Rust Remover

I have a question. Has any one found a good rust remover? There is a man who dips parts a few towns away and they come out looking like they were sand blasted. It works great on rusty gas tanks. Cleans them out like you wouldn't believe. He is so far from me I can't justify the drive. I was just wandering if any one uses a rust remover and what it might be and where to get it at. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Find a ZEP cleaning supply dealer and ask for "Rust Eraser"

I can't tell you enough how well it works!

Try looking up electrolosis rust remover. I built one best thing I ever built !!

Got to agree with bradk, ZEP makes an awsome rust remover. I've used it on everything from a big Murphy engine block that had set outside for several years, to the final drive housings off of a D9 CAT, to a wood stove made out of a piece of heavy steel pipe, and everything else in between. The one thing in common with all of the parts is that they "came clean" in the end. Sometimes it didn't take but one sprayed on coat and sometimes it took several coatings that I had to work in with a brush, etc but eventually it leaves a nice rust free, or nearly so, surface.

They say with your method all you need is arm and hammer washing soda,a few lengths of re bar, and a battery charger, I'm thinking of trying it ,but has safety issues of explosions.

Jim, do you know of ANYONE that has had an explosion using a home-made electrolysis tank???

I have heard the explosion theory many, many times and yet have never seen an example. I think maybe it is an urban legend?

bodid1998, How big of one did you build?

I want to thank all of you who have responded to my concern so far. I will be getting some rust eraser from Zep. They have great products I know. And I will be trying other methods to see what will work best for me. Thanks Guys!!!

instead of rebar use worn out disc blades, saw blades, old cooking pans, etc
more surface area the better
Ron

I built one out a 55 gallon chemical barrel. Cut the top off and now use that for a cover when not in use. Use a 6 volt battery charger as power source, an old piece of scrap metal and it works pretty good. Dosen't always get all of paint off but a little wire brushing will take care of that Sure beats standing at the sand blaster. Did all of the sheet metal on my B this summer. Got half of hood then fliped it over and did other end.

Here is something that works for me, mostly for small items like old wrenches,railroad locks etc and that is soaking in pure white vinegar for a few days.Cleaned up alot of pcs this way.Dan

when using a metal drum can you put the charger lead to the drum and then the other to the piece being cleaned sure would keep the amount of things in the tank to a min.

For chemicals to clean the odd small parts and for larger parts too big for an electolysis set-up, I like a dilute phosphoric acid solution. You can find it made up, usually in quart bottles in the paint section at HD or Lowe's, under brand names like Jasco or Ospho. You can dip the parts or brush the stuff on. For light surface rust, you can rinse them clean before the acid solution dries, and dry them by hand after. For heavier rust, let it dry right on the piece, then use a scotch-brite pad to scuff off the glaze and powder that will form up.

Electrolysis is great. Yes, it will make hydrogen, so I wouldn't recommend open flames or the like in any case. That said, keeping the top of your tank open and doing it in a well-ventilated area, something like a garage with the doors open will keep you out of trouble. What you want is to let the small quantities of hydrogen dissipate in a harmless concentration. When things (like batteries) explode it's because the hydrogen ignited when it was concentrated and confined, as in a battery case. Treat your electrolysis tank like a charging battery and you'll have no problem. That means things like making sure your charger is unplugged while making or removing the connections to the pieces in the tank so as not to have any sparks near the surface, powering the charger from an outlet several feet away and preferably below the level of the top of your tank (use the full length of the wires on your charger, and plug it into an extension cord laying on the floor -- if there is any hydrogen around, the last place it will be is on the floor), and no smoking or any other flame or spark near the tank. It's an amazing process, and will often loosen any painted patches as well, giving you a good even surface to finish prepping for paint.

It might be an interesting project to research what the concentration of H2 is required to make an explosive fuel-air mixture, then figure out how rapidly one would have to liberate the H2 in order to reach that concentration, then figure out how much energy would be required (e.g. in a spark) to ignite that mixture, then figure out where one would find such a spark. Then again, it might not.

I would find it hard to believe that there is any explosive hazard unless you had an extremely vigorous electrolysis going in a very small confined space, and combine all that with faulty wiring.

Rust removal. David...............http://www.farmallcub.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17739

Well said sir!! Exactly the sight I built mine off from !! I was looking and trying to remember where I got my plans . You nailed on the head because when I built mine I was restoring a farmall cub .SHHH dont tell anyone I used to fool around with those red things !! Give them up for the all too expensive green ones !!

I've tried "RUSTBEETER", a sugar beet by-product,
some venders sell it a antique tractor and
steam engine shows, like at the LeSuer Minnesota
twice a year gigantic tractor and engine flea
market, it works very well, but slow, takes a
few days.