first time electrolysis

[steve53]

i am rebuilding a 250 out of a '65 to put in my '53 and am trying electrolysis for the first time. i am sitting in the garage right now with an exhaust manifold going through the process right in front of me. looks like it is doing some good work! i learned most of what i'm doing from this thread over at the H.A.M.B.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...t=electrolisys

any of you guys try this and have good results? i used borax to get the PH level to a good base. i will try to get some pics up of this manifold in the next day or two with the finished results. just imagine right now that it is rusted and caked with carbon and dirt pretty bad.

[steve53]

well, forgot that my laptop can take crappy pictures. here is a pic of my setup. i got a 1.5 amp charger connected to a 12v battery with 650cca. the negative is connected to the manifold and the positive is connected to two pieces of rebar which are also connected to each other.

[robin58]

I used it with some success on some smaller parts. Just be prepared to be patient.

[Bigblue29]

I'd like to see a couple before and after pics of the parts when your done if you get a chance.

[Thadious]

I've used it on alot of my smaller parts so far (running board brackets, headlamp buckets, hoodlatch, etc.) I found it works well but you gotta take the items out every so often and scrub the grunge off with a wire brush (the toothbrush size works well). I also use it as a pretreatment before I sandblast the items... takes alot of the work out of it!

Cheers,
Ted.

[steve53]

update:

i let the exhaust manifold sit in there all night. i woke up this morning to a nasty bucket of rust and grease scum. there was definitely some massive progress made. i can actually read the stamping on the manifold now! i took it out of the water and went to town on the half that was being treated with a wire brush drill bit. i put fresh water in the bucket with the borax and cleaned off the rebar i am using for electrodes. they got pretty caked. i let it sit in there while at work all day so after i crack a beer and light a smoke im going out to check on it.

i should get some pretty good pics of before/after since only half of the manifold fits in my bucket. when it is all done on one side i will post up pics to show the dirty/clean side of the manifold.

[jason65]

Awsome! I'm glad you started a build thread. Is that the motor from over chickasha way?

[steve53]

Originally Posted by jason65

Awsome! I'm glad you started a build thread. Is that the motor from over chickasha way?

over from tuttle way, courtesy of bigmac68. got it completely tore apart and was looking for some way to clean some of the dirtiest parts and figured i would try some science in my garage muahaha!

[jason65]

How close is it to your motor? Are you gonna be able to use your 6 volt stuff on it?

[steve53]

It's pretty damn close. I wanna update my wiring harness to get rid of some pretty rotten wires when I get this puppy ready to go in. I have been having some serious issues with 6v the last couple weeks.

Update on the electrolysis. The manifold came out pretty good on the side I was cleaning. Half of it still looks pretty nasty. I gotta find my camera somewhere in the house to get some pics of it.

[jason65]

I bet 6v is a real pita in the winter. It sounds like a 12 pack and a good time converting it.

[steve53]

Originally Posted by jason65

I bet 6v is a real pita in the winter. It sounds like a 12 pack and a good time converting it.

hell just cleaning these parts is a 12 pack

[Bigblue29]

Any pics of how the parts are turning out yet?

[steve53]

here are a couple pics of results.

first, the water pump. it cleaned up super nice!




next, the manifold. the left side was the side in the bucket. the right side still looks pretty rusty/grimy.




money invested in using this process:

battery charger, already owned
5gal bucket, already owned
12v battery, already owned
2' rebar x2 = $2.29
box of borax = $2.99

clean parts, priceless!

[Bigblue29]

Wow thats looks pretty good! did it require much effort? or does the bucket do most of the work?

[jason65]

Very nice vato. Looks good. Could you use a kiddy pool and throw it all in there? Does it eat rubber?

[robin58]

Originally Posted by jason65

Very nice vato. Looks good. Could you use a kiddy pool and throw it all in there? Does it eat rubber?

You can use anything you want as long as it doesn't conduct electricity. A kiddie pool is actually pretty good for bigger and oddshaped items.

I never tried with anything rubber on the pieces I did, but logic tells me rubber doesn't conduct electrical current so it should have no ill effects. It also shouldn't affect plated materials.

[jason65]

I was just wandering about his waterpump seals.

[steve53]

Originally Posted by Bigblue29

Wow thats looks pretty good! did it require much effort? or does the bucket do most of the work?

the bucket really does 95% of the work. when i pull the parts out, i just rinse them off and use a wire brush to get some film off of them. wipe down with a shop towel and job done! i double checked the seals and they don't seem to have been affected at all by the process.

i'm going to walmart tomorrow to get a big rubbermaid box and some more rebar so i can do bigger parts in one fell swoop. this 5gal bucket is for the birds!

[slimneverdies]

Or you could use what I did!! Only problem for me was keeping the flash rust under control

[steve53]

Originally Posted by slimneverdies

Or you could use what I did!! Only problem for me was keeping the flash rust under control

hell yeah that's the size im looking for!

i have been wiping a little penetrating oil on the parts with my shop rag the second the part is done being cleaned. i haven't really had much trouble with it so far. bigger parts must be harder though. we will see after i get me a bigger "bucket" lol.

[slimneverdies]

yeah I did the WD-40 thing but it gets really interesting when its time to clean the part. Could be just the humid South Florida weather

[robin58]

Originally Posted by steve53

bigger parts must be harder though. we will see after i get me a bigger "bucket" lol.

One thing to remember is the treatment is "directional": it only works on a "line of sight" basis. For larger items you may be better off using a flat sheet bent to surround the rusty item.

[Atomsplitter]

I tried this back a few years and it works. Just make sure you place the bucket in a well ventilated area, the byproduct of the electrolysis is pure Hydrogen! Not alot of it, but when I did my parts the Borax bubbled up like soap bubbles. I tried a bit of science to prove it was Hydrogen and lit up the bubbles.......no explosion, but it did pop and crackle!

There is also no limt to the number or placement of the rebar rods as long as they don`t touch the part being cleaned and they are all connected by a common wire to the power source.

[jason65]

Hows the parts cleaning going Steve?