173 replies to this topic

[olcowhand]

Been wanting to try this for a long time, just never got around to it, but today was the day. I had a 55 gallon plastic barrel & I cut the top out of it, but left the outer 2" or so of the top. I have my Bush Hog D4-10 frame in it now. 1lb baking or washing soda per 10gl of water. 5lb baking soda cost me all of $2.50. I used re-rod for my anodes & have 4 of them around the tank reaching to the bottom. Right now I'm using my Hobart TIG/Stick welder to power it while I'm around (set at 25 amps), but tonight I will switch to a 10amp battery charger. I'll go get my camera from the shop & upload some pics. It's boiling & doing it's thing for sure. A little rusty gunk already forming on water surface.
After having my eye problems lately, getting the pot sandblaster out for the chassis just doesn't appeal, so figured to try this. I do have a hood for blasting outside of a cabinet, but heck, time to try something new! Pics soon!

[NUTNDUN]

I am anxious to see and hear how it turns out.

[Bolens 1000]

I am anxious to see and hear how it turns out.

Have any pics of the setup?

[olcowhand]

Here are some pics. I am taking some video also, but need to wait till the end to edit the segments together.

Here is the barrel & the re-rod anodes. I got in a hurry to see it in action. Later I'm finishing it with curved pieces to make outer ring a full circle. That way anything tall can rest against the inner edge of barrel instead of possibly hitting an anode & shorting out.



Before pics of frame



Here you can see some boiling with welder set at 25 amps DC




Because the process is "line of sight" between anodes & part, I placed another anode in the middle of the frame rails.




This whole process is cheap as sin, so have high hopes for it. As I understand, some wire brushing will be involved for stubborn paint areas, but after an hour, I can take a screwdriver & former hard areas of paint scrape off with no effort at all. It's been working about 1 1/2hrs. Before bed, I'll switch to battery charger for safety.

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[olcowhand]

Here's a site for more info & pics:

Electrolysis - Rust Removal

[Bolens 1000]

Thanks for the pics and link Daniel

This looks like something I definietly will have to try sometime

[olcowhand]

Switched to 12 amp battey charger for the duration of this test. It's boiling nicely on the charger. Water is getting dirty on the top, & red in the foam from paint. I can scrape paint loose pretty easy in places already, but a long way to go. From reading, this will take 24 to 36hrs for each end. If it works well, it's worth the wait.

[Bill56]

Thanks for posting this Daniel. I read about this process, in a magazine article, several years ago. I always wondered how it would work. Like you said, there sure isn't much cost to doing it... that's the best part!

[olcowhand]

Guys, this electrolysis is a winner for sure! Been going less only 16hrs & works great! I pulled the frame out to inspect & that end is almost done! I just scraped lightly with a putty knife for maybe one minute & most paint just slid right off. Then less than 2 minutes with a wire brush & it looks like this:



I can see right now that I'll be using this thing a lot! Much easier than sandblasting! I spent lots of time watching it yesterday, but no necessary at all. Hook it up & walk away basically. By late afternoon it'll be ready to flip over. I'll probably spray the stripped side with WD40 to prevent rusting while other end is being stripped.
You guys need to try this...it's the best thing since peanut butter! Hard toi do video without help, so I'll likely just do this as a pictorial.

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[olcowhand]

BTW...not going to use the welder anymore. The battery charger operates much cheaper & does just as good. I said my charger was a 10amp, but it's 12amp, and it does just fine, even with such a large piece.

[Bolens 1000]

That did a fantastic job!

hmmm........I do have a 50 gallon plastic drum laying around.....

[Bill56]

That did turn out very clean!

[mjodrey]

That does do a very nice job.

[olcowhand]

I just raised the frame up a bit so the very front won't be sitting on the bottom, below the electrodes. Soon as I raised it 4" and plugged charger back in, water started boiling away. Can't believe how well this works! And again, SO cheap to do!

[Bill56]

How does this work as far as long term use... do you just clean out the "gunk", once in a while, and keep using the same solution?
Also, what about storage when not in use... can you just cover the barrel and not worry about it?