WhO's THE BEST, rust remover/ encapsulator Options

[rohar]

Ok, so I've had it running on 5 amps for about 4 hours. I've ground the crap off the sacrificial piece twice. Given that, it must be coming along nicely right? Right?

After the last time, I found it takes about 10 minutes for the darned thing to get all covered, shoulda been clearing the slag faster.

[sean_v8_914]

this thread has taken a very interesting turn.
rohar: post some pics of this magial rig

[rohar]

I took picks, I'll have them posted shortly. This process takes a while, but it's doing it's thing. I think I'm gonna get a fist mal and beat this anode into a little better shape.

[sean_v8_914]

maybe a pneumatic scaling gun would help

[rohar]

It's not the crud, there's a bit of a curve in the metal I'm trying to derust. That leaves a bit larger gap between the anode and the steel there so I'm thinking bending the strap to match will help. I'm gonna let it cook for a bit, I've got some other bad ideas that might pop up in the next few hours.

The sponges between the strap and the metal look awful and the strap keeps getting covered, so it's definitely pulling rust up.

[mrgjones]

On the first try, I rusted a positive electrode steel strip through in about 6 hours. Stainless holds up much better. Being an Engineer, I saved stainess rods and tubes that were being thrown away. Have a 5 gallon plastic bucket, a plastic under the bed tray, and a cheap plastic kiddy wading pool for tanks. I use lye as a conductor, as it helps eat the paint. The teener parts can spend a lot more time in the tank due to the zinc based paint they used.

The darned druggies caused aban on lye, but some soap sites still sell it. Theoretically, baking soda will work as a conductor. Finally found a box of "washing powder" and will try it next.

Ken

You know when you run a current through stainless it off gases chromium. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) That's one toxic kiddy pool you've got. Baking soda works great as a conductor and its extremely cheap. That's what I use. I've been using rebar welded into a grid for my cathode and haven't seen any significant problems losing material. The surface gets rusty but is cleanable. I also run it on a small battery charger so the amperage is low.

[mrgjones]

[/quote]
I've been using rebar welded into a grid for my cathode
[/quote]
Excuse me, anode.

[rohar]

Before, I've seen much worse:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/oh1xza.bay.livefilestore.com-9685-1305733262.1.jpg)

Grabbed some sponges from the local hardware store (tile section) and cut them into about 1/2" strips:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/oh1xza.bay.livefilestore.com-9685-1305733263.2.jpg)

Throw a strap of 2" 14 gauge steel on it (it was a scrap from the tranny mounts I'm working on) and hook it up to electricicals:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/oh1xza.bay.livefilestore.com-9685-1305733263.3.jpg)

Cover it up with a full sized sponge, wet the whole mess with washing soda mix and stick a rock on it to compress away any gaps:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/oh1xza.bay.livefilestore.com-9685-1305733263.4.jpg)

15 minutes worth of cooking:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/oh1xza.bay.livefilestore.com-9685-1305733264.5.jpg)

[rohar]

I let it cook for 2 hours last time, that pulled a pile of rust through. I cleaned the anode and fired it up again. I'll give it 1 hour then do a light wire wheel to clear the scum and see where we are.

[rohar]

Alright, I couldn't wait. I pulled everything off, dried things down and a BIG portion of what used to be rust was steel with a light black film on it. The film went away fast with a wire brush.

Overall, I'd give the process a big 2 thumbs up. Definately easier than trying to remove everything with a wheel with all those funny angles.

As a plus, now that the area's clean, I can see my long is solid! Engine shelf and firewall in that area are a bit messy, but the long is good!

[dlestep]

...I am really liking this...if you could be so kind to post a photo of the metal on the results of this, I would appreciate it...also would like to contact you, if I may for a little detail on the procedure...I have a spot on my car I'd like to try. The surface is convoluted and I would hate to have to cut and weld on it...

[rohar]

More pics to follow, putting it on for another cook. dlestep, I'll pm you my phone #

[rohar]

After cooking about 4 total hours. I have maybe 10 minutes actual work into this:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/oh1xza.bay.livefilestore.com-9685-1305745009.1.jpg)

It's pitted to all get out and I'll have to address that, but that big blackish spot in the middle isn't rust (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Katmanken]

Actuallly, if you do it long enough, the black turns to slime that can be brushed off with a wire brush. I like the copper bristle brushes as they seem just about right. You need a lot more time with that sponge or you need to fill the drain hole, fill it with solution and float the positive electrode over that hell hole on a foam block.
With the big tanks, foam floats can float the positive anode over the part. Was able to clean my 48 inch mower deck that way by moving the float. Took about a week.

When you are done, the metal is bare and gray, and you can actually see the rust pits are conical. It's those conical pits that prevent sandblasted sand from getting all the way in to the root of the rust cell.

Want toxic? Add zinc to the mix. The factory used a gray primer that contained zinc and it takes a good while to get it softened up and off the parts.

The stainless holds up under the current and I have yet to eat much off of one. The lye eats the paint at a mix ratio of 1 Tbs per gallon.

And to make it go faster, I use a high power prototype electrosurgical generator.

Per the baking soda, rust removal slowed to a trickle.

Tried the spoge thing for years but it usually boils dry pretty quickly. Even tried a fish tank pump and a stainless tube as a spray device. Pumped the conductive solution out of a bucket, and into a rubber tube with a stainless tube at the end. Clipped positive to the tube, negative to the car and sprayed at the side of a car. Solution trickled down the car and back into the bucket. Didn't seem to work at all.

Ken

[rohar]

I'm in good shape. I went with a bigger anode shaped more to the surface. I had a piece of 16 gauge sheet laying around and a sawsall. I was having so much damned fun I couldn't help myself. Shaped it to the metal with issues and drilled a bunch of holes in it. This time, I used about 5 layers of paper towels instead of a sponge. Closer contact means more reaction, but it also means you need to wet it more often. The holes helped in surface area and a path for more electrolyte to flow when things started getting dry. Had to wet it about every 4 minutes, but it was a damned site better that sitting behind an angle grinder for a few hours.

I just started watching the "charge" gauge on the charger. When it started getting close to 100% charged, it's time for another bath.

BTW, don't use a rock as an anchor. That was probably a bad idea. The bottom of the rock is all pitted and there's a bunch of green stuff in the mix now. Probably copper