Rust removal and battery chargers

The battery charger seems to be the big oddity.

When I use my little 2/6 amp charger, things percolate along, at a rather slow rate. It gets most of the rust off, but not all of it.

Hook up my big charger, the one that goes up to 200 burst, 100 amp continuous, and I don't see any change. The charger works, and if I touch the leads, it blasts its usual spark show. But hooked up in the bath to the anode and cathode, there's no increase in current flow or electralysis. No foaming, no change in the offgassing of the parts, no improvement in rust removal, no change at all.

Did find a neat way to shock yourself with 12 volts I didn't know about. If you have your hand in the bath and grasp the anode, you sure can feel the current flow through your hand! And of course I had to explore the battery chargers with this. With the big charger cranked up, I get no increase in the current through my hand, the pain stays the same.

I'm not getting the spiffy clean results I see posted on the web by other folks using this method, and using battery chargers.

Comments and observations?

I am using washing soda. Just dumped in, but more than 1 tsp per gallon. I did dump more in because at first the solution would make my hand all slippery, but fairly quickly that effect faded.

I'm not getting nearly the foaming and surface scum some of you folks are showing. Just a silver dollar sized blob on the top of the annode. The bubbling from the parts is tiny, usually along a seam, and I'm frequently getting about as much off the anode as the part itself.

It may be an inadequate anode issue, as I'm just using a single section of rebar. And it does get all rust coated. Wiping it off while running is how I discovered the shocking capabilities of the system.

Didn't even think of ohms law. Which takes me right back to that rust and such. Just a touch of resistance, and it all goes to heck.

I'll go back to playing some more, better armed this time. Thanks again!

Now, if someone can tell me how to overcome the the black gunk, we might have to try again..

Do you suspend your parts so they aren't touching anything? I looks like in you pictures that you just have them laying in the tub. I understood that the part couldn't be touching anything, I'm probably wrong though.

Bobg

Warning: this is a joke, performed by qualified professionals. Do not attempt to electrocute yourself at home.

Washing Soda (Laundry section of some stores)
Lye (Hardware store)
Baking Soda (Grocery Store)

You want the alkali environment that you would not get with salt. Automatic dish washer detergent would work better than laundry detegernt since it is largly washing soda.

Cliff (VA)

I use washing soda. Works slower than lye, but is not so hard on the skin. Does not aggressively eat paint.

If you are using little or no chemical, try adding some, stirring well, and then checking current. I would not recommend going over a few amps however. More chemical = more current.

HTH

Cliff (VA)

Also the part being cleaned needs to "see" the anode. This is basically a line of site process.

The conductivity of the solution can be played with by adding more alkali crystals to the solution, also the Anode and Cathode areas play a role in controlling the current. Adding more electrodes and placing them closer together will increase the current flow.

It has been a long time since I have played with this but I can remember that it is a not a fast process and it that it does not always clean the part 100%. You don't want the process too fast, low current and a slow removal is good.

I would recommend you do a "Google" search on the electrolysis rust removal process and read some of the many good articles you will find on the process.