Electrolytic rust removal of door parts

[blgitn]

Would increasing the size of the battery charger have the same effect as adding a battery to the circuit?

Originally Posted by 29restorod

I found that putting a 12V battery,in the circuit,with the charger,greatly improves the process. Rusty parts were taking several days to clean,with just a charger. Adding a good battery,sped up the process to 8-12 hours. I cleaned a flathead V8 block,inside and out.

R/ Roger.

[Cool Hand Lurker]

Hook up the charger to the battery as you normally would. Run wires from the battery positive post to the rod and from the negative post to the part. You get full charge from the battery to remove the rust and the charger keeps the battery charged up.
A lot of chargers only put out what the battery needs, and to do that they need feedback from the battery. The charger doesn't get that from the electrolysis so it won't put out as much as it would if connected to the battery.

[MikeK]

Originally Posted by blgitn

Would increasing the size of the battery charger have the same effect as adding a battery to the circuit?

No. Some battery chargers have only a half wave rectifier, not a full bridge. This give you 30 pulses ON and 30 equal length off times per second on 60Hz power. Good for a battery that needs plate degassing time, not so good for any kind of plating/unplating operation. Even with a full bridge charger, there are times in the output waveform where the voltage is below 12V. In either case, adding the battery parallel to the circuit gives a different final waveform with more area (power) under the curve. As Vince mentioned, a battery is dangerous in this app. You could accomplish the same time improvement by running a huge capacitor, like the 1 farad jobs used by the guys who like 1000 watt amps and 16" speakers in their rice mobiles.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by rustyrim

Would a transformer work better for this ?

A battery charger is a transformer, with a rectifier added to change AC to DC. If you desire a smoother waveform, then you can add a large capacitor as Mike mentioned.

[29restorod]

The detailed instructions,I downloaded 10 years ago,stated you needed a battery,and a charger. It did say not to use stainless steel,as the anode. It produces a dangerous gas,you should not breathe.

[Cool Hand Lurker]

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fordgarage said "Putting a battery in the circuit may sound like a good idea at first, but it is very dangerous and a good way to blow up a battery if any short in your tank. No way I would recommend it!"and he is right, there is some danger.

Once I was not careful with placement of the parts and the anode(+) touched the part(-) while I was away from the tank. The jumper cables I was using for the connections literally melted the insulation and burned the copper conductor in two. I always do my de-rusting outside because of the fumes and because like Vince says, it can be dangerous.
Also it is a good idea to put a fuse in the circuit or use lighter wires that will fail in case of a short, for safety and to protect the battery.

[Bob C]

A lot of the posts I read it sounds like the parts come out looking sparkly clean like new. I have used molasses and electrolytic cleaning and the parts always need
wire brushing or a good scrubbing. Some parts are easy to clean but if they have a
lot of nooks and crannies it's a real pain. What am I doing wrong?

Bob

[Wick]

has anyone done a gas tank yet?
Wick

[bigmaxum]

I talked to Grainger this AM and they do not have the rods under that name or PN. Everything they had that looked close sold in 50+ quantitys. How long ago did you purchase the rods.

[Bob C]

Bigmaxum, He may have meant McMaster-Carr. I just bought some 5/8"
from them, 5pack 7979A18 $7.90.

Bob

[mot]

yes
i have done gas tanks
it cleans the inside,but i dont have a way to remove the black oxide easily inside
the tank
i use a soft 3M fiber wheel to remove the oxide,it dosnt remove the terne coating as does sand blasting
this tank was only done on the bottom
I have to turn it over and do the top
today I am doing a coil and yesterday did a jack
over the course of at least 5 years,my total cost has been
$8 for the sodium carbonate,about $10 for the lumber to build my big tank ,and I think about $20 for the black plastic liner
and $5 for each battery charger
I have done a complete car,many doors,three rumble lids wheels,seats,horns,window frames,you name it
all for less than $50 ,I still have most of the sodium carbonate left
and the battery chargers serve dual useage as (what else)battery chargers
for the sacraficial anode I use any old scrap piece of iron.like a pipe,or flywheel,disc brake drum etc
you just have to clean the anode every few days as it gets a rusty coating that wont conduct electricity well
tom

[bigmaxum]

7979A18 @ McMaster Carr is right. Thanks