Adam
Well-Known Member
Moderate rust from intricate parts, or even inaccessible areas inside parts, can be dealt with electrically. Great for parts you don’t want to sandblast. The process is similar to reverse plating; so a little science review:
Electrons flow from the negative to the positive, not positive to negative, as is commonly believed. In this process you will connect the negative wire to the project and the positive to a sacrificial piece of scrap iron, or re-bar. The flow of electrons will microscopically lift the rust off your project, through the electrolyte fluid, in line of sight, and “plate” the scrap piece with rust. You may need to rotate the project, or hang the anode inside the project without touching the sides.
You will need a container like a 5 gallon bucket; a regular 12 V battery charger (not a smart charger, it may not work if it doesn’t detect current). I used a trash can once to de-rust a door, one half at a time; took about 10-12 hours per side. You can also hang a bag of nuts & bolts in a mesh bag and do the all at once.
You will need to mix up the electrolyte; this is easy and cheap. Go to Home Depot or pool supply store and get Soda Ash (Sodium Carbonate) use 5 tablespoons in a 5 gallon bucket of water. This is not super critical, but more soda ash will not help the process.
You will need some scrap wire to hang your project and scrap piece in the bucket, without touching each other. Connect negative to the work, and positive to the scrap. Use scrap wire for the connections to avoid getting the charging wires clamps in the solution, otherwise they will look like hell later.
This process can take several hours. It will not damage the good metal, but do not use this on small springs. I derusted the rear license plate / gas cap door spring on a 70 Cuda and it looked great, but broke when I tried to install it. This was due to a phenomenon called hydrogen embrittlement. Supposedly it can be fixed by baking, but I have never tried it.
A web search of “electrolytic rust removal” will bring up several good sites with good info.
Electrons flow from the negative to the positive, not positive to negative, as is commonly believed. In this process you will connect the negative wire to the project and the positive to a sacrificial piece of scrap iron, or re-bar. The flow of electrons will microscopically lift the rust off your project, through the electrolyte fluid, in line of sight, and “plate” the scrap piece with rust. You may need to rotate the project, or hang the anode inside the project without touching the sides.
You will need a container like a 5 gallon bucket; a regular 12 V battery charger (not a smart charger, it may not work if it doesn’t detect current). I used a trash can once to de-rust a door, one half at a time; took about 10-12 hours per side. You can also hang a bag of nuts & bolts in a mesh bag and do the all at once.
You will need to mix up the electrolyte; this is easy and cheap. Go to Home Depot or pool supply store and get Soda Ash (Sodium Carbonate) use 5 tablespoons in a 5 gallon bucket of water. This is not super critical, but more soda ash will not help the process.
You will need some scrap wire to hang your project and scrap piece in the bucket, without touching each other. Connect negative to the work, and positive to the scrap. Use scrap wire for the connections to avoid getting the charging wires clamps in the solution, otherwise they will look like hell later.
This process can take several hours. It will not damage the good metal, but do not use this on small springs. I derusted the rear license plate / gas cap door spring on a 70 Cuda and it looked great, but broke when I tried to install it. This was due to a phenomenon called hydrogen embrittlement. Supposedly it can be fixed by baking, but I have never tried it.
A web search of “electrolytic rust removal” will bring up several good sites with good info.
