Hi folks, just thought I'd share this tip with you.
I expect many have come across this before, but a mate of mine recently mentioned using electrolysis as a useful way of removing rust. I had one or two fiddly components to do (including a vacuum advance unit) that I didn't want to put in the blasting cabinet because I didn't want the grit getting where it shouldn't so I thought I'd have a go.
Basically all you need is a plastic container, some water, some washing soda, a battery charger and a few pieces of metal (I used lead) for cathodes.
The washing soda makes the water more conductive (quantity to add is not crucial). The +ve of the battery charger goes to the lead cathode, the -ve to the piece of material being de-rusted. One word of caution - don't let the +ve battery charger clamp go in the water, use some wire to extend it or make sure the lead pokes above the surface or it will be destroyed and will rust like whatsit. You're aiming for gentle bubbling. Too much and it will get the water very hot and take too much current from the battery charger. You can control the current by: 1) Surface area of the lead cathode(s) (also size of the material being de-rusted), 2) Amount of soda in the water, 3) proximity of the item being de-rusted to the lead cathode.
Anyway - a trial run with the vacuum advance unit. This was brown with rust before:
_MG_9695.JPG_MG_9697.JPG
As this was so successful I thought about scaling it up. I had an old rusty engine block that I'm rebuilding and I really wanted to get the rust off in a non-abrasive way. I was especially keen to see if I could get some of the nastiness out of the water channels (I'd had a go with a pressure washer which removed the loose but really wanted it better). This was clearly going to need a lot more current than a standard battery charger could supply due to the sheer surface area of an engine block. I suddenly realised that a TIG welder can supply ample current and would probably be a perfect power source! I borrowed a mate's basic DC TIG power source (mostly because its permanently live (doesn't need a trigger holding to keep it on) and is less valuable than my new one
). I got the biggest plastic storage box that B&Q supply, took a bit more lead off the roll for the cathode and here's the end result after best part of a day fizzing away (turned the items a few times to get even results):
5.jpg1.jpg2.jpg
Both of these were quite rusty at the start!
I expect many have come across this before, but a mate of mine recently mentioned using electrolysis as a useful way of removing rust. I had one or two fiddly components to do (including a vacuum advance unit) that I didn't want to put in the blasting cabinet because I didn't want the grit getting where it shouldn't so I thought I'd have a go.
Basically all you need is a plastic container, some water, some washing soda, a battery charger and a few pieces of metal (I used lead) for cathodes.
The washing soda makes the water more conductive (quantity to add is not crucial). The +ve of the battery charger goes to the lead cathode, the -ve to the piece of material being de-rusted. One word of caution - don't let the +ve battery charger clamp go in the water, use some wire to extend it or make sure the lead pokes above the surface or it will be destroyed and will rust like whatsit. You're aiming for gentle bubbling. Too much and it will get the water very hot and take too much current from the battery charger. You can control the current by: 1) Surface area of the lead cathode(s) (also size of the material being de-rusted), 2) Amount of soda in the water, 3) proximity of the item being de-rusted to the lead cathode.
Anyway - a trial run with the vacuum advance unit. This was brown with rust before:
_MG_9695.JPG_MG_9697.JPG
As this was so successful I thought about scaling it up. I had an old rusty engine block that I'm rebuilding and I really wanted to get the rust off in a non-abrasive way. I was especially keen to see if I could get some of the nastiness out of the water channels (I'd had a go with a pressure washer which removed the loose but really wanted it better). This was clearly going to need a lot more current than a standard battery charger could supply due to the sheer surface area of an engine block. I suddenly realised that a TIG welder can supply ample current and would probably be a perfect power source! I borrowed a mate's basic DC TIG power source (mostly because its permanently live (doesn't need a trigger holding to keep it on) and is less valuable than my new one
). I got the biggest plastic storage box that B&Q supply, took a bit more lead off the roll for the cathode and here's the end result after best part of a day fizzing away (turned the items a few times to get even results):5.jpg1.jpg2.jpg
Both of these were quite rusty at the start!
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