Faster Electrolysis

A

AndrewSpencer

Active member
Howdy!

After reading several folks being super happy with their Electrolysis setups I made one. And it worked, so I got another 55 gal drum and made another. Except for the second one I decided to experiment a little bit with the sacrificial metal on the perimeter. Used cement lath which worked really well for about a half an hour then it rotten to almost nothing. Used 22 gauge steel, which also rotted to nothing. The 3/4 re-bar in the first tank work, but it is painfully slow. Any suggestions for speeding up the process? 12v power supply that is rated to 30 amps but the best I can get out of the re-bar is about .25 amps.

Thanks!

Andrew
 
AndrewSpencer":2g0irnk6 said:
stranded probably 18 gauge
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18g is not going to carry a lot of current. I don't really have experience with the electrolysis, but have some wiring experience. I'd try some 14 or 12 and see if that improves results.
 
From my experience, you get the fastest results by using a steel anode with as much surface area as possible. The part of the anode facing towards the part you are cleaning will be the most effective. Then you need to keep it clean.

I have never seen good progress with rebar. Plus, it is hard to clean compared to something with a flatish surface. I have mostly quit posting about what works well as few seem to pay attention.
 
I tried rebar vs large surface area plates as has been suggested by the above gentlemen and others and it is much more effective
 
Jim Becker":1xfxxhsp said:
From my experience, you get the fastest results by using a steel anode with as much surface area as possible. The part of the anode facing towards the part you are cleaning will be the most effective. Then you need to keep it clean.

I have never seen good progress with rebar. Plus, it is hard to clean compared to something with a flatish surface. I have mostly quit posting about what works well as few seem to pay attention.
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Don't give up. Newbies like me need the help1
 
Slim140":1g0h9i2f said:
Jim Becker":1g0h9i2f said:
I have mostly quit posting about what works well as few seem to pay attention.
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Glad I'm not the only one to notice that :lol:
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I try to acknowledge everyone that offers me advice. I may bounce around a few ideas when people give me a lot to think about, but I certainly appreciate everyone on the forum who's helped me in the past 6 months. I've learned a TON!

So thanks to you and everyone else!
 
Use some 2x2" angle iron or something. Something that has good surface area, and like Jim said can be hit quick with the grinder to get back to fresh metal.

I don't have one and haven't used it before but it's on my to-do list...an electrolysis tank that is.
 
I used to use flat iron and it worked good. I am presently doing a gas tank and am using a strip of stainless steel. Seems to be working better than plain steel.
 
I like using lots of amperage, if you can find an old school shop battery charger that has lots of high amperage get one…Die Hard, Sears pre solid state are great. The water looks like it boils
 
I had a thought to get a steel 55 gal drum, cut the top and bottom off then a slit down the side to slide it into the poly drum and use that for my sacrificial metal.

I thought we were not supposed to use SS in these tanks?

Also, I thought part of the beauty of this cleaning method was that all the lead paint, toxins, etc stay contained. If we are grinding them off then we are getting them airborne again?
 
I haven’t messed with mine for a while but my leads are 12ga. and like others, I used mower blades. I cleaned them in the bead blast cabinet. I used 2 old school manual Schumacher battery chargers.
 
AndrewSpencer":1r9r2ato said:
. . . I thought we were not supposed to use SS in these tanks? . . .
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That is another piece of this method I've gotten tired of hashing over.

I am not a chemist. Maybe I am all wrong on this. But I have yet to see it refuted by anyone that has shown good credentials as a chemist.

Although stainless steel erodes slowly, it still erodes. Chromium is a component of stainless steel. Chromium will end up in the electrolyte in SOME chemical form. I don't know what form(s) it will be. A lot has been written in discussions of this derusting process that it will/could produce hexavalent chromium. Hexavalent chromium is very hazardous.

My opinion, whether it produces hexavalent chromium or not, it isn't worth the risk. Using steel for the anode rather than stainless steel does not make the process much more difficult. On the other hand, I don't see a risk of having stainless steel on the other side of the tank. The cathode side (the part you are cleaning) is not being eaten up. I have used a stainless steel tank and connected the wire directly to it and just put the parts I am cleaning in the tank. This works okay if you get a decent electrical connection between the part and the tank.

Bottom line, don't connect your positive lead to a piece of stainless steel.
 
I used a 5 gal pal with hardware cloth lining the pal for the anode and my part hanging in the middle. I also used a battery booster for the supply and measured the current at around 3 amps. It bubbled slowly and over several hours cleaned my rear drive oil pans for repainting. To improve efficiency I would:
1) use the shortest and largest diameter insulated wire for each connection. between the battery and the part or anode,
2) minimize the metal in the solution that is not actually the part (cathode) and maximize anode metal in all directions from the part.
2) use firm connections everywhere. (I just wrapped the wire through a hole in the metal which presents a high resistance and probably lowered my current)
3) minimize the distance between the part and the anode which circles it, without allowing them to touch each other and short out.
4) Keep the solution saturated, periodically adding TSP, in my case.

I am planning to build a tank for larger parts, and I considered building one using an old clothes washer with a stainless steal tub. However some research pointed to information that indicated that stainless steal should be avoided in electrolysis. There is a significant amount of chromium in stainless steal and the electrolysis process creates various chromium compounds which should be treated as hazardous waist and are reportedly difficult to dispose of properly. I have also read debates about the relevance of these issues in a small application.
 
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