I have done a search on this, but didn't find what I needed. I know the basics, I have de-rusted several small parts so far with awesome results. The largest I have done so far was a 59A oil pan. As an experiment, I went for the gold and built a tank for my '46 truck frame. It holds water and the frame. I built a framework of rebar to go around the thing inside and out. It holds about 500 gallons. I used the washing soda like I always do, but the charger doesn't read the same as on the small parts and nothing is happening. Has anyone on here messed with this stuff enough to offer any suggestions? I have pictures at home if that will help. Specific stuff: My charger is a Schumacher SE-125A. I usually set it to the 15a 12v manual setting and it works great. The meter shows about 75% charged. Is this an ammeter that just has "Charge Indicator" written on it? When I connect to the frame, and turn on the charger, it goes to zero and the wires get really hot. I read somewhere about using a small bulb inline to decrease the amperage, that put the needle in a better spot, but it didn't seem to do anything. I even used a small welder as the power supply with no luck. Am I missing something here? And yes, I am letting is sit overnight after each new idea to see if it just took longer with such a large piece. Well, except for the hot charger leads.
No. The negative is going to the frame and the positive to the rebar. I even swapped them for a bit just to see if anything changed. If it made the frame rust more, at least it would be doing something. I disconnected everything and tried a small part again just to see if it could teach me anything. The small parts work great, but the frame just doesn't want to. i thought maybe the annode framework was too close to the truck frame, but it is at least 6" away in most places. The generator bracket I did this weekend was one inch from the annode. I think my problem is not understanding the "charge indicator". At zero, what does that mean? Too much current or not enough? I am guessing too much, but why?
This was a very recent TECH week post/thread. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=184264 Everything I've seen said to use the lower settings with the 2-4 amp ratings. It could be that you've got your charger set up too high and that's what is making your leads too hot. And, at 500 gallons, that might be too much for a single charger. Also, the May 2007 issue of Rod & Custom has an article about this process in it as well. They also talk about the hydrogen embrittlement of items and how to re-temper some parts.
You may not have enough charge going through it for that much cubic area of the water. Try adding another charger at the other end to see what happens.
I've also had good luck adding a battery to the circuit to boost the power.. I've never used more than about 50 gallons though
I did think about using a battery also. Do you connect it inline with the charger? In series or parallel? OR, do you just connect it in another location as also suggested? These are good ideas. I will try them when I get home. Keep'em coming. I have this apparatus built on my car trailer and I need to ue the trailer in a couple of weeks. I am hoping to get this working before then. I doubt I could take it apart without destroying the tank. In case anyone ever does anything like this, the trailer is a way to keep it movable. It gives you a flat surface that is adjustable for level. Mine has a wooden deck, so I just nailed everything down. Works good so far... Except for the actual de-rusting part.
Ok, for those of you who may want to try this, I did get it to start working yesterday. The annode may just be too big. I tried a smaller piece and it worked, so I cut my annode framework into smaller pieces. I left it overnight and just the front inner structure has cleaned almost all of the front third of the frame (where the engine sits) inside and out. I'll try to post some pics soon in case anyone is interested at all.
When I used the battery I just hooked it up like you would if you were only using the battery.. then I hooked the charger to the battery to maintain the charge. I tried to do it in series and I couldn't make it work.
Ok, I may try that. I am doing it in sections now, cleaning the inner surfaces first. Even so, it is cleaning the outside of the frame too. Apparently the "line of sight" effect isn't as strong as I thought at first. I have been doing each section for 24 hours. I have moved it everyday after work and each section is pretty clean. After the middle is cleaned tomorrow, I will try to see if the outer framework will conduct well enough and that should give the outside a good cleaning. I may need to use a battery with it for that part. Then I can pull it out this weekend and get some primer on it.
Well, it's not really isolated. I started with a big framework of rebar that fit around the truck frame. It had three sections that fit inside the open areas of the ch***is, where the engine, driveshaft, and rear end sit. Since the whole thing was too much for my charger, or at least that was my guess, I cut it into four sections. The outer frame, and the three inner parts. Since it cleans the areas closest to the annode best, and I only have one charger, it pretty much isolates itself. It may even clean the whole thing if I leave it in there long enough, but I can just move the charger leads to another section and get it all done faster. I will try to post some pics tonight. I can't get to photobucket from here.
-As stated, way too much area for one charger. I did the same thing you did (built a "tank" etc) to do my Cad's frame. I ended up with one charger at each corner. Also needed a LARGE quan***y of soda. I had good luck w/ mine. (would probably even do it again, if needed) also keeping the water warm (placing it in the sun) seemed to help for some reason... -Betruger-
Yeah, mine is sitting in the sun. It's about 98 here in bama, so it's warm. I tried connecting another power source, a little stick welder from JC Whitney that I bought a million years ago, but I couldn't tell if it helped any. If I had a couple more chargers like the one I have, I would be set. But, one thing I did notice that seemed odd, was that I didn't need as much soda as I thought I would. I filled it up at first and used a ton (7 boxes). I thought that maybe I used too much, because I sat down to calculate the correct amount and I was a little over. I went by the recommended 1 tbsp. per gallon and guesstimated that I needed about 33 to 35 cups of soda. I had around 45-50 cups from the 7 boxes of soda I dumped in there. So, I drained all but about a quarter or less of the soution and filled it back up with fresh water. It worked fine just like that. I did eventually add another couple cups of soda just to be safe, but it really didn't use as much as I thought it would. I don't know where that puts me, solution-wise, now. Does anyone know if there is a direct correlation between the conductivity and the pH level of the solution? It took me three years to p*** chemistry, so this may be a stupid question. It would just be handy to know that you had it perfect when it tested at a certain pH level.
Yeah, I read that thread. It's a good one, but didn't have the specific answers I was looking for. But then, I may have missed them. Everything I found, either here or elsewhere seemed to just tell you how to get started and then you just had to figure out the rest. I read one page that talked about a swimming pool and a boat trailer, but nothering more than the setup. Granted, it isn't relaly that hard, it worked for me many times before, but I was stumped when I tried the truck frame. It's going great now. I will be moving to the middle section as soon as I post this.
Let's try some pics. Here is the tank I built from plywood: http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/46flathead/buenavistaandrockymount012.jpg
Might work better if you use clean anodes. Hey B-man, is that your bike in your avatar? Triumph? I've got the bug for another bike and the Triumph Bonneville is in my sites. What do ya say?
These were early shots when I first set it up. I went back and scrubbed them with a wire brush. It's working great now. Actually it's a Suzuki. It started out as a '82 GS750. So, if you want to see how lame it looked stock, check one out sometime. It's fun to ride, 300lbs and about 80-85 hp. Oh yeah. Much cheaper than anything else. I got the bike for free from a chick I knew. She had it behind her barn. Here's a bigger picture.
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