Electrolysis battery question

S

ShaggyPit

Been Around the Block
Hey guys,

so i have seen a lot of things being said about electrolysis and am gonna try it to clean up my tank on my 81 cb750k. it doesnt have any serioues rust or anything it is all pretty minor but would like to prevent it from becoming an actual issue.

so my question is in terms of a battery charger..i have seen a lot of sites and forums saying to use a 6 amp charger (trickle version). Unfortunately I do not have access to one of these unless I purchase one and would rather try to use something else.

I have a friend who has a 6 volt charger and was wondering if this can be substituted for the 6 amp charger without any real issues.

any info on this is appreciated!
thanks guys
 
6V is good for this process. The amps matter though. It increases the speeds. More amps means more work being done and it will also increase the "throw". The throw is the distance from the electrodes which is affected by process.
 
Sonreir said:
6V is good for this process. The amps matter though. It increases the speeds. More amps means more work being done and it will also increase the "throw". The throw is the distance from the electrodes which is affected by process.
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awesome thanks for your help!!
 
chucklump said:
So will one of those battery tenders work?
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from my knowledge a battery tender will work it will just take considerably more time (upwards to and over a week depending on severity of rust)...but this is not from experience, just research
 
hey guys

so i managed to get a hold of a motomaster battery charger (will post up pic) and decided to try the process on some small parts prior to giving it a go on the tank just to make sure it will work. after much research, I felt I had the set up correctly with the positive to some metal wire that was wrapped up to the parts to be cleaned. then the negative to separate steel in the water not touching any of the other metal in the water or hanger. set it to 12 amps and let it sit over night...this morning...hardly anything had been done...if any... so my question is am I doing this wrong and if I just hook everything up to the tank with this style of charger is it going to work?

my set up on the tank will consist of a hanger through a spray cap not touching the tank which the positive will attach to. the negative will then attach the the tail end of the tank while the tank will be filled with water and some Arm and Hammer washing soda.

any advice on this is appreciated!
 

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I have experience derusting a tank with electrolysis. I have also done it with phosphoric acid, and with a chelating agent. I believe steel tanks have some kind of factory coating in them. I don't know what it is and it probably varies. If the tank has very little rust as you say, I would opt for a chelating agent. It will attack the rust and leave everything else alone. The other two methods are going to leave bare steel. It is likely to rust again. It will flash rust it you don't protect it immediately.
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Evapo Rust is available at Advance Auto Parts, O'Reilly's, Harbor Freight, etc. Metal Rescue is available at Home Depot, Canadian Tire, etc. If you want to remove a little rust and drive on, this is the way to go. The other methods are going to lead you to a liner. I speak from experience.
 
jetmechmarty said:
I have experience derusting a tank with electrolysis. I have also done it with phosphoric acid, and with a chelating agent. I believe steel tanks have some kind of factory coating in them. I don't know what it is and it probably varies. If the tank has very little rust as you say, I would opt for a chelating agent. It will attack the rust and leave everything else alone. The other two methods are going to leave bare steel. It is likely to rust again. It will flash rust it you don't protect it immediately.

Evapo Rust is available at Advance Auto Parts, O'Reilly's, Harbor Freight, etc. Metal Rescue is available at Home Depot, Canadian Tire, etc. If you want to remove a little rust and drive on, this is the way to go. The other methods are going to lead you to a liner. I speak from experience.
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thanks for the post jet!
ya I did not want to really reseal the tank and go through that process. Luckily I have no investment into a battery and the washing soda is a gift from me to my mom now :p
I will consider giving the metal rescue a go on the tank rather than the electrolysis... just wanted to be all scientific and emulate a Bill Nye episode with a home experiment 8)

Thanks for the information!
 
Electrolysis will work better than you want it to in this situation. Metal Rescue won't touch the factory treatment. One of those two products is best choice in this situation. You probably have just a little damage from ethanol fuel.

I'm sure you have a bunch of rusty parts lying around. You can give an electrolysis bath to them!
 
ShaggyPit said:
hey guys

so i managed to get a hold of a motomaster battery charger (will post up pic) and decided to try the process on some small parts prior to giving it a go on the tank just to make sure it will work. after much research, I felt I had the set up correctly with the positive to some metal wire that was wrapped up to the parts to be cleaned. then the negative to separate steel in the water not touching any of the other metal in the water or hanger. set it to 12 amps and let it sit over night...this morning...hardly anything had been done...if any... so my question is am I doing this wrong and if I just hook everything up to the tank with this style of charger is it going to work?

my set up on the tank will consist of a hanger through a spray cap not touching the tank which the positive will attach to. the negative will then attach the the tail end of the tank while the tank will be filled with water and some Arm and Hammer washing soda.

any advice on this is appreciated!
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You can't use straight water for this. You need an electrolyte (a liquid that can carry current). Put a couple of tablespoons of washing soda (aka soda crystals aka Sodium Carbonate) into the water before giving it a go.
 
Sonreir said:
You can't use straight water for this. You need an electrolyte (a liquid that can carry current). Put a couple of tablespoons of washing soda (aka soda crystals aka Sodium Carbonate) into the water before giving it a go.
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Sorry forgot to mention that I did use Sodium Carbonate in the bucket of water.. my fault :)
 
Also sounds like you have the polarity wrong. Positive wire should go to your sacrificial anode (I use a bit of rebar because it's cheap and plentiful) and your negative wire should go to whatever you're trying to clean.
 
Sonreir said:
Also sounds like you have the polarity wrong. Positive wire should go to your sacrificial anode (I use a bit of rebar because it's cheap and plentiful) and your negative wire should go to whatever you're trying to clean.
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Exactly as I was going to say...............you had the cable affixed in reverse.
 
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