<VV> Rust Free

[Dave Keillor]

The washing soda came from the local supermarket.  Following is the text
from the article I saved (Google will find others), and the pdf is
attached just for you Cliff.  I used a plastic garbage can and dumped in
the whole box of washing soda (about twice the rate in the article)
because I'm a believer in "more is better".  The current level was
around 7 amps, but I had to use the "Start" setting to get that much.
Less current would work, too, but "more is better" :-).

If you're like me you've spent endless
hours in front of a blast cabinet trying
to remove rust from old corroded and
rusted steel parts for your restoration
project.
I've always heard that rust could be
removed from old steel parts with
electrolysis meaning that electricity
can do the work for you. So I set out to
see exactly what it would actually do.
First I made a trip to the local dollar
store and got a large tub and a box of
washing soda.
Water doesn't conduct electricity very
well so the washing soda increases the
conductivity of the water and allows
electricity to travel through it more
readily. Washing soda is also non
caustic and bio degradable so it can be
flushed down the drain when done.
Mix the washing soda at a rate of 1
tablespoon per gallon of water and stir
thoroughly until all the crystals are
completely dissolved.
One word of caution. Do this outside
in a well ventilated area and keep
away from sparks and flames.
Electrolysis produces hydrogen and
oxygen gasses which are non toxic but
explosive if confined.
Rusted metal can be easily cleaned.
Washing soda increases conductivity.
Mix 1 tbsp washing soda per gal of water.
Clean the contaminants off of the part
with a piece of 80 grit sandpaper. It
doesn't have to be perfect.
This process will not remove paint,
road tar, thick mud or other nonconductive
coatings.
Submerge the parts in the solution and
connect the negative cables from a
battery charger to the parts.
This will eventually dissolve the battery
clips so I bought some cheap replacements
and connected them to
some wire so as not to ruin the ones on
the battery charger. I painted the clips
with gloss black paint inside and out
so that all current will flow from the
parts and not the from the clips then I
sanded the inside edges of the jaws so
it would still make connection to the
parts.
The positive lead of the charger is
connected to a scrap piece of steel
used as an anode and placed along side
the parts (seen in center of photo with
wire lead on left). Rebar or angle steel
works well. Don't let it touch the parts
or a short circuit will occur. You can
also use multiple anodes for faster results.
Turn on the battery charger and set
the amperage to read 2 - 4 amps on
the meter. You should see bubbles
and/or motion in the solution in a few
minutes. The current will drop as the
process progresses.
Allow the parts to electrolyze for a
few hours or even overnight.
Neg. leads go to parts. Pos. to anode seen
in center of photo with wire lead on left.
The positive anode can be any clean piece
of steel. You can use multiple anodes.
Set battery charger for 2 to 4 amps.
Electrons flow from negative to positive
so electrons will flow from the
negative parts through the solution to
the positive anode carrying the rust
along with it thus the anode will eventually
get covered with crud.
I've observed that if the amperage
drops off you can reverse the leads for
a minute or so then return them back
to normal and current will flow again.
I attribute this to the anode loading up
with contaminates and reversing the
polarity moves the contaminates from
the anode back into the solution.
You may need to pull the parts out after
a few hours and scuff the parts and
the anode with a 80 grit paper to
knock off the layer of contamination
that accumulates to restore current
flow and speed the process.
After knocking off the loose stuff
with 80 grit rinse parts with a garden
hose.
If there is still rust on the parts then
return the parts to the tank for a few
more hours.
If the parts look clean and rust free
then scuff with a scotch pad and paint
with a coating of your choice.
This process will work on any size
part. My son used a small plastic
swimming pool and a large chunk of
angle iron to de-rust a differential
housing from a full size 1963 Chevrolet
and the results were just as amazing.
After about 3 hours the crud is soft and
can be knocked off with 80 grit.
Knock off the loose stuff and return the
parts to tank if necessary.
The difference was astounding.

Dave Keillor
 

-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of Cliff
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 1:08 PM
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Subject: Re: <VV> Rust Free


To Dave K and Dave C, 

Would you mind telling us what the formulae is for a large container
using
anything more than a gallon of water?  In other words, how much soda per
gallon and where do you get the wash soda?  

Cliff Tibbitts
Lexington, KY 


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