Electrolysis for cleaning rust

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Ag Man

Ag Man

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After reading a post https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2357 about a badly rusted oven door which was found by Paul, & it was suggested to try electrolysis to clean off the rust - I thought to give it a go.

I've got some old horse shoes to try it on. One badly rusted & one not so badly.

Gone with the info given on the YouTube clips in the above post.

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In my plastic bucket I've put some warm water mixed with Carb Soda(about a cup full?)

2 tent pegs as my anodes that I've jumped together & hooked up to the positive of my 12V battery charger

The horse shoes I've hung off a bit of square bar with wire, which I've conected to the negative of my battery charger.

They recon to leave it for a couple of hours so I'll report back then...

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Okay, I couldn't wait so 10 minutes later I have a look & the metal parts in the solution are fizzing away like crazy!

I'm very keen to see the results after a few hours 8)

[video=480,360]http://youtu.be/jaH4EvYGxAQ[/video]

I'm impressed to see all the rust scale under the shoes!

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Very interesting AG, I'm looking forward to the final result.

Do you have any corroded Pennies? I've got a bunch if you want to try it out on copper coins.
 
Say it's been 5hrs. The horse shoe that was the rustiest has had the most improvement.

I'm keen to try it out on some other stuff now.

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On one of the YouTube videos the dude says to leave it go overnight - will bung it in again...
 
Nugget said:
Very interesting AG, I'm looking forward to the final result.

Do you have any corroded Pennies? I've got a bunch if you want to try it out on copper coins.
Click to expand...

On one of the YouTube videos it says something about not letting copper get in contact. Not sure what happens
 
You will be able to do copper the same way, you may just need a different anode. I was learning about this in chemistry last term when doing redox reactions, you need to use metals of different electronegativity. I have a formula here somewhere which says the amount of chemical change that occurs in electrolysis is directly proportional to the charge. Note different metals have different charges for example Ni has a charge of -0.25v and Cu -0.74v therefore when used together the Cu will oxidize as its more negative. I will have a look through my notes and write a method for the copper coins.

DD
 
defiently made a difference. ill try my oven door on the weekend. for old coins i guess you could sit them in a metal basket like a deep fryer basket to "cook" them.
 
what power supply are you using? just a battery charger? what setting was it on?
 
Just a 12V car battery charger. 4amp.

No adjustments or dial/meter on it.
 
On my bike resto,s I have been using molasses for years to remove rust.. The electric method works but takes some of the parent metal with it.. To use molasses... mix molasses say 1 ltr to three or 5 liters of water.. put in plastic drum down the back for a few weeks to let it ferment and then drop in your rusty parts.. they will come out in a few days completely free of rust...keep the mix to use later on.. Can do car panels ect as well.. just remove anything not made of steel as it will destroy it.. I use a hole dug in the ground lined with plastic for larger items.. fill it up and drop the panel in.. MUST LET IT FERMENT TO MAKE THE ACID THAT DOES THE WORK>> ;)
 
Thanks Kawman.
I did see that method too & the parts came out looking great!!!

How do you go about starting the fermentation? Make up the mix & cover it I guess. Does it need to be warm to ferment?

One guy on YouTube had a wheely bin as his molasses rust bath...
 
Just mix and wait.. Very low tech and works very well.. It will remove all the rust even half in thick..
Ag Man said:
Thanks Kawman.
I did see that method too & the parts came out looking great!!!

How do you go about starting the fermentation? Make up the mix & cover it I guess. Does it need to be warm to ferment?

One guy on YouTube had a wheely bin as his molasses rust bath...
Click to expand...
 
Need to be careful with copper as it can be much more reactive in acid solutions, and you may destroy your piece if not careful.

I have had some success using oxalic acid (quite a mild acid) solutions for brass and copper - I have purchased oxalic acid crystals as timber rejuvenator from hardware stores. It can also takes rust stains out of timber.

For rusty steel, dunking in a 6:1 water and hydrochloric acid (spirits of salts) mix will loosen the rust - it takes a long time for this solution to overly affect the un-oxidized portion of the iron/steel.

As for electrolytic cleaning; ideal results may be obtained by using different electrolytes for different materials...and being able to control voltages can help target removal of specific compounds without harming the parent piece.
 
Ag man,
You are putting yourself in a very explosive environment?
ie: Producing Hydrogen gas using this method?
Don't collect the gas coming off both wires into the same container, since the mixture could burn explosively upon ignition.

Be careful.
 
In the right conditions it's very explosive. But the minute amount of hydrogen this would produce would be so little...
Anyhow, I've only ever had it in the shed which is huge & very well ventilated, always turn off the power before connecting or disconnecting.

I like the molasses method & will try that next
 
Good old method I used to use for cleaning up coins was to let them soak in a glass of coke.
Makes you wonder just how bad that stuff is for your teeth after you see it strip a coin clean, or destroy a tooth in 3 days.
Going on 12years since I gave up coke lol
 

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