Gas Tank Electrolosis

[mikeb]

I am doing the washing soda electrolosis on my tank to remove the rust. My question is when do I know it's done. I am assuming it is done when I no longer get a build up on the electrode. It has been cooking for 5 days and has consumed 2 coat hangers and i'm on my 3rd and still getting alot of buildup on the hanger. Anyone with previous experiance please enlighten me.

[lsippell]

Watch it!

I done mine for three days and actually ate a few holes into the tank that I had to weld up!

Louis

[prometheus578]

Electrolysis is passing a current from one metal to another through a medium. In this case, water. I believe the washing soda is used to make the water more conductive. Saltwater would work too, but I can imagine wouldn't be too healthy for the metal. As the electrons flow across, they carry molecules from the surface of the conducting metal with them. In our case, we are trying to get it to carry away the surface rust from the tank.
If you recall the old "points"ignition systems, the points would become pitted. What happened is the current flowing across the points would take metal from one side, and deposit it on the other contact point. Same for spark plugs. As they wear... the sharp edges of the electrode become rounded, and don't produce as nice a spark as a crisp edge.
If you leave your tank in this process too long, I can imagine, that eventually, it would take away enough metal to eat holes in the tank. How much voltage were you using?
This is the same principal as electroplating, though usually you're using a solution of the material that you want the metal to be plated with.
Science experiment with the boys..... in vinegar, passed a current from a penny to a nickle. The nickle became all copper coated. And after about a half an hour... 1/8 of the penny had actually been eroded away and was on the nickle. (from the side closest to it)
I plan to try this next week on an old rusty tank of mine. Am trying to figure out... when done.... how to reverse the process using an anode of zinc... to galvanize the tank against rust.


"""It has been cooking for 5 days and has consumed 2 coat hangers and i'm on my 3rd and still getting alot of buildup on the hanger. """
Consumed two coat hangers? The tank should be the item losing the metal(rust), not the hanger. Do you have the current reversed?? It only flows in one direction.
( I don't profess to know everthing about this process.... I'm still toying with it.)

[lsippell]

I was only using about 14.5 volts, but that was coming from my roll around battery charger on the high setting. No idea how many amps since the guage broke!

Louis