Electrollysis help needed.

[grannyknot]

My old battery charger that I use for cleaning rust off small parts finally died on me so I went out and bought a brand new one but it won't produce a charge to start the electrolysis process.

There seems to be some "smart" circuit or detector in these new battery chargers that does not sense a battery and so won't release the charge.

Some safety issue I guess, does anyone know of a way to defeat this detector or any other way around this problem?

Thanks,

Chris

[SteveJ]

Have a battery with a disconnect wired in parallel to the charger. Start with the battery & charger and use the disconnect after the current starts flowing.

You should have posted this a week ago. I just got back from a trip up to Scarborough. I could have helped you.

[grannyknot]

Scarberia! Why would want to go there? Bleak. Thanks for the tip, I'll try it.

[SteveJ]

It wasn't by choice. It was for work, and unfortunately, it will require at least one return trip.

[grannyknot]

Steve, tried your trick, it works. Got it going with a battery in between the charger and electrolysis tank then disconnected the Pos terminal and it kept on cooking.

Thank you.

[SteveJ]

Cool. That was what I was going to try, too. It's good to know that my wild ideas work.

[EScanlon]

Chris;

Could I trouble you to do a small write-up "explanation" of what you are doing? I'm interested in knowing more as there are several buckets of parts that could possibly be made serviceable with what you're doing... but I don't know how or how long or money.... you get the drift?

Thanks in advance if you can do it.

E

[SteveJ]

Enrique,

Here is a write-up that someone posted a link to at one time. http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp

I think that's what Chris is trying. I have all the ingredients to try it myself, except for one important ingredient: time.

[grannyknot]

ES, my set up isn't as elaborate as the guy in SteveJ's link but it does work well with time. You can follow his instructions or many similar ones on youtube and such.

I do not put my working piece (the part that is rusty and needs cleaning also called the cathode I think, NEG terminal) in the centre with the POS anode sacrificial steel all around it like the link, I put POS on one side of the bucket and NEG on the other side and start it up. Most of the cleaning action takes place on the side facing the POS anode but some rust comes off on the back side as well. I pull the work piece every hour or so and scrub it down with a wire brush, give it a half turn and return it to the bucket. I use washing soda but have used baking soda in a pinch and it worked well, but washing soda has the added benefit softening up any paint that might be on the work piece.

After having cleaned many many pieces this way over the years I can say that electrolysis isn't the cheapest way to clean rust off something, but it doesn't remove any exsisting good metal.

If I were restoring an old valuable artifact I would use electrolysis exclusively, for car parts, now I remove as much rust as possible with wire wheel or 3M rust wheels or any other mechanical means before I go to electrolysis to get the hard places to reach.

First pic is the whole set up, second is a close up and third is a reminder to disconnect the battery so it doesn't boil over. That last point is a big thanks to SteveJ.

Chris

Edited September 27, 2012 by grannyknot