Hi All, So I thought I would give building an electrolysis tank bit of a go. I have all the parts I need and I'm going to experiment this weekend. But before I head off into the world of science and Alchemy..... if I were to put in Brass, copper items or plated/ items into the tank... would the process have adverse effects on the items thanks in advance
I think if you put brass or copper things in with plated things the plated things would have the copper and brass tarnish stick to it. I think. With all things, you have to decide what you want done - remove or add to the surface. Once decided, you of course make sure you have the positive and negative leads attached in the correct way around depending on what you are trying to achieve.
Definitely taking away. So I will be using to clean up metal items primarily. stove tins, tools etc And was thinking of using it on vaporizers, fonts, burners etc.
What are you wishing to take away? I find vinegar is the simplest and a very good solution to removing a lot of what you will need to remove. Vinegar is cheap and not dangerous to your health, unlike what you are thinking of doing. I put filthy old founts into vinegar and it removes everything you want and none of what you don't want like chrome. It will remove less than stable paint. For vapourisers like Tilley, I use a non woven nylon buffing wheel and in 30 seconds they are gleaming like new. I use the same wheel to remove rust and whatever else on other metal parts. I am not so certain that a home made electrolysis set up will remove chrome. You can read what you like on the internet but I doubt it will work satisfactorily. Chrome plate is not easy to remove, maybe for the experts but not for home use.
Just want to remove rust, oxidation etc. I know it will work fine on steal. Im wondering if it can also be effective at cleaning up brass or in the case of a plated fonts, heat shields etc, to remove corrosion without negatively effecting the plating itself. Ive done vinegar and citrus solutions on brass amd chrome in the past with reasonable results. (i find not the best on steal) I have a few items I can experiment with. (Im yet to get a good polishing set up like the one you posted about)
Apparently, electrolysis is pretty good at removing rust. I still think you will need to sand or wire brush etc, even after using electrolysis. I tossed up between trying electrolysis and a gravity fed sand blaster. I chose the sand blaster and aren't sorry I did. The electrolysis just seems so involved and takes time plus can be harmful to the health if you aren't careful. So is walking down the street but you get my drift. I find vinegar won't remove rust per sey but it sure weakens it and makes it a lot easier to even use wet and dry on. Vinegar is one of the best things I've ever used to loosen nuts that are stuck due to rust or grime.
Yeah bit of extra scrubbing will be needed. The process itself is pretty safe as long as you use the right procedure. 12 v DC and low amps. Good vventilation. water waste is also safe if using just steal. Stainless and alloy can result in harmful chemicals being left in the water....... in saying that I wonder if brass and chrome will as well? I have thought about getting a sandblast cabinet to do a few tasks... thats next on the list
I'm lucky. Where I live I have white sand get that seeps out of an old marsh. I suppose it was in salt water once but these days it's a few miles from the salt water. The sand looks like it seeps out of the ground. It collects in the gutters of the road and along the edges of the footpaths. I go down and shovel it into a bucket, using fly screen wire as a sieve and get all the sand I need, for nothing. I have an old stainless steel, large round tub. I put gloves on and hold the piece I want sand blasted within the stainless tub. Works a treat to remove rust, paint, grime and to get things rough for spraying. There is very little that I have found, if anything, I can't get to with the sand blaster. It doesn't matter what angles or curves etc there are, you can normally get it all.
Hahaha awesome. That's the way to go, make use of what you have around... You're definitely lucky with the sand supply!!!! I like the sound of your set up, nice and simple. Apart from buying the washing soda (to make my water solution) I have managed to find everything else I need in the workshop.
I have sand down at the beach but I don't think it would be wise to use salt laden sand to sand blast rust off steel. That would be an oxymoron. Yep, I always look around to see what is readily available. I could have spent money on a sand booth. I'd rather spend that money on lamps by thinking outside the box and making use of what you have at hand. If I was sandblasting everyday or even every week, sure, a sand booth would be money well spent or a oxide medium to blast with. The truth is I don't so there is no need to spend the money.
G'day Mike, I have used Electrolysis to remove rust from steel and it is very effective. I use washing soda as an electrolyte. I have not tried nickel plated items but from what I have read you need to use sulfuric acid as an electrolyte to remove the plating so stay away from sulfuric acid. Keep the electrolyte simple and keep an eye on the process.
Definitely will stay away from that!!!! I'm sticking with washing soda only for this. Sounds like the plating will be safe and remain largely in tact with this approach. I'll find out over the weekend with a sacrificial font
I have an old Coleman one that I will use as a tester and a few crappy stove parts and a couple of tools I can sacrifice as well before trying on something of real importance. I'll post some pics of the set up and test pieces at different stages.
I tried electrolysis on a brass fount once (nothing rare) and by the time it was finished it was bright pink, meaning the nickel had been leeched out faster than the copper. May be a coincidence, but that fount now has a crack in it.
Interesting, I think I'll start with a very low voltage for the font and see what happens. the power supply I have is ranged so I can adjust volts and amps as I like.
I would caution you to use electrolysis only on steel, to remove rust (and paint with the rust). Unless you know your metallurgy very well, (which I don't), you are likely to do all kinds of undesirable things to alloys and non steel parts. Cheers Tony
To late!!! donor font is bubbling away as we speak. So far it has only removed the small amount of green corrosion and the plating is in tack... Has been in for 2.5 hrs at 12 v and 1.5 amps
Test 1 - Tilley font, rough to touch with mild oxidation. The set up - suspend font in tank, old saw as sacrificial anode. Power supply set, washing soda - 1 T per 3 ltr of water Bubbling away, you can see everything lifting up Font straight after treatment. It was smooth to touch A rinse with fresh water and a gentle scrub with a soft bristled brush and a quick 5 min hand polish. Results are pretty good
1/2 hr in the tank - nice and black (looked like it had stripped it) Quick rinse and scrub (still didn't look promising) Polishing was real quick 3 min by hand
Great Job. I get the same results with vinegar. I'm too lazy to build your contraption but if it works for you that's all that matters.
Hahaha me too, although I got a few pink outcomes with vinegar... Cooked too long. I primarily made this for old tools etc and to prep old stove tins opti 111, 22, primus tins etc. ready for a paint job or oil. So I thought I would see what happens with these things. Its actually pretty quick to set up if you have the gear. And almost zero effort to finish off items with a polish
I've found on rusted steel, a good citric acid solution works well. If you've got a big saucepan the object fits in, then boiling it over a stove works even better. I've done this a number of times now, and when it comes out you simply wash it under the tap using a good stiff brush or a scotch bright pad and the rust just disappears. You need to dry it well and get some paint on it because it will quickly start to rust again.
As I said earlier, I'm no metallurgist, but this video here seems to show that using electrolysis to clean brass, strips nickel from the alloy: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N-7CkcslIWQ I'd be very careful with pressure vessels... Tony
Traditionally that is what I have been using also. Works okay for the most part. I have found on some items with more significant rust it doesn't do a great job and a lot more manual labour is needed to finish it off. In order to preserve as much of the item I can I really want to try and go away from wire brushing if at all possible. + this has been a bit of fun experimenting.
Thanks for the link Tony. My solution definitely didn't look like that with all the cruddy froth. I don't think I would of left it in for as long as he did. As I'm not using a battery charger I have full control of how much current I can put in and monitor the process frequently. I am still weary about using this on lantern parts that aren't steel or are rare and more than likely stick with vinegar or citrus solutions for these.
Have a crack at removing chrome from something you have hanging around and don't need and let me know how that goes. Also, I think the bigger the sacrificial piece is the better it works? For instance, the old saw blade you are using will have less surface area than the founts. I think, I stress think, if you increased the surface area of the sacrificial metal to be equal or bigger than the surface area of the item you wished cleaned it will work better. I once read it's better to surround the object with the sacrificial metal if at all possible.
Personally I would be cautious about using electrolysis on brass. Brass is a combination of copper and zinc. Many electrolysis recipes call for using washing soda. Most washing soda is sodium carbonate which is fairly alkaline, my concern is that the sodium carbonate may leach the zinc out of the brass.
