By far the best electrolysis video on KZread. Keep up the great work.

Your English is getting much clearer. Thanks for another great experiment.

Thanks for another great video ! An old guy once told me he used WHEY to loosen rusted manifold bolts on a marine engine. He said you could then turn the bolts out with your fingers. He chose to use whey because they used to feed their pigs on whey from the local cheese factory, and the iron feeding pots never got rusty. I've had good results using whey on rusty tools, bolts steel wire and chain. Sometimes I left the rusty item immersed for a week or more. Can be a bit stinky in the hot sun, but put a lid on the plastic pail. When done, wash the item off with soapy water, dry it, then apply a coating to prevent rusting again. As a quick fix, I threw several lengths of chain in pails of used engine oil over the winter. I may wipe off most oil, leaving enough so I can store chain in damp conditions. Or I may clean up and spray cold galvanize or some other pail coating. Whey is cost effective for big jobs if, as I did, you get pails of whey for free from a cheese factory. [ RIP Uncle Billy ]

Fantastic. Really fun seeing the change in amps with decreasing the resistance.

Great Video, very instructive, lets have more German technical videos, with their no thrills and no nonsense commentaries. Just great to listen to and my days at technical school were no wasted, I understood the jargon. Great Video, en venlig hilsen fra manden who lives north of the border from you. Yes a welding transformer, why not, plenty of current. Just great man !!

Hi TPAI, As a subscriber I'd like to say you have a cool channel. Great explanations and visuals, demonstrations. The Lathe restoration is going good, as a Machinist, it is my favorite machine tool, I think your going to like having one. Take care, C.

Awesome. I've seen this and just used vinegar because it looked bothersome and about the same results but you made it look much easier.

I have seen many videos about removing rust in this way. I must say that I believe your video here is the best one I've seen so far. Great job on the video and thanks for posting it.

You always produce such great and high quality videos with very clear explanations. Plus, for someone whose first language is not English your English is impeccable.

Thanks very much for the video. I've just checked out several other videos and was wondering about lots more amps and a stronger solution. You've answered all my questions, great stuff.

Would it be possible to make a video on electroplating metal parts?

Brilliant. At last a proper vid showing how it should be done.

Thank you so much for the super valuable math and thanks for repeating the formulas. Once i hear it I'm alerted, the next time or time after it sinks in. A1!

Saw one channel use oxiclean for electrolyte. Turned out really well.

I have a similar 250A inverter at home. Can i use it in the same way that you used yours? And i should turn the current button to minimum? Thank you for your answer.

Great video! Also, it's important to consider the type of plastic that the container for the gasoline is made from, as it will eat certain plastics.

Thanks for update. I have acquired an old post drill press, Buffalo 66 model (hand powered) and it is cast iron and in some places deeply rusted. I plan to completely restore it to better than new condition (will bush the spindle) so I can use it if needed in event of long time loss of electrical grid power. I am not sure what rust removal method I will use, but will be chosen based on your videos on the matter.

Very interesting stuff!

Great video looking forward to part 2

I've found Oxalic acid to work well in the past. It would be nice to see how it compares

Can we look at Chrome Plating and the precautions we need to take, a relative was a Crome Plater and died from stomach cancer years ago probably before we knew Chrome was highly carcinogenic. Or is Nickel a better result/finish? Excellent video, very instructive, thanks so much.🙂

If you wanted PAI you could measure the current with the V drop over the a segment of thick wire or even one of the welder cables, and tune it with the power resister used at the lower currents. Might not be the most accurate but should give you a good ballpark at the higher currents. Love your videos, keep them coming.

Your massive angle grinder is the most amazing thing ever

@und4287

3 жыл бұрын

It's probably from the 1970s.

@Record3677

3 жыл бұрын

UsernameNotDefined holy old comment! Thanks for the reply

Impressive ! I knew when the 00 cables came out sparks were going to fly. COoL to see what HI-POWER does to the process. Few years late.... but THANK YOU

i'm going to try this as soon as i can . thanks.

you're a madman @60Amps ! yeeha Thanks for the good video Keep on trucking ! (from France)

You're very brave to work so close to your overall with that wire brush. A man was seriously seriously injured when the brush just touched his coverall and pulled the machine in and he lost control. The grinder caused major damage almost beating him to death. All it takes is just a touch to your clothes. Be careful. Thanks for a great video.

Quality stuff man, thanks.

Very Informative. Thank you!

The experiments shared for cleaning rust are very good and detailed, friends

Very nice , Thx , please tell me voltage and Amper =?

Hi, I wonder whether a higher saturation of salt would make things work even faster?

Nicely done. Thank you for sharing )

can you post a picture of the sacrificial anode? want to see what shape it is in

Did you get a lot of slug in the plastic container at the end. which is the best way to get rid of it as well.

I knew you were going to be a wild man when it came to electrolytic rust removal. You did not disappoint either. You were cooking the goods! Be aware that the process causes hydrogen embrittlement of the pieces you clean. You can relieve that by putting them in an oven for a while, or it just dissipates over time. Also the cleaning action is mostly line of sight. So with your one anode setup you should rotate your work piece for maximum effect.

@BiddieTube

8 жыл бұрын

+Paul Frederick For those interested, I think for most part, any metal, the oven temp would be 150c (300f) for 30 minutes, (15mm thickness) , 1 hour (25mm thickness) etc.

@1pcfred

8 жыл бұрын

BiddieTube that is right. I figured just mentioning the term folks interested could get the facts on the intertubes.

@ashscott6068

8 жыл бұрын

+BiddieTube But if the metal was tempered below 150c as a lot of blade steels are, you are further tempering and softening it. Of course...if it's a blade, it shouldn't be allowed to get rusty in the first place, but I'm sure other things are tempered below 150

@Britzzio

8 жыл бұрын

+Paul Frederick I was thinking the same about H-Embritllement! With 8 hours of that treatment it's surely happened :) An interesting experiment would be to hang some weights to the treated parts: they should break after some time from the application of the load, while resisting to the load at the beginning. Brittle fracture that is

@1pcfred

8 жыл бұрын

BritzzONE yes I do not know how much of a factor it is practically, but at least in theory the electrolytic process causes hydrogen embrittlement in work. I know I would not stress something right away after the process. Good as new! Snap.

You should also research rust blueing as used on antique firearms. It is an old-school way of metal preservation.

Hi, when you are removing the rust from the steel plate, what is the angle grinder that you are using? I use a small angle grinder but looks like you can remove rust a lot quicker as yours is larger.

Have you ever seen the use of molasses and water for rust removal I saw it in a video from Australia

I like your yellow gloves, my mom has the same ones. Good video plenty technical info thank you

@darsey47

4 жыл бұрын

Your Mom is right. Yellow gloves work better than any other one. That's why I use yellow condoms

It turned out great. Thumb up and subscription, thanks for the video!

great video... I have a couple of gokart rims, there are very rusty and some areas still have pain, question, do I have to remove the paint before I practice electrolysis? what happends if I dont remove the paint? cheers

@kaleufarias7705

4 жыл бұрын

Just put it on the electrolysis bath, paint and rust will be gone. I made this to two bicycle wheels and they are ok

I was just about to try some electrolysis experiments to remove an aluminium seatpost from a steel bicycle frame, then this video popped up on my feed, so I'm going to watch your vid first, great timing!!

@valentin.garcia

8 жыл бұрын

Wait ! Go watch rj the bike guy he do lots of vids about that

@casualjoe2

8 жыл бұрын

[screeches to a halt] great channel thanks for the recommendation!!

@casualjoe2

8 жыл бұрын

was hoping to eat just the rust using phosphoric acid and to prevent the galvanic corrosion between alu and steel, connect a voltage source across the frame and seatpost to counter the voltage generated by the 'cell'. If its not out by tomorro i'll surely be using caustic.

Very informative. Thanks.

Great video. Would baking soda not work?

Always use graphite rods as sacrificial anodes, they are superior compared to steel and don't create any mess.

I believe the pitting in the axe head resulted from the high amperage used during electrolysis. Its preferred slower lower amperage to have a more uniform rust removal. Been a while since I checked these things but proved correct when I did it.

Dieses Video kam wie gerufen. Danke! Grüße aus Norwegen.

If you are rushing the part it's ok, but too much current isn't always better. To much current can crate pits on the surface of the material. Bubbles are not conductive and more of them are there the less surface is in contact with electrolyte, and only that surface is getting etched.

@TylrVncnt

5 жыл бұрын

AgentDexter47 - keyyyy tip, thanks! First I’ve seen of it but makes sense to me Cheers

@jerkimerjames3545

4 жыл бұрын

It's good to have high flow pumps to filter and manage the ratios of chemicals and ions moving effectively to displace the iron oxide. All this has been well researched. Using established standards through any standards origination. Have immense resources with detailed process and controls to maximize your capitalization. They always have experts to contact and books or guides with excellent detail technical specification to help in any operation from small to global.

@spiritualcramp8000

4 жыл бұрын

AgentDexter47 that is true on plating electrolysis, i don't think it applies to rust removal.

@LEO-xo9cz

3 жыл бұрын

What about switching the polarities around periodically?

@LEO-xo9cz

3 жыл бұрын

@@jerkimerjames3545 I've read about switching the polarities around periodically?

Thanks for the educational video!

Many thanks for this video!

Nicely done.

Is bicarbonate avoided because it will produce lower pH and therefore be more susceptible to releasing CO2? Or what is the reason?

Thank you for the informative video

I used electrolysis on a matched pair of Poncho exhaust manifolds that were in really rough shape. They turned out AMAZING.

@LEO-xo9cz

3 жыл бұрын

Did you do them at the same time or separately? I have a similar job to do and was wondering if I could just switch the polarities at regular intervals between the two pieces.

Some additional remarks: 1.) You can work with much lower currents, but that has been done in many other videos before (check video description) 2.) You CAN use baking soda, but washing soda works better. 3.) But please don't use Sodium Chloride ("Salt") UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! You will produce "Chlorine Gas", a chemical, that was used as a chemical warfare agent in WWI by the German armed forces. You don't want that in your workshop!

@Sharpless2

6 жыл бұрын

easy, dont use a fan and never do such things indoors anyways. Do stuff like this ALWAYS! outside because: Best Ventilation, you can get a much larger distance from the object if something fails, do it on Tiles and (maybe even) sand and nothing can catch fire, the gases that are produced can get away much easier thus theres no danger in your breathing in those fumes, and again, if something fails and its to dangerous to go near it, you can stop it from a larger distance thus possibly preventing disasters from happening.

@toomaskotkas4467

6 жыл бұрын

The next time try coca-cola for the rust removal.

@TroyeWelch

5 жыл бұрын

If you heat up the baking soda, even in solution, C02 will bubble off and you will be left with the washing soda that you recommend. Might be useful as baking soda is more readily available than sodium carbonate/washing soda, at least here in the US. Also, the absolute amperage matters less than the current *density* (amperes per surface area)- professional electroplaters always refer to current density. You need to know the area of your workpiece for the current to mean much.

@gforcekaras

5 жыл бұрын

Washing soda is sold at all Walmarts under the Borax brand in the laundry supply area.

@geraldmahle4954

5 жыл бұрын

I've just got to comment on the above. I've been electrolyzing dug iron and steel CW items and other items for many years. First, the comments on sodium chloride are laughable. Salt is excellent for this process, much better than soda. There's no danger from gas that I've ever seen.Two or three points of electrical content is best. If using a single point of contact, sometimes electrolysis occurs only there. Second, salt is good because when the electrolyte is fresh you can observe if electrolysis is occurring over the whole surface of the object. Next comical aspect shown is the large, double anodes. That's overkill. Not necessary. Use a strip of steel maybe 6 inches long, stainless if available. You can also try a carbon rod, even a ferrite antenna from an old radio. Use a battery trickle charger. 3 amps is best all-around. You can decrease the amperage reaching the object by withdrawing the anode a little, increase by the reverse. Electrolysis is NOT line of sight, as I've seen on some videos. Be slow and careful if you're doing old cast iron, this process will soften the object if overdone. If the object has intrinsic or just personal value, drill a couple holes in unobtrusive areas and press-fit a couple old drill bits for your contact points. Remove after you're finished. Don't let anybody tell you salt will cause the object to rust. It absolutely won't. I have done lock plates and other parts of CW muskets, rinsed them off, and NO rust occurred EVER, without oil, even after 20-plus years. Remember, you're REMOVING the surface material, not DEPOSITING it. Of course, use a non-conducting vessel. After 2-3 days the electrolyte will be absolutely gross-looking. If you can stand it, keep on. That's when the electrolyte is most effective. Some spouses/partners will MAKE you change it out. This process is easy, cheap, and effective. No danger whatever, unless you cross the wires out of the electrode, and even then the charger should cut off the power. Have fun.

Not sure why you wouldn't use a sanding disc chucked in a drill to take off the rust, smooth the axe head - reducing the surface area to diminish future rusting, then a quick dip in Muriatic acid, rinse, dip in phosphating agent, and spritz with oil - smooth, rustless, and quick. On another note: bubbles forming at the surface should dramatically reduce current flow. Did you find an amperage drop as the bubbling proceeded? A paint stirrer (propeller-type) linked to a small motor moving the tank solution across the surface would help that. Just a thought.

What is that massive Winkelschleifer you're using?

If you have engine block and the cylinders are Rusty and can't get forged aluminum pistons out will this process hurt the pistons or will they cause different chemical reaction because they are aluminum

Electrolysis as a de-rusting method seems to do the least damage to the original item though I am still unsure whether the amperage may affect this. Given the amount of gassing involved there would be little requirement for auxiliary mixing. As sodium carbonate is cheap and readily available I would prefer to use it rather than a dangerous acid that would require neutralisation before disposal. After cleanup allow a little flash rusting for some phosphoric metal prep to work on and its ready for oiling or enamel.

Just a quick question: I have seen many videos using battery chargers, and now a welding power supply..I have 2 very good quality 12 Volt power supplies for amateur radio transceivers. Would these also be suitable for electrolysis?

@johncoops6897

2 жыл бұрын

I know it's an old post by a reply anyway... You need something that is current limited. So your power supplies will just get overloaded, and are certainly not needed for this task. You can use a plug pack (wall wart) transformer of a few amps, or any other reasonably high current DC supply of over 5V or so. The current limiting is easy with a Constant Current buck (step-down) converter from Ebay. A 12V transformer and set the converter for (say) 10V and 2 Amps to start. You will only get about 2V output but the current will be limited to the 2A. From there you can dial it higher (don't overheat your converter), but note that high current is not always a good thing since it causes deep pitting in the rusty item, rather than converting the deepest rust back into good metal again. I reckon 2A for 24 hours works pretty good.

what kind of chemical reaction - by the electrolitic proc...?

Phenomenal video!

I think you should try with a stronger solution like 1/6 sodium carbonate. Did you connect the + to the big plate or to the rusty items?

@LEO-xo9cz

3 жыл бұрын

The anode was the plate not the part.

@johncoops6897

2 жыл бұрын

Old question, new reply: Stronger solution makes no difference. The limit is the amps. Really, 1% solution is more than enough salts for the process to work in 24 hours at 2A or so. Positive to the plate, negative to the part. Watch the video, both are covered in there already.

I've never heard of Sodium washing with DC electric. If my Rotors and Breaks weren't made out of stainless Steel I'd try it. But it would work with zinc wouldn't it?

More current is not better. The aim is to chemically convert the ferric oxide Fe2O3 (rust) into magnetite Fe2O4 by adding an oxygen molecule. This oxygen molecule comes from the water which is why the anode gives off hydrogen. Low current over longer time will convert more rust without pitting because the more violent reaction simply dislodges the rust in the pits. Even a 12v battery charger gives off too much current so either use a resistor to step it down to 1 Amp or use a 6v battery charger. Less is more. Great video and great channel by the way.

What is the black stuff that remained on the axe head? I'd guess it's soot, carbon deposits that is, but I'm not sure. How can you remove it? I ask that because I've removed rust from many old axes, hammers and knives but they all have these black spots. I guess it doesn't affect their usefulness but I want shiny tools for cosmestic reasons. Thanks in advance, good video.

@johncoops6897

2 жыл бұрын

After electrolysis, the black stuff is Magnetite. That's what the rust has been converted into. If you use very high amps, the magnetite won't form in the deeply pitted places, since the violent bubbling literally blasts the rust off. The problem is that you then have deeply pitted holes, rather than black stuff filling the pit holes. The only way to make it shiny is to grind, sand and polish the entire surface away until it's the same depth as the pit holes.

Got a little confused..., was the sodium carbonate used , bi-carb ...?

Thank you for preparing this video (which was very helpful). Just the editing must have required many hours of work -- and of course the work of removing the rust must have required many more hours. (By the way, I wish that I could speak German as well as you speak English.)

You can use graphite anodes just fine -- they're more inert (and thus more reusable) and no "hexavalent chromium". Electrolysis just removes rust simply by generating lots and lots hydrogen gas for use as a quick debriding agent (to mechanically dislodge the rust away). So, you'll want to run this at high currents and likewise keep the anodes very close to the cathode to maximize energy-efficiency (waste less energy just on running current through the solution!).

Great safety tips How much does 2amp at 8 hrs cost in your country? Id wire wheel it first , or sand blast then dunk

I saw a video on Gab the other day that showed light rust being removed with a laser. Amazing to me.

Can u use this method to clean rust from old iron lifting weight plates? Thnx so much...

@johncoops6897

2 жыл бұрын

Of course. You just need to make a clean spot so you have a good electrical connection. Any paint that is over rust will be removed, paint on good metal will not be touched.

Does rust and electrolysis affect the quality of the steel at all? Could you still sharpen that axe, and use it as if it was new?

@RinoaL

8 жыл бұрын

+Ace Sul ive used this method to restore a lot of stuff, and it seems to not effect the metal.

@jameslawrence8734

8 жыл бұрын

+Ace Sul all it does is reverse the electrical change caused by the natural rusting process. In other words, it should do no damage whatsoever. This is a similar process to plating something (such as with gold cyanide).

@johncoops6897

2 жыл бұрын

Electrolysis at high current (as shown here) will cause a degree of Hydrogen embrittlement. This can be reduced by cooking the item afterwards. However Electrolysis at moderate currents (1A or so) for a longer period of time (24-48 hours) will not have the same problem. At low current you may get more build up of black magnetite, since the rust is being converted rather than being blasted away by the hydrogen bubbles. The black stuff scrubs off easily with scotchbrite or steel wool, but some may remain in the deeper pitted sections.

Here you have removed rust with household chemicals. Have you tried removing paint with a mixture of caustic soda and wallpaper paste? It works on wood furniture, but on metal?

Great Stuff, I used citric acid with warm water, 125g per litre to remove the rust from parts on a old fire place.

Can anyone recommend a good oil for protecting tools that's available in the uk easily? Ballistol is rather pricy here

Great work

Nice video. I was aware of the car battery charger being used as a current source but had not seen a stick welder being used as a current source. Have you experimented with caustic soda/lye (Sodium hydroxide) as electrolyte? Also, the electrolysis method is mostly suitable for non-subtractive rust removal, i.e. when desiring to leave as much of the original material in its place I.e. recover as much of the original iron from the iron oxides as is possible. Have you tried doing this without scrubbing the rusty item before or after to see if the surface imperfections of the rusty item are somewhat improved? The reason I am asking this is that a lot of people report that when the current is increased, and thus the rate of the reaction is increased, the gas pressure generated at the cathode causes whole chunks of rust to separate from the corroded steel body thus losing a lot of the original material in the process. Have you, by any chance, experimented with very low currents that are applied for long intervals to see if that results in reversing the damage caused by deep corrosion? I'm not sure if I'm making it absolutely clear what I mean here.

@AlJay0032

2 жыл бұрын

Makes sense to me and is also a question I have asked myself. At higher voltages hydrogen is produced and will weaken the iron and might cause failures in tools.

@Stelios.Posantzis

2 жыл бұрын

@@AlJay0032 Since I posted the original comment I've been informed that what I mentioned in it about electrolysis not being a subtractive method but rather a method that restores the iron from the iron oxide is simply not true: iron oxide cannot be converted back to pure iron by this method. Since I've been informed of that, I have come across many videos on iron oxide batteries which, if I understood correctly, work by oxidising and reforming iron back and forth. I am not not sure about how the process works although I'm fairly sure that most of the original rusted iron is not recovered. I guess one could design an experiment to test this at all current and voltage levels desired and figure it out by practical means.

@AlJay0032

2 жыл бұрын

@@Stelios.Posantzis If rust is not converted back it would seem to me that it is more sensible to use acetic acid with or without salt or citric acid instead. I would probably take concentrated vinegar acid and assume that the iron acetate formed can be dissolved in water which allows the next layer to be attacked by the acid.

@Stelios.Posantzis

2 жыл бұрын

​@@AlJay0032 I'd still prefer it for a couple of reasons, at least for heavily corroded items, but I'd like to research it some more. Some people use it as their default rust removal method. If anything, it is convenient as it saves buying, using and disposing all sorts of unknown chemicals. Of course the acetic and citric acids you mentioned are another way but I'm not sure how I would procure concentrated acetic acid. I have heard that oxalic acid works well and I have seen the results too. Of course when using the acid method one has to be quick to treat the exposed iron surface afterwards to prevent flash rust from forming. I just watched kzread.info/dash/bejne/g51h1q1qmtq1Xc4.html (Rust Removal Methods Explained on Geoffrey Croker's channel) and it compares all the above plus provides a bit of the chemistry. There is still some hope of recovering part of the rusted iron based on this but it appears minimal. Based on the analysis given, I'd like to try the citric acid method followed by electrolysis although there's no guarantee that the citric acid method leaves the iron from the rust reduction on the iron part.

@AlJay0032

2 жыл бұрын

@@Stelios.Posantzis Concentrated acetic acid is just vinegar essence. Disposal of that or citric acid should be no problem I would think.

Smashing video :-), now thats rapid rust removal :-D

@RobertSeviour1

8 жыл бұрын

+zx8401ztv Not really, 8 hours and 4 hours?

i use a piece of rebar and reg battery charger works great. i cleaned a 60 yr old manafold off a n army truck loooed real good left over night

Nice! A smart German. Thanks for the info

Very good

@ThePostApocalypticInventor

8 жыл бұрын

+mrpete222 Hey nice to see you here! I watched some of your videos on the topic as well and I linked one of them in the video description, if I remember correctly :)

Would Lye or Phosphoric Acid work? Also have you tried switching the the leads around periodically?

@johncoops6897

2 жыл бұрын

1. Lye will work but is caustic and this not as easy to work with. It has no advantage over washing soda. 2. Phosphoric Acid is a different process completely. See other videos about that. 3. Why would you want to switch the leads? The objective is to *_remove_* the rust, and preserve the underlying good metal... not to dissolve the underlying metal and add rust back to the surface instead (which is what happens to the positive terminal).

Great video sir

Will the weight of the steel will decrease removing rust?

Go big or go home! That was really impressive.

nice result, how much energy was used compared to mechanical means using power tools. and time and effort of the poor human, and material costs overall.

Well done

thanks for explanation....

is it optimal with one plate on one side. or does it leave some rust untreated on the backside of the item I want derusted?

@johncoops6897

2 жыл бұрын

It tends to work "line of sight" so the best results are with multiple Anodes. I use 4 of them (square tub, one in each corner), but large flat plates would be even better.

you said positive on the anode while putting it on the work piece and you said negative on the work piece while putting it on the anode. could you clear that up if not a problem. thank you for sharing.

@ThePostApocalypticInventor

8 жыл бұрын

+Mars Seeker No I didn't. I clearly attached the positive (+) to the anode and the negative ( - ) to the workpiece (Here being held by the screw clamp). From around 7:59 on you can see that the grey wire is connected to ( - ) and to the screw clamp, while the black cable is attached to the (+) and the anode.

Absolute overkill...

that was cool. thank you

I would like to know the total power (or voltage of the supply at 40A), and the polarity - it seems the rust gone from the plate so nice, you need to check it reversed. Thank you!

@lasombra325

4 жыл бұрын

Muy correcto

@johncoops6897

2 жыл бұрын

Answering an old question: The voltage will be about 3V or so at 40A. Polarity must ALWAYS be Negative to the item you want to keep, and Positive to the sacrificial anode. The plate has no rust because it is literally being destroyed by the process. The idea is to convert the rust on the item back to good metal, and it takes that metal from the Anode. With negative to the item, the good metal is untouched, and only the rust gets converted. Reversing the connections will literally destroy your good item, with the good metal being transferred to the Anode plate.

can you tell me a way to clean silver? i mean HEAVILY heat damaged thik silver plating from some old RF equipment

@FaisalAlmalki223

8 жыл бұрын

We used to clean silver plated swords and cutlery with tomato paste or even with a tomato cut in half, not sure how effective is that method since my grandfather used to use this method a long time ago. This method might be unprofessional and "ghetto" but its our traditional way, just wanted to share this idea since it may come in handy....

@johncoops6897

2 жыл бұрын

You can clean silver using washing soda solution about 1% and aluminium foil. It removes the tarnish electrolytically - the 2 metals must not touch, just be in the same container with the salt solution. However if the silver is heat damaged then you will have to mechanically remove the damage.

Nice! I tried this a couple of yeas ago with a car charger and could only get about 4 amps through it so it was very slow & made me wonder if I had wasted my time :) I guess I just needed more juice.

@johncoops6897

2 жыл бұрын

My 5 years later reply: 4 amps is more than enough. If you care about the item you are dipping, then the lower the better. On machined parts I keep it under 1 Amp. The reason is that high current tends to "blast" the rust off leaving pitting, whilst a lower current will convert (some of) the rust back into good metal. Consider this: 24 hours at 2 Amps is the same "amount of electrolysis" as 2 hours at 24 Amps. But the surface will be much more pitted at the high current setting.

Have you tried hydrochloric acid or even phosphoric acid? They both don't even have to be pure so it is much safer to deal with. I have bought a gallon of each at the hardware store for under $20 and it comes so diluted I can get it on my bare skin without any irritation maybe slight tingle. Yet both will remove all the heavy scale rust off buckets of hardware in less than 20 mins by just slightly sturing to agitate parts and solution. The phosphoric acid if left parts in even longer will produce a grayish color phosphate coating that no only inhibits rust from coming back as easily, but allows allows a top coat of paint or powder coat to bond even better.

@johnadona3014

2 жыл бұрын

acid garbage it actually destroys the metal

Wow you do good work,. The salt would be ok too. Most people use salt. There is not enough chlorine in the salt NaCl to make the free chlorine gas. High voltage is not necessary either. Its the current, the amps. High amps is not a requirement. It works well a lower power over a little longer time.

I like watching Mathologer, The Oftler, and the guy who makes those repeating "Legolas" bows. It dawned on me that OF COURSE Germany would have a variety of regional accents just like America does, because you all have very different accents from one another while at the same time sounding distinctly German. I love linguistics. :-)