bench grinder with wire brush.

If anyone has something to add or pics of your setup feel free to share ideas. Happy rust removal.

Here are some more pics.

 

[gsgnnut]

I know of this technique well. I got a large tub and set up a string of multiple sacrificial anodes made out of rebar and set them up around the inside perimeter of the tub and derusted a rust frozen engine block, large antique milk cans, small parts and just about anything else I needed to de rust. I use ph up ( a pool chem) . It works like a charm. good for cleaning up parts that are rusted together. I experimented with different voltages and amperages and 12 v seems to work best. My son did a science fair project at school with it and cleaned a bunch of stuff and got the A. Word of caution, the process does a good amount generate hydrogen gas so watch the ignition sources and set up good ventilation . Ive seen a guy that posted online a homemade setup to derust a trailer. It was pretty cool.