Electrolysis rust removal

Hi All,

After viewing many ideas for rust removal, I have decided to have a go at electrolysis. I have been very impressed with the articles and results that have been posted on this subject.

For my build I have tried to do this as cheaply as possible. The bucket and power supply were purchased from eBay, bucket priced at £1 and the power supply £12. The control box was from Maplin priced at £2 and the soda crystals £1 from supermarket. The wire crimps are a few pence each. The Anodes are cut from a piece of black bar found in a skip and all other parts were salvaged items from scraped finds.

The power supply is 240V AC input 12V DC output.
Attachment 22986
Back of control box
Attachment 22987
Front of control box
Attachment 22988
Photo showing bucket with six anodes linked together
Attachment 22989
Six steel anodes (+) and cathode (-) across bucket.
Attachment 22990
Complete set up. NOTE: The lid will not be in place when the process is taken place, when not in use all items can be stored in side the bucket and the lid will keep eveything together.
Attachment 22991

Thank you for viewing. I will post the results of first rust removal/clean up when completed.

The Home Engineer.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by thehomeengineer

Hi All,

After viewing many ideas for rust removal, I have decided to have a go at electrolysis. I have been very impressed with the articles and results that have been posted on this subject.
Front of control box
Attachment 22988
Photo showing bucket with six anodes linked together
Attachment 22989
Thank you for viewing. I will post the results of first rust removal/clean up when completed.
The Home Engineer.

---

I'm not a practicing electrician; though I can R&R 1 & 3ph components safely, locate 12V DC faults, and maybe pre-plan layouts. thehomeengineers electrolysis unit intrigues me no end. Text and two photos tell me everything [?] I need to know. Iron anodes, a non-corrosive cathode, battery clips, crimp terminals, series circuitry. Knowing the UK is single phase but higher primary voltage, resolves questions about the power supply input. I do pause at appropriate amperage, but constructing one is in my future.
P.S.
If anyone has spare time; a very complete spreadsheet of electricals for the shop is ready...Took some [A LOT!] work and study, but did it entirely on my own in Excel. Did the same to estimate amount of wire needed, almost 13,000 feet.
Hint Hint

I've done some Electrolysis rust removal in the past. It is a simple process just need to have a catalyst in the water for conductivity I used common baking soda but Borax washing powder works just as well. For my power supply is just used a small car battery and a 10 amp battery charger. the Anodes are sacrificial and work better if periodically the deposits are scraped off. Use only in well ventilated areas and try not to breathe the gas coming off the solution even through a respirator since the gas will be a mixture of hydrogen-sulfide and sulfur-dioxide and if there is any zinc or galvanized materials in the mix zinc-oxide gas can be deadly.
I never went to the trouble that you did I simply placed a single piece of steel in the bottom of the tub then suspended the part to be cleaned above it. I have had moderate success with reversing the process by using pure copper as the cathodes and the part as the anode, then repeating using a hand full of nickles and a pound of nickle powder mixed in the solution I just needed a better catalyst

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Frank S

Use only in well ventilated areas and try not to breathe the gas coming off the solution even through a respirator since the gas will be a mixture of hydrogen-sulfide and sulfur-dioxide and if there is any zinc or galvanized materials in the mix zinc-oxide gas can be deadly.

---

That might reposition where I'll place this to operate!
I knew there's offgassing, couldn't even speculate on the composition.\

I have remnant plated ground rod for the cathode and all kinds of mild steel for anodes...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Toolmaker51

That might reposition where I'll place this to operate!
I knew there's offgassing, couldn't even speculate on the composition.\

I have remnant plated ground rod for the cathode and all kinds of mild steel for anodes...

---

the out gassing will smell like the overcharging of a car battery also very flammable. All that being said I did a lot of rust removal in a small room in my 3 rd floor apartment of an 8 story building in Kuwait the window in the room had an exhaust fan that opened to a vent shaft in the center of the building . no one ever smelled it the key to keeping any fire hazard or risk of explosion is to keep the hydrogen saturation levels very low I kept a small box fan near the unit blowing fresh air across it the door to the room had a vent near the floor one other note if doing this for a period of several days in a row cover anything near by with plastic that you do not want to have to clean

The anodes, if made of graphite, will not corrode and the material removed from the steel will simply settle to the bottom of the bath.

Frank S, were you nickel plating as a means of rust protection when you reversed the process? How did you clean your surfaces?

As usual, an extremely neat and well built iteration, of an electrolysis setup. Your red jumper wires - to the cathode bars - look heavy enough to start a car. (Jumper cable?) ☺

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by neilabourjaily

Frank S, were you nickel plating as a means of rust protection when you reversed the process? How did you clean your surfaces?

---

As an engineer in the middle East I also had a coveted chemical license which meant I could buy phosphoric acid concentrate I diluted it with distilled water heated to about 120° then rinsed in boiling water before placing in the electro. bath with copper anodes and copper sulfate then a hot water rinse then in a bath with the nickles I could buy copper sulfate at the paint stores they used it as a tinting agent for antiquing picture frames and furniture but I could never find any nickle sulfate the blue salt so I had to use baking soda as my salt the result was not a pristine nickle finish more on the blackish side even after cleaning or polishing but it was more just to see what happened than anything else. on some scrap bits of metal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Drew1966

The anodes, if made of graphite, will not corrode and the material removed from the steel will simply settle to the bottom of the bath.

---

As in carbon arc gouging rods?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Scotsman Hosie

As usual, an extremely neat and well built iteration, of an electrolysis setup. Your red jumper wires - to the cathode bars - look heavy enough to start a car. (Jumper cable?) ☺

---

Hi Scotsman
You are right :lol: I made it from bits and pieces I had lying around the workshop and not being that into electronics or electrical I tend to use what ever I have to hand. I can't remember where the link cable came from but it fitted the crimps I had that fitted M10 bolts. The crocodile clips and leads were from a old battery charger I found that didn’t work so cut them off and used them. Total cost of build was under £20. I quite like the thick cables I could use them to hang it up when not in use :confused:
Thank you for viewing and the kind words
The Home Engineer.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Toolmaker51

Knowing the UK is single phase but higher primary voltage, resolves questions about the power supply input. I do pause at appropriate amperage, but constructing one is in my future.

---

Hi Toolmaker51 the output is 12v DC 10 amp

<!-- BEGIN /var/www/html/homemadetools/protected/modules/zeus/views/tool/postUpdate.php -->
Thanks thehomeengineer! We've added your Electrolytic Rust Removal to our Cleaning category,
as well as to your builder page: thehomeengineer's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-electrolytic-rust-removal-9"> <img src="/uploads/212400/homemade-electrolytic-rust-removal-9.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-electrolytic-rust-removal-9">Electrolytic Rust Removal</a> <span> by <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/builder/thehomeengineer">thehomeengineer</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/power-supply'>power supply</a>, <a href='http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/rust-removal'>rust removal</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>
<!-- END /var/www/html/homemadetools/protected/modules/zeus/views/tool/postUpdate.php -->

hi good on ya I have been doing this for past 10 years ,tractors ,motorcycles ,cleaning chromework etc.A light bulb in the circuit will protect against system damage from shorts and give idea of current flow if you dont have an ammeter showing actual current(highly recommended shows gradual drop off in current as corrosion builds up on sacrificial electrodes).Ya dont need such heavy cables the current limiter is the surface area of the work and electrodes and their closeness to each other 4-7 amps will suffice so only small cables needed and wire the scrap electrodes in parallel so when one or two stop working it doesnt affect the others.
Started with a setup much the same as you but any bolted connections soon become highly resistant so now i just use alligator clips and a pinch of fine steel wool to help maintain the contact,make the connections well clear of the water and if done outside keep them dry.A rinse with phosphoric acid/jenolite or other proprietary solution eats off the black oxide adds a phosphate coating protecting bare metal and excellent etch for priming.
My last big setup for doing a 79 z1000 frame an parts,frame to big to fit in barrel so had to do it in 3 passes and use extra electrode to get into places that are masked by the tubes of the frame ,process only works line of sight so extras to hang where needed are a mustAttachment 23307

Hi Daturat100r
Thank you for the advice, information and the photo of the frame. I take on board all the suggestions. I have just added a cheap digital volt/amp meter I bought on eBay to the project box. It didn’t arrive until after the initial build so decided to run without it until it arrived.
I am really impressed with how effective and the results of this process work.
It’s funny the little trowel which was once my late mothers has been painted red and was used by my little girl today for the first time, while we were potting up some seeds for her in the greenhouse.
If I need a large item to be cleaned I will be using your method thank you again for taking the time to share your experience with me.
The Home Engineer

This is a link to the results of the trowel rust removal I posted on HMT. I was shocked at the result http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/e...n-trowel-67219

Hi Guys,
I have used a similar process for anodising. using an aluminium sacrificial plate and the aluminium part as the Anode. 12v 10A was about the norm for the parts i was anodising. This figure would obviously have changed with surface area/part size. The cleaning process was to submerge the parts in a bath of diluted caustic soda (old Fashioned household detergent and drain cleaner) Its dirt cheap. The part was then rinsed in fresh water and then inserted into the anodising bath. The anodising bath used sulphuric acid (car battery acid), I actually purchased a drum of acid from an automotive supplier for the purpose instead of raiding old car batteries from a scrap yard.

thehomeengineer has missed out one small detail regarding the UK, we now have anal regulation imposed on us regarding the purchase, handling and use of chemicals in the UK, following a spate of acid attacks in London and the impossible task of controlling chemical purchases by would be nut cases. we now have to apply to the UK home office for a chemical licence. Our Diy stores are starting to remove such items as drain cleaner from their shelves as we speak. Strange but hair dressers can still purchase peroxide and ammonia based hair bleaching products and yet these was ere some of the chemicals used in the London attacks.

I'm starting to realise engineering is becoming a dirty word and the government are trying to get rid of what they consider to be dirty industries, with the price of hobbies these days and the amount of legislation put in place to curtail any out of work activities is definitely killing the skills market, Its getting harder to repair your own car now unless you can program your CAN bus to accept the replacement part. Hell even the light bulbs have CAN bus.

Whats next charges for breathing oxygen (quite an explosive gas).

George Orwell predicted such nanny state control in 1984

Beautiful build - much more finished than a lot of stuff I've seen on YouTube. Not to be Debbie Downer, but...

What ends up in the used bath, chemically? Are there environmental concerns with disposing it?

I used a 1" round x 8" long graphite rod as the anode in a rust remover set up I set up to clean the rust lathe I got. It was left over from one purchased from McMaster Carr to make a bearing for an earlier project. I was surprised to see it was only about 3/4" round when I had finished. The process worked great, but the anode rod is consumable during the process.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Drew1966

The anodes, if made of graphite, will not corrode and the material removed from the steel will simply settle to the bottom of the bath.

---

How about an broken shaft of a golf club? Wondering what those would be good for.
Geffre

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Geffre

How about an broken shaft of a golf club? Wondering what those would be good for.
Geffre

---

I have never tried it, but I would think the carbon fiber golf club shafts, as well as most other carbon fiber products, have so much resin encapsulating the carbon fiber that the carbon would be insulated by the resin and not available to the electrical process.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Toolmaker51

As in carbon arc gouging rods?

---

They will work, BUT if left in the solution they tend to dissolve, I think they may be graphite with a clay binder? I use slices from block graphite, which can be expensive if you don't rescue the blocks from a skip....

The slices I use are about 12mm / 1/2" thick, 75mm/3" wide, with a foot or so immersed I can get up to 25A and trip the breaker on my battery charger :)

It helps if the graphite surface area in solution is about the same as (or bigger than) the area of the steel being de-rusted in the EGBERT (Electrolytic Gungey Bubbling Encrustation Removal Tank), I think?

Dave H, (the other one)

I have used this process to clean up lots of parts in a tractor restoration, including the engine block.
I would never waste time bolting the anode to the container, because , from my experience, they need cleaned at least every day.
I used a 55 gallon plastic drum for the engine block and scrap pieces of tin for the anodes, placing several large pieces all around the part to be cleaned.
Very simple to just hang them from the edge of the bucket or barrel and clip leads to connect them.
You definitely want to do this in a well ventilated area, because the water breaks down, releasing Hydrogen and Oxygen into the surround air. Quite the explosive mixture, if contained and subjected to a small spark!

That is a good idea
I use acid (mostly toilet bole cleaner)
that looks so much cleaner
Ray

The only odd chemical is the sodium carbonate /washing soda the same as used for washing clothes and ph modifying in swimming pools ,rust is the other component along with paint. when left turned off the electrolyte clears as the solids settle to the bottom syphon off the electrolyte and the residue is left in a bucket to dry then sent tinto the steel recycling

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by drum365

Beautiful build - much more finished than a lot of stuff I've seen on YouTube. Not to be Debbie Downer, but...

What ends up in the used bath, chemically? Are there environmental concerns with disposing it?

---

The only odd chemical is the sodium carbonate /washing soda the same as used for washing clothes and ph modifying in swimming pools ,rust is the other component along with paint. when left turned off the electrolyte clears as the solids settle to the bottom syphon off the electrolyte and the residue is left in a bucket to dry then sent tinto the steel recycling

Where in the solution are you getting the sulfur from? Are you adding acid to your bucket water to increase the reaction speed? From your added sulfates I would guess. Regular electrolytic rust removal generates a little hydrogen through electrolysis, using baking soda or washing soda in solution with water.