Cleaning rusty parts with Electrolysis

[cully]

this is a bit of an experiment on my part after reading a post on the Facebook 306oc page.

after some investigation ive decided on a have a go approach

theroy is to use Electrolisis to clean rusty parts before painting
I have a nice Pair of 18mm Hubs complet with ABS sensor and bearings to experiment with
im not going to strip them down till after as the circlip is rusted in so fingers crossed the circlip,bearing,abs sensor and all can be removed with little effort

so here we go

Things needed
Bucket,
the bucket needs to be big enough to hold the part without touching the sides.

Soda Crystals
these are used for cleaning £1 per KG from Tesco on the washing powder isle

Piece wood
broom handle of the likes used to suspend the item to be cleaned

Battery charger
cheap battery charger not the auto type that shuts down or any DC powersupply

Mild steal
this is used as an + electrode in the solution

wire
Mig wire or something like used for suspending work


How ive done it

my bucket is a 25ltr contaner, i have rolled a piece of mild steal to line the bucket this is going to be the Positive terminal




as said the soda crystals have come from Tescos £1 per bag, the soda crystals are used to make the water conduct electricity to enable the electrolisis to take place



ive added 15ltrs of water to the bucket and 1.5 packets of soda
this was a mistake as this mix draws tomuch current!

i would probably go for 15ltrs to 0.5 bag nextt time




next get your rusty part
connect multiple wires to the part to suspend it into the solution



use wooden pole to suspend the part into the liqued solution, place part in such a way as for it to be NOT touching the sides/positive electrode.
connect the part to the Negative/0volt rail of the battery charger,
connect the mild steal plate outer to the 12volt rail of the charger,




turn on the charger! after a while the solution should start to fizz (if the part isnt touching the outer)
WARNING THIS IS PRODUCING HYDROGEN DONT SMOKE OR DO THIS IN CONFIND SPACE



if you mix the solution to strong you will draw a lot of current!



thats it for Science part1
i now have to wait 12hours for the magic of Electrolisis to take place

TO BE CONTINUED

good or bad

[RetroPug]

Really interesting experiment!
Watching with interest...

[Connor]

*awaits "so my garage burned down" thread tomorrow*

[Tom]

Clever shit, very awesome if it works well!

[cully]

after 3 hours there is good evidence that this is doing something with all the dirt floating on the top

[WiNgNuTz]

This looks good, very interested in the outcome! You do get up to some mischief don't you Paul!

[cully]

no point having the tools if you dont experiment

[bashbarnard]

Subscribed i love stuff like this!!

[Piggy]

Good work Pioneer cully!!

Although, soda crystals are amazing anyway, so that dirt maybe just from that...but I would love to see some amazingly clean part come out tomorrow!

How long you rekon it will take?

[kentiiboii]

I love shit like this. Definitely subscribing.

[cully]

Good work Pioneer cully!!
How long you rekon it will take?

i think it depends on how much current you can push

small current small amount of bubbles bursting rust off
large current large amount of bubbles bursting rust off

then there is time to add to that
longer time small current for the same effects as shorter time higher current

just my thoughts at this time

would be interesting to see if i added copper to one electrode or the electrolite, i recone it would coat the other electrode with copper like electroplating

[Eeyore]

I wonder what will come out?!?! D:

[C.A.R.]

Someone did something similar for 'playing' purposes over on the GTi6 club a couple of years ago, all very clever shit!

I'm actually excited for the outcome. Please update us tomorrow morning and don't leave us hanging on til the afternoon....

[cully]

Science Part 2
well i didnt know quite what to expect this morning garage,no garage,hole in ground!

BUT!

8am so a total of 14 hours in the tank

i pulled this out earlyer
all brown and rusty still i wern't that impressed




untill i hosed the part off with the garden hose no pressure washer or wire brush no scrubbing or scrapeing!





when it started to come clean i was quite took back how clean it came

and so easy

need to put the second hub in now just to get the same effect

[Piggy]

thats SWEET!

getting me a bucket asap!

(question....if I used a metal 25L bucket...could I use it then without a liner?)

[cully]

thats SWEET!

getting me a bucket asap!

(question....if I used a metal 25L bucket...could I use it then without a liner?)

yes but remember the bucket will erode with the electrolisis effect
i would not use a zinc plated bucket as i think that will give off chlorine gas which is poisonous!

a plastic bin with a mild steal bar would give the same effect

other options are

V+ mild steal bar------V- work------V+ mild steal bar

basicly you want the current/electrons to pass evenly from the work
thats why i made the circular liner

[kentiiboii]

Wow thats amazing results so easily done. :-)

Think I may have to till a swimming pool and chuck the whole car in.

[C.A.R.]

Wow!

Now, how many soda crystals will I need to dunk an entire 306? Only up to the door handles should do the trick!!

[bashbarnard]

Thats awesome. *rings up local swimming pool*

[anto]

That's very impressive il have to look into doing this as well.

[zx_volcane]

science!

[cully]

Wow!

Now, how many soda crystals will I need to dunk an entire 306? Only up to the door handles should do the trick!!

This isnt such a stupid idea!

bare shell on axle stands in a tarpaulin made tank using an ark welder as a power supply

[cully]

science!

as maybe but this isn't an English lesson

[Tom]

Wow thats really awesome, whats the surface like there now? Ready to paint?

[mr_fish]

good results there cully!

[cully]

Wow thats really awesome, whats the surface like there now? Ready to paint?

with very minor prep work the serface is ready to paint

i have wire brushed some of the areas and it is comming up as new! good clean metal
even the areas with larger scabs a quick scrap with a screwdriver and it falls away clean with no effort at all

[powerandtorque]

That's pretty impressive - I've heard of it before but not seen the clear before and after results you've demonstrated.

[Tom]

Thats fantastic.

[welshpug]

this was my effort.



under the solution was a pair of scrap brake discs as the sacrificial anodes, threaded rod across the top of the box with the steel wire dangling down to hold the parts.

this S16 caliper only had a few hours in a fairly weak solution, I had underestimated the size of the box!

[Piggy]

Is something like a caliper going to be ok though...would it not ruin the seals?


Great work cully!!!