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[gritsop]

Hi all,

Not a long time ago my friend and university classmate Dennis (delfos33 in the board) had a clever idea regadring rust removal. With the help of chemistry he proposed a good idea to remove rust using a simple setup.

His proposal was very clever and I took the chance to implement it!

So, the idea is all based on washing soda or Sodium Carbonate, a power supply, some steel rods and a bucket of water.

In a nutshell all you need is

- Sodium carbonate (found in pharmaceutical stores)
- a plastic backet
- concrete steel bars
- power supply (a battery charger is more than enough)

Today it was the day I had the idea implemented. So off I go to the hardware store, have 12 concrete bars cut in equal length and the party begins.


Sodium carbonate


Corcrete bars are electrically connected to each other and connected to the positive crocodile clip of the charger


First traces of rust are removed


Water has turned to brown and bar to bare metal !

The item to be de-rusted should be connected to the negative crocodile clip of the charger

The plus to the process is that no metal is removed as during grinding or wire brushing. In order to have the metal ready for painting all you need is to apply 1 or 2 times a light scrub with a wire brush in order to remove traces or rust which circulate in the water during the electrolysis.

The test metal bar came from the metal straps holding the fuel tank. Upon installing the recently restored tank, I also renewed the straps. So instead of throwing the original rusted ones away I decided to give it a shot and de-rust them with the electrolysis method and then repaint them.

Regards
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[lee16v]

Clever indeed Than. Is there a scientific reason for using 12 bars or would you be able to do it with less? and what's the ratio of the liquid you used?

All i need now is a bucket big enough to put my car in

[gritsop]

Hi Lee,

Actually the core idea of the electrolysis is that the rusted item should have a line of sight to the metal rods. The more steel rods, the more cyclical line of sight the item to be de-rusted has; so more steel rods means quicker process and less blind spots of the item to be cured.


I was going for 8 bars but the hardware store cut 12 so I used them all.

The ratio is 1 generous table spoon of sodium carbonate to 4 or 5 gallons of water.

Regards
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[Admin]

Hi

Someone I know on another forum tried this:-

http://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=159995

All the best

Keith
_________________
I owe, I owe, its off to work we go.
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[BigAl]

what should the anode and electrode be made of to use for aluminium?
I have a thought of using this method to unseize the spindle on a carb, however there is brass in there, what do you think?
_________________
x2 33 16v
pictures http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5203

[gritsop]

It all depends if the item to be cleaned is electrically conductive.

As a general rule aluminium is conductive but it all depends on the finish of the item as there are coating that prohibit current flow.

In my opinion there wouldnt be success ...

Regards
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[BigAl]

Thanks Than
_________________
x2 33 16v
pictures http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5203

[Greek]

Great work Thano , i will fillow you steps and de-rust quite a lot of stuff like bolts and other stuff.

Good thing i kept the plastic bathtub from the kid, it is quite big for large stuff...