Heavy Metal. Rust Removal and plating

Jim

Jim

Beyond the edge is the unknown. Here be Dragons
Top Contributor
XS650.com Supporter
Messages
16,517
Reaction score
67,304
Points
813
Location
Kansas City Mo.
In our case, steel. And let's face it, these bikes are old... that's part of their charm. But with that age comes rust. Yes... the dreaded "R" word. :rolleyes: What's the best way to deal with rust? I have my methods and opinions. But then, you know what they say... the three most abundant elements in the Universe are hydrogen, opinions and stupidity. When it comes to rust removal I want "just the facts ma'am".
Well, here ya go. A well made video with quantitative results of various methods of rust removal from a gent from New Zealand. Enjoy.
Pssst.... vinegar is snake oil. ;)

 
Just watched the first video you posted in it’s entirety Jim, seems to me that to remove all rust from the inside of a tank I want to be using either Evaporust or Electrolysis?

Would it be a good idea to drop some small nuts/ball bearings into the tank and give them a good shake around prior to any treatment?
 
Bewarethemoon said:
Would it be a good idea to drop some small nuts/ball bearings into the tank and give them a good shake around prior to any treatment?
Click to expand...
Yeah, if it's crusty/scaly rust in there... whatever you can do to remove that first will help with whatever treatment you try.
 
Jim said:
Yeah, if it's crusty/scaly rust in there... whatever you can do to remove that first will help with whatever treatment you try.
Click to expand...

I’ve seen guys mention using old chain, we have heaps of old chainsaw chains at our yard, I’m sure these will do a good job?

I think I’m going to try Electrolysis, people to seem to have positive results and it doesn’t harm the steel which I think is imperative in my case.
 
whistling_smiley small.jpg

IMG_20200109_145627.jpg
 
Plugged the 9V charger in and it promptly tripped the circuit breaker on the power strip. It's dead now. I don't get it, it was only 'bout 25yrs old.... :rolleyes:
Anyway.... found a Motorola 5.0V USB charger... 1150Ma.... It works.

charger.jpg


Here's the tank. 3qts white vinegar and a heaping tablespoon of salt.

plate tank.jpg


Bubbles on the negative side is a positive development....;)

bubbles.jpg
 
Brackets have a fair amount of light pitting.

pitted.jpg


Into a 31% solution of hydrochloric acid.

acid bath.jpg


10 min. later... yes, that's not a typo, ten minutes and into a hot water bath. And here we are...

clean.jpg


done..jpg


I'm just doing this for corrosion protection, so I'll prolly just plate 'em as is without polishing first. They're small and fiddley, and this is more or less a proof of concept try anyway.
 
Was curious how my current draw compared to the video. He was getting about 150Ma. I'm pullin over 500Ma. :yikes: Perhaps I was a little overzealous with the salt? Not sure if that's a good or bad thing... bein' as how this is my first try and all... :rolleyes:

current draw.jpg


3hrs in and it's now a nice green. And we're off and runnin'.

 
So, after 30 min, I couldn't really tell if it was plating. So I went a full hour. Since I started with dull, unpolished pieces... I wound up with dull, unpolished pieces. In fact, they look identical to when I started. Just to make sure the plating took, I put 'em in a water soaked rag for about a half an hr. No surface rust or discoloration showed up so yeah... they're definitely nickel plated. They'll work for what I need... which is corrosion protection.

plated.jpg


plated2.jpg



I'm currently plating another piece that I gave a cursory shine to and then suspended it half in/out of the plating solution. We'll see what happens.
 

Similar threads

DoubleE
Chrome cleaning - Windex and aluminum foil
Replies
4
Views
4K
Paul Sutton
Paul Sutton
Back
Top