Cleaning / Rust removal with electrolysis !!

I recently picked up a 291 Hemi from a fellow HAMBer (***dragger) and proceded to tear it down when I got home. Engine was stuck and I found a ton of surface rust on one of the rocker stands after removing the valve cover. Rockers were frozen solid. Suprisingly the other head (which did not have a valve cover was in great shape and all the rocker arms moved freely.

I really wanted to remove the rust from the rocker stand on the bad side without removing material or introducing abrasives. Then I rembered an article which appeared in Green Magazine (tractor resto mag) June 2002. Basically the article details how to use electrolysis to turn red rust into black rust (black oxide). It really is an easy process which can be done super cheap.

You will need a Battery charger (I used a 6 amp)
Sodium Carbonate (not baking soda) OR Lye (sodium hydroxide)
A plastic container
A piece of s**** metal (serves as electrode)

How to set up.
I first filled a plastic tub with 10 gallons of water and then I used lye mixed in at a rate of 1 tables**** per gallon. Note* you can use EITHER the lye OR the sodium carbonate.

I then attaced the negative (black ) lead to the part and placed in the tub. I then hooked the positive to a piece of sheetmetal and placed it in the tub. Making sure that the sheetmetal did not touch the part.

Then I switched the charger on ( I set mine to the 6 volt setting)and watched as bubbles started to appear. I left this running for three days, occasionally stirring mixture and ladling off foam and grease.

After three days I could wipe rust off and get to black metal AND rockers now spun on rocker shafts. I am so stoked about this project that I wanted to share. IS IT TECH WEEK???

Mad Props to Frank Boerger who wrote the article in Green Magazine

 

Pic of stand after cleaning

 

BTW the solution was completely clear when I started

 

wow, sodium hydroxide, you are brave!

 

I should have added - wear gloves and goggles

The writer ***umes no liability if you try this at home and all that legal stuff.

 

Doh- Just realized Charlieled had a similar post in the techomatic. Oh well - It worked good for me.

 

I heard there was a little green on your shop truck when it showed up! Does that mean the little T will be running a Deere grill?

 

Very Interesting. Any finished cleaning pics?...Danny

 

If you use sodium hydroxide for this system you will eat any zinc that is in the steel.
Plus you are increasing the hazards.
Sodium bicarbonate works perfectly well and won't eat the zinc or burn you.
You will also find that using a stainless anode will last longer and result in less rubbish in the bath.
We normally leave our pieces in the bath for a couple of hours, that's generally enough, and then wipe over with 00 wire wool.
The crud comes off real easy and then we get on with the job.

 

I set up on the ground with a fan near me. I use solid core copper wire and 5 lead tire weights for motorcycles. The other day I dechromed a cone nut for a springer front end down to the copper. tim

 

Dude you're like Bill Nye the science guy....

 

i used a stainless rod (which wont corrode) and baking soda... i tables**** per gallon...

cleaned up a rusty old horseshoe... really good too..

hit it with a wire brush..

its now mounted on the front of my shoebox.

The only thing that i havent quite figured out about this process was the hydogenating of the steel... how bad it actually is.. so i dont really do driveline or critical parts by this method.. but it works great for other stuff.

 

***dragger - I cant run a Deere shell on my t-bucket! If I did the tractor would not have a shell. Unless, I run a Model A or deuce shell on the tractor...

polisher - thanks for the tip - I will probably try it next time

dondanno- the picture of the rocker stand is after coming out of the bath- At that point I had sprayed it with WD-40 and had not yet scrubbed it down.

 

Is Sodium Carbonate, soda ash? Which is recommended to use Sodium Carbonate or Sodium BiCarbonate?

 

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, lye is sodium hydroxide and soda ash is sodium carbonate.
We use sodium bicarbonate, about 1 lb per gallon, this blows of rust in a couple of hours and is non toxic, though the dirty solution is pretty foul.
If you use sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate it will also remove and chrome, nickel or zinc plating.
Stay with the bicarbonate, it's safe for you and the parts.

 

So sodium bicarbonate is baking soda. Baking soda is biodegradable isnt it? Is it after using it in this process? How do you dispose of the waste? (I have to sound paranoid but I am waiting for the EPA to have enough of a reason to slap me with a gazillion fines between my business and my house)

 

I used Charlie's method. Worked GOOD.........but I've learned a few things that will help me better next time.

A. Get the baking soda/water ratio right.
B. Get a plastic container that doesn't leak!!
C. Clean the electrode.

 

Some clarification...

DO NOT USE SODIUM BICARBONATE! The "BI" means that there are no free ions in this compound, these are the critical elements that are needed to create the "electrical highway" needed to get the oxide moving from the rusty part to the anode. Sodium Carbonate has two free ions per molecule which makes the water solution into a very effective conduit for the electrical charge to flow. One teas**** of the laundry soda per gallon is sufficient, adding more does not make the process work any better. There has been some comment about toxicity, this solution is inert...the sewer and drain systems actually BENEFIT from having this solution p***ed through them. This causes no more EPA risk than running your washing machine.

DO NOT USE A STAINLESS STEEL ANODE! The gas produced when using stainless steel is toxic. Use and old length of cheap rebar or other carbon steel...I like 1x1 square tubing, it has a lot of surface area and it's easy to wipe the crud off.

This process works very well and is incredibly cheap and safe...just follow the simple instructions and it will work for you...

 

Charlie: Laundry soda?? Is this your washing detergent?

Does all "laundry soda" contain sodium carbonate?

 

Here's what you need....

 

any picts of the finished rockers?

 

Thanx Charlie. Will see if I can find that stuff. We used to have Arm & Hammer here YEARS ago, but I don't know if they're in our markets still.

 

I just did the same thing to some spindles and backing plates. the bicarbonate worked for me. cheap, easy, not fast but hey take what ya can get, right.

rjb

 

We use bakingsoda (sodium bicarbonate all of the time with stainless anodes.
Wouldn't use anything else.
Can't say I've ever detected any fume other than ferous oxide (rotten eggs)
sodium carbonate is pretty inert but sodium hydroxide will peel your skin off.
It will do the same to any plating too, especially zinc.
don't know about a s****full though, we use 1/2 to a pound of sodium bicarbonate per gallon.
Our tank is 55 gallon and runs anything upto 200 amps.
Never failed me yet.

 

By the way, it's DEP that controls water, EPA is in charge of air these days.
Don't dump it in the drain.
If you think D.E.P. will appreciate that black cruddy waste going down the drain you're VERY, VERY wrong.
Even car washes have to recycle their water these days and they use very expensive filters to trap the crud.
Boil down the solution to evaporate the water and spread the sludgy waste on a tarp to air dry, then put into a sealed container and take it to your dump.
Dry waste they can bury.
As a waste the solution will contain Iron, Zinc, and depending on processes used on the part could also include nickel, cadmium, cobalt, zinc, tin, phosphorous, etc.
D.E.P. love all of that.

 

Peddro,
I bought some sodium carbonate from a swimming pool shop. It is commonly used to increase the PH in pools.

 

Ah, thanx Simon! Will look into it.

 

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Mad Props to Frank Boerger who wrote the article in Green Magazine

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Frank also has a web site, here is a link to his resto tips page.

http://www.fboerger.com/restoration%20tips.htm

First tractor grill shells, now electrolysis tips, Whats next, a 3 point hitch made entirely of early ford parts

 

I used super wash soda and heated the water almost boiling and it really got it going.