Do you change the solution often, or reuse it? For suspending the rusted parts in the solution, I’m thinking I could use a pair of copper booster cable clamps. Will that work?
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Getting the ‘57 beetle back on the road in 2024
- Thread starter bosco659
- Start date
More info:
- the electrolyte is washing soda, not baking soda. Chemically similar but different stuff. I buy mine at Walmart. Its stupid cheap.
- voltage and amperage is a variable. One source is telling me 15V/5A, but 12V/2A (typical trickle charger) works fine. Too much amperage is visible when the part starts vigorously (read violently) bubbling.
- I don't believe anything other than ferrous oxide is removed from the part. No damage occurs to the parent material.
Yes, you change the solution when it gets dirty. It doesn't become less effective, though. Copper boster cable clamps will work. You do not ever use electrolysis on stainless and/or chrome parts. Releases toxic chrome stuff...
The process generates hydrogen, as you noted. Use in a well-ventilated space, ie outside!
1/3 cup washing soda for each 5 gallons of water or 1 rounded tablespoon of soda per gallon.
I suppose temp will affect the speed of the process too. I think it will be too cold to leave the bucket outside?
I don't think so. If it were a chemical reaction, I would say absolutely, chemical reactions are generally temperature-sensitive. As it is an electrolytic process, I don't think that it is temperature-sensitive (short of the electrolyte freezing!). Experts on this board may chime in with more knowledgeable info here
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The advanced technology on Beetles - proper Beetles not the current pastiche - like the cardboard tubes taking warm air from around the engine to heat the car. But my fave was the windscreen washers powered by compressed air from the spare tyre under the bonnet. Means you have to remember to inflate all five tyres.
I plan to use electrolysis to clean the rust out of the FJ1200 gas tank. This is one of the helpful videos I found. I didn't realize that is is working by line-of-site as you noted Atom4488. That would explain why one YouTube guy said it wouldn't clean on the other side of a fuel tank baffle.
Well, if I recall correctly, it sorta does, but not very effectively or completely. It's not as if the rust on the far side of the obstruction is completely unaffected by the electrolysis.
What is the danger of hydrogen embrittlement when performing electrolysis to remove rust? I won’t pretend to know, but I have enough suspicion that phosphoric acid is my go to.
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How is rust removal by electrolysis affected by parts that may have oil and grease on them? If it was a fairly smooth surface, oil removal wouldn’t be so difficult, but if the oil was saturated into the rust, thats quite a bit trickier.
I suspect it is because the grease and rust forms a barrier to the electrolysis process.
I peeled off the RHS rear drum and found it had a big axle seal failure. You would cringe if you saw how I attached my puller to the drum. More work and $. lol. Because it had so much oil on it, the drum wasn’t rusted as bad as the LHS. Will disassemble the shoes and hardware tomorrow. A wee bit each day.
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You'll need to do a least a basic de-greasing, so that you don't actually have a barrier-coat of grease / dirt. I can tell you however, that using electrolysis to clean a part that had been painted and still had paint on it did not prevent the process from working. The rust under the paint was removed and the residual paint just fell off the part.
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I’m pretty excited about trying this out. I’ll get a Home Depot bucket and I think I’ll buy some flat bar to hang around the sides.
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At least the leak stopped a lot of corrosion.
submerge in a pot full of water and dish soap, heat to a simmer for an hour, season to taste.
I believed you until the seasoning.
It works, any degreaser, the heat speeds up improves the action, seasoning optional, ;^)
