Rust removal with Electrolysis(pics inside)

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porksoda

porksoda

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Well here is my experience with this little experiment.
I read about this online and so I decided to try it before I buy expensive rust removal chemicals. Overall I am happy with the results.


  1. Well what I purchased was a 10 gallon tube from BigLots(most stores have these) for about $4. You need to make sure you use a plastic tube/bucket.
  2. I did read that people say to use Arm & Hammer: Washing Soda but I just used Arm & Hammer: Baking Soda.
  3. I also read online that you are supposed to use hot water but I just used water straight from the hose outside.
  4. Next you have to have a donor piece of metal to put in the take of water. (make sure they do not touch)
  5. This part gets a little confusing but I'll try to explain the best I can. Well I for me I had to have a battery involved because my battery charger is an automatic one. My charger does not turn on unless it is hooked up to a battery(safety feature). If you have a older charger that does not have that feature just hook your cables up directly to the metal in the tube. Also do not plug in your charger until everything is connected.
  6. You will hook up the ground/negative cable to the piece of metal that you want to remove the rust from(you can submerge the ground cable).
  7. Next hook up the power/positive cable to the donor piece of metal(the cable must be out of the water). I just used a pipe that was taller then the tube. From here just turn on your charger and wait. It took me like 1 day total to get where I am.
  8. I unplugged everything about half way in to turn the metal around so that the other side will get cleaned too. I also added more baking soda.
  9. Once you are done or think you are ready just unplug everything and pull out your items. The water will smell like pennies in my opinion. It does not stain your hands. I just poured the old water out on the curb.
  10. Once I poured out all the dirty water I just grabbed my water hose and sprayed everything down and scrubbed it with a old toilet brush to remove any excess deposits.
  11. The surface will have a black color but from what I understand it is a black oxide residue that is left after the electrolysis. From what I understand it can come off if you scrub it long enough but it does not have to be removed.
  12. I did not want to have surface rust on it in a few days(if it even would with the black oxide) so I decided to throw a coat of primer on all of it for now. I will sand the rotors before I use them.

Well I hope some of the information will help you guys out.
I am not responsible if you get hurt doing this. lol. :violent1:

Now here are the pictures that everyone was wait for:

Here is what I used:
20121103_125149.jpg

20121103_125153.jpg


LBP brake spindle/rotor/upper control arm:
20121103_125246.jpg


Water(1:00PM-11/3/12):
20121103_130026.jpg


Everything all connected(1:04PM-11/3/12):
20121103_130432.jpg


Here are different times I took pictures of it:

(2:41PM-11/3/12):
20121103_144155.jpg


(4:05PM-11/3/12):
20121103_160542.jpg


(5:33PM-11/3/12):
20121103_173324.jpg


(2:04PM-11/4/12):
20121104_140424.jpg


Water outside in the sun with rusty foam take out:
20121104_140718.jpg


Some of the sediment left after pouring out the water:
20121104_140924.jpg

20121104_140927.jpg


Control arm/spindle out of water:
20121104_141655.jpg

20121104_141944.jpg


Next to spindle/control arm that has not been treated:
20121104_142123.jpg

20121104_142155.jpg


I threw a coat of primer so I did not get any surface rust on it:
20121104_145634.jpg


20121104_145340.jpg


Thanks for looking!

Here is the video that helped me threw it all:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4yYF8gSHdA"]Rust removal by Electrolysis - Removing rust from a Briggs and Stratton engine shroud - YouTube[/ame]
 
This is the method I use too... just wanna add a couple warnings for those who have never done this before;

-Dont use this on aluminum (will eat up aluminum)
-Even worse dont use any stainless steel (very poisonous fumes)
-Do this in a well venatlated area as Flamable hydrogen gas is produced along with pure oxygen.

PS works very well and easily wire brushes off the black to nice shiny metal again.
 
I use old phone chargers and such. Just cut off the plug and add gator clips. Seems like I always have a few left laying around. Why wear out your battery charger.
 
That's pretty cool. You use the whole box of soda?

It's very easy, by the way, to "get into" the rectifier output of the charger before it goes through the regulator/ stuff so that you don't need a battery.
 
Saw an article in Musclecar Review on this,good stuff.Thanks,for sharing.
 
I've heard this many times, but you've explained it easier to understand than anything else I've read. Thanks for sharing!
 
Looks good,but be careful with electrolysis as i beleive it can weaken the metal and cause it to crack/fracture later on. Heres a picture of one of my drums that i soaked in molasses and water, i highly recommend it, as it only removes the rust and won't touch the metal.
 

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Hi, I filled a rubbish bin with 100 liters and used a 9 to 1 mix, 90L of water and 10L of molasses. You could add more molasses if you wanted but it worked great at that mix, i am still de rusting parts in it now after more than 12 months.
 
67dodgedart273 said:
Hi, I filled a rubbish bin with 100 liters and used a 9 to 1 mix, 90L of water and 10L of molasses. You could add more molasses if you wanted but it worked great at that mix, i am still de rusting parts in it now after more than 12 months.
Click to expand...


this is all very cool. will these processes take anything off the metal like paint and grease/dirt/oil? are we talking regular molasses? how/why does molasses work and how long does it take? are you using electrolysis with molasses?

please do elaborate
 
Hi.... do you use electricity with the molasses.... and how long do you let it soak? Thanks
 
You don't need electric with molasses. Molasses WILL NOT eat the metal, only the rust. Here is the negative (if your in a hurry) it takes about 2 weeks to remove the rust, this has not been a problem for me, as i have just been leaving the parts to soak while working on other stuff. I have actually been leaving parts to soak for about 1 month, and i once left some bits in for about 3 months, which came out fine with only the rust removed:D
 
Thanks, that saved me from having to explain more. Also when i remove parts from the molasses i pressure wash them straight away to remove all the slime and loose rust and then straight after this (while the parts are still wet) i spray them with por 15 prep and ready and then leave to dry. As you can see in the picture of the brake drum it has a white powder on it, which is a layer of zinc that the por15 leaves which stops the rust, i still have parts in bare metal lying around the garage that have been like that for 6 months and still have zero rust, por15 is good stuff. Before epoxy priming the parts i went over them with a fine wire brush and then wash down with wax and grease remover.
 
Cool ideas.Does any of these effect the rubber or plastics that might be on differant parts?
 
I soaked engine mounts and a few other parts with rubber and it had no effect on them. The only thing it did do is make the rubber shiny and look like new, although i think that was probably the por15 that made it shine
 
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