Electrolysis for Rust Removal

Thanks, PainterD. I was also wondering about amperage so I'm glad you specified that. I was a little afraid of using the 10 amp setting so I've had mine going at 2 amps since yesterday afternoon. I'm going to empty it this morning and see where I'm at. I'll post a report later.

 

OK, here's the report on my electrolytic tank cleaning experience.

I used the Arm & Hammer Washing Soda - which was not easy to find (Ace Hardware) - at a concentration of 1 tablespoon per gallon.

I used 3 strands of heavy fencing-type wire twisted together with a very large wire nut on the end. I made this anode extra long and then bent it so that I could attach it a stud in my garage wall with a couple of electrical staples. I also slid a section of the outer insulation off of a piece of Romex over the end to insulate it where it was stapled and also where it entered the tank.

I wasn't too sure about running my battery charger at the full 10 amp setting so I had it running at 2 amps. This took three rounds of about 8-12 hours each. I dumped it, checked it out, scraped the anode, and refilled with fresh solution each time.

I'm not sure that absolutely ALL of the rust was gone even at that point. There seemed to be a few little pesky spots - specks really - that still looked rusty. It was pretty dang good, though. As mentioned in other posts, it was blackened in the places where the rust had been.

I rinsed it with water, then quickly with some POR-15 Marine Clean solution mixed with warm water at 5:1 and sloshed that around for about 15 minutes. Then I rinsed again a couple of times with clean water, drained it, and dried it with a blow dryer.

I then went with Fitz's Seafoam, motor oil, and gas cocktail and sloshed it around. I had to leave town at that point, so I just let it sit with that solution in it for about 10 hours. I dumped it out when I got home and it was an interesting sort of caramel/butterscotchy color. Then rinsed with more gas and oil, then finally with gas oil, and Marvel Mystery Oil. Drained everything I could, then used a rag to wick up the rest.

It looked pretty decent, though not like brand new metal as you acid-lovers have described. I think I'm in good shape, though.

 

You should have removed all the rust that would've came lose and found it's way to the gas filter or the carbs. Looks like you have the problem dealt with even though it's not like new metal. Good job!

 

That's kind of what I thought, too. Plus I've got a brand new filter on my fully rebuilt petcock and an inline filter, so that should catch most anything that might cause problems.

 

Idid this too my tank a week ago.it worked great,better then i expected..only thing that was unexpeceted is that the tape i used too hold my node in peeled y clear coat off.no problem though i had planed on repainting it any way. 8)

 

I'm getting ready to try this method but am having trouble finding the washing soda. We have lots of oxiclean though and it has the sodium carbonate in it. Anyone tried this? I really don't want to mess up my tanks as it has some other ingredients in it also.

 

dang, thats impressive - after pics of the inside will be interesting to see

 

I did, too. Finally found it at Ace hardware. If they don't have it on hand they'll probably order it in for you.

Works good in the wash, as well. Add a half a cup to a load with greasy shop clothes and it really makes a difference.

 

Couldn't find it locally so I got it from amazon (ace hardware) shipped for $8. Both local Ace hardware stores never even offered to order it.

 

Thats redic. Just lazyness on their part.

Glad you got a hold of it some way though.

 

I'm wrapping my project with this up today/tomorrow. Ran it once, on 2 amps for a couple of days. Flushed everything really well, and refilled with fresh electrolyte and ran it again since last night. Should be the last time. How are people drying these out instead of filling/coating with gas or oil? I was thinking about the shop vac with the hose on the blow side, and a reducer through the filler hole, but any other ideas would be appreciated.

 

As an afterthought to the last post, I left the petcock and the sending unit in place, because I am going to re-build the petcock, and the sending unit was a mess, and both came out great. The sending unit moves completely freely now, and sure as hell looks better also!!

 

I have a very old 6amp 6v/12v battery charger that I've been trying to use on this topic. I ran it yesterday set on 12v for about 12 hours and got absolutely no results. I may need to buy a new battery charger as I'm not 100% about its actual output. Wouldn't 12 hours at 6amp/12v give me some sort of results?

 

At 6 amps you would begin to see results within a few minutes (the electrolyte bubbling as hydrogen is released). Describe the rest of your setup. Was the part you had in the tank degreased throughly?

 

Wow I'm glad this topic got necro'ed, I'm gonna get out of bed now & rig up some old bits of Honda to a battery charger overnight & see what happens

 

Anode touching the tank possibly?

 

I like it a lot Only got a couple of rusted old inlet valves as a test piece sat in half a milk carton, with an old breaker bar as anode, but it's fizzing away nicely at 0.75A which I'd expect due to smaller surface area.

Might not leave it overnight considering how well it was fizzing, maybe check in a couple of hours or before I go to sleep... Looks like a fun way to rescue parts.

EDIT-: anode touching his tank would blow the fuse if it's the sort of charger I'm thinking of...

 

I have about 12" threaded steel rod recently bought at a hardware store. Not sure if it was ever greased but I know I didn't degrease it. Originally I had it ran through a large rubber stopper with a metal washer and nut on each side of the stooper. It was nice and snug in the gas cap opening. I thought maybe the rubber stopper was grounding it somehow so I switched to a plastic cut-off paint can lid like the 1st pictures posted on this thread. My rod isn't touching anywhere inside the tank, just in the distilled water and Arm&Hammer mixture.

 

well your kind of lucky it didn't work, the cap has to be loose or it'll pop off.
check the connection to the tank, you should see something in a minute or two

 

Yeah I thought about that after the fact Polock. I'm going with loose from now on (in this regard anyway).
Now I tried something different. I put my rod in a ceramic coated tray like an old doctors instrument tray. I rested my rod on a couple of rubber tubes so it wouldn't contact the tray and hooked-up my charger (neg. to tray, pos. to rod). I never saw any "activity" after an hour. Could it be the distilled water? Are y'all using plain tap water? I mean with a tablespoon of Arm & Hammer per gallon of water of course.