Rust removal techneque - using electricity

Discussion in 'How To' started by Diddymen, Sep 7, 2011.

  1. I was going to type this up in a serious style.......but instead copied it straight from my resto thread ;D

    It was a dark and stormy night.............

    a fork of lightning ripped through the sky like some terrible rip in reality startling a mob of villagers at the entrance to castle Diddymen.

    The Castle, perched on the edge of a cliff, its once magnificent turrets now overgrown with ivy, lay disused and abandoned. Rumors of strange experiments swept the village possibly the work of some daemon of the under word......

    The villages stand motionless staring at the castle, the fire from their blazing torches glint off the tips of their pitch forks...too scared to enter they gaze through the castle gates

    Another great fork of lightning rips across the sky startling bats roosting in one of the turrets. The bats flock out through the broken roof tiles and circle the tower, before heading off to look for their first feed of blood for the night..........the villagers run terrified dropping their torches into the mud to sizzle out until only darkness is left

    Darkness......except for the faint jaffa glow coming from one of the castle towers..................

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: Egor, Egor where are you we have work to do

    A hunched figure appears out of the shaddows

    Egor: Here master, what terrible experiments are we doing tonight master???

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: tonight I think we shall play with ELECTRICITY ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

    another bolt of lightning crashes out side

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: Egor bring me the equipment!

    Egor: Yes master….what do we need

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: we need washing soda crystals

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    Dr FrankenDiddymen: a bucket

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    Dr FrankenDiddymen: some strong wire – that tally wire will do the job nicely

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    an>
    Egor: what else master??

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: we will also need some metal rods or bars, something that will take some weight

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    Dr FrankenDiddymen: a piece of wood…… take that out of your nose Egor

    Egor: sorry master

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    Dr FrankenDiddymen: we will also need electricity in the form of this battery charger ha ha ha ha ha !!!

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    Dr FrankenDiddymen: Next we will need some thing nasty and rusty which we want to de rust

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    Dr FrankenDiddymen: and lastly we will need …….A SACRIFICE!!! Ha ha ha ha ha

    Egor: ooh master you are evil

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    Last edited: Oct 2, 2017
  2. Egor: what is your bidding master???

    Dr FrankenDiddymen beats Egor with the wood…..

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: first we pour the soda crystals into the bucket, about 4 -5 table spoons worth

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    Dr FrankenDiddymen: Next we wire up our SACRIFICIAL anode and our rusty bit

    Egor: ooh master can you wire up my bits???

    Dr FrankenDiddymen beats Egor with the wood…..

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    Egor (getting excited): what next master, whats next??

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: Next we suspend the SCARIFICE and rusty bit from the metal rods….

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    Dr FrankenDiddymen: careful Egor make sure they are not touching

    Egor: but I like touching my self

    Dr FrankenDiddymen beats Egor with the wood…..

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: Next we fill with water and connect up THE ELECTRICITY ha ha ha ha ha

    A bolt of lightning crashes out side the window

    =535 src="http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad95/diddymen/aug 11 front/DSC07837.jpg" />

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: Careful Egor, make sure the [glow=red,2,300]red wire [/glow](positive) is connected to the [glow=red,2,300]SACRIFICE[/glow] and the black wire is connected to the rusty bit - it is very [glow=red,2,300]important to connect up correctly[/glow] – and make sure the battery charger clips don’t go into the water or they will get eaten away!!

    Egor: what is the wood for master????

    Dr FrankenDiddymen beats Egor with the wood…..

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: the wood is to make sure the metal rods don’t touch and short out

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    Egor: isn’t this dangerous master??

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: no Egor, it is a very small current and to be on the safe side the supply is protected by an RCD

    Egor: you don’t sound like a mad Doctor ?!?

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: throw your self down the stairs Egor!!!

    Egor: yes master
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2017
  3. Egor: was that wise to use that exhaust clamp in the experiment as it is lots of little bits, don’t you need a good connection through the wire??

    Dr FrankenDiddymen beats Egor with an iron bar that was resting on the table

    Dr FrankenDiddymen:Im glad you mentioned that Egor, ideally no, really we should have done each bit individually to get a good electrical connection, but it is an experiment to see if it works…..and that nut is seized on and I cant be bothered to try to undo it

    Egor: will I get electrocuted if I touch the water master???

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: No Egor, it is fine, it isn’t even toxic. I must say Egor you seem to have found some intelligence

    A bolt of lightning arcs through the window and hits Egor

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: Take that candle out of your nose Egor

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: Egor TURN ON THE ELECTRICITY ha ha ha ha ha !!!

    Egor: yes master

    Egor: its working master, its working I can see little bubbles.

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: careful Egor that is a small amount of hydrogen being given off so make sure there is good ventilation.

    Egor: how long will it take master???

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: we will leave this for about 3 – 4 hours

    Egor: should we not turn it as it only de rusts on “line of sight” with the sacrifice??

    Dr FrankenDiddymen beats Egor with the Iron bar

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: Another good point Egor, yes we should turn it around so the other side gets done.

    4 hours elapse………..

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    Egor: the water looks dirty master

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: that is all the suspended rust, now turn off the ELECTRICITY ha ha ha ha ha

    Egor: yes master

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: now remove it from the electrolyte

    Egor: yes master, it looks black and not any better master

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    Dr FrankenDiddymen beats Egor with the Iron bar

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: you fool Egor, we haven’t rinsed it off yet.

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: Egor get a hand wire brush and rinse it in clean water, give it a light scrub with the brush whilst your at it.

    Egor: its working master, its working I can see fresh metal!!

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    Dr FrankenDiddymen: you will also find you will now be able to undo that nut easily with a spanner, only the rust has been removed and none of the good metal – make sure you dry it thoroughly to prevent it flash rusting.

    Egor: yes Master

    amily: verdana;">Dr FrankenDiddymen: here is the next bit to try Egor

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    After 3 hours with the voltage turned up to 12V……

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    Egor: can we still use the same solution master?

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: yes we can Egor, we can use it indefinitely or until we think it is too disgusting

    After a good scrubbing the break leaver cleans up even better than the exhaust clap and will only need the ends re doing…..

    Egor: Master the villagers are back and they look cross!!

    Dr FrankenDiddymen beats Egor with the Iron bar

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: ignore them Egor

    Egor: Could we do a whole camper van master???

    Dr FrankenDiddymen: yes Egor …….now find me a bigger bucket……………………
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2017
  4. I've got to say Im very pleased with it, it is not as agressive as grinding or even wire brush on the grinder and not as corrosive as some of the chemicals you can buy - even using vinegar will eat away at the surface of the metal

    all in all, this is ideal, especially if you have delicate items you need to de rust

    your only really limited by the size of the container, although you can do one end first then rotate so the other end is submurged for larger items

    Here's how the brake lever came out of the bubbling cauldron after 3 hrs....

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    might have to give the ends another little go at some point but really pleased with this technique as I can put a rusty part in and leave it there while I get on with something else :D

    its pretty neat isnt it :D .....I might modify it at some point and try nickle plating some parts ....although not sure if it gives off fumes ???

    speaking of which, I'd only use steel or iron as the sacrificial annode, any thing else may give off toxic fumes - such as galvanised metals.

    I meantioned it only works in line of sight so I had to turn the bits occasionally so both sides got de rusted ......however, a modification could be to put a sheet of scrap metal around the bucket (I have an old boiler cover that may do the job) and connect that to positive that way I will get 360 degree de rusting :D

    Alernatively you could put several anodes around the outside and wire them together - that would work

    As a bit of added info - cars were originally positive earth, it was found out that they rust pretty quickly due to the electrolytic action (same principle as the de rusting techneque - the annode rusts a lot quicker) so that is why vehicles changed to negative earth ....so its a good thing to change positive earthed vehicles to negative earth :D
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2017
    chris_g likes this.
  5. Thank You,,karma given
     
  6. thanks mate :D
     
  7. Terrordales

    Terrordales Nightshift

    Brilliant, I'm going to find something rusty as soon as possible.
    Please give Egor an extra smack for being so helpful, & have some K+ yourself.
     
  8. ;D Not only genius - but very entertaining too!!!!
     
  9. Good post.
    I done this a few years ago with all of my rusty tinware and it worked a treat.
    Just be careful if the solution splashes as you put things in it. it stings the skin a bit and don't think it would do your eyes any good.
    I also found the metal started rusting again almost as soon as it was removed, so rinse it of and dry quickly.
     
  10. where can i get a bucket to put my beetle in...
    excellent thread dude...
     
  11. Thanks every one, and thanks for the karma :D

     
  12. I love the way you write, exceptionally good story telling. You should write a book.

    On an other note that is great and I'm going to rush out to try it
     
  13. Great thread. Don't bother drying it, A damned good soaking in WD40 is what is needed - it clears the water and stops it rusting. Leave it coated with WD40 until you can clean it off and get a good coat of zinc rich paint on it.
     
  14. thanks guys :D

    if you try it I'd love to see pics of your set ups and the finished results :thumbsup:
     
  15. Brilliant !
     
  16. thanks mate, glad you like it ;D
     
  17. Great fun, thank you.
    What if the current was upped with say a battery?
     
  18. You could use a battery,

    I'd use an old car battery that your not bothered about destroying as it would probably shorten its life

    Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesnt get too hot and it should work fine
     
  19. We need more techy posts like this
    Great stuff diddy karma on its way
     
  20. Thanks Para ;D
     

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