Recommendations for parts cleaner fluid...

[Mill Lee farm]

Quick search for electrolysis:

Electrolysis - A Superior Cleaning Process.doc

Imported files from vBulletin files system.

www.hobby-machinist.com

Electrolysis, and cast iron.

Electrolysis, and cast iron. I been trawling the net for weeks, and totally confused as to whether electrolysis will harm/damage cast iron. Has anyone tried it? if so what's your thoughts on it? Thanks

www.hobby-machinist.com

Oiless Bearings & Electrolysis.. Oops

Just curious if anyone has experience with electrolytic rust removal and oilless bearings.. The backgears in my Logan 1875 headstock are pressed onto a Quill that has oilless bearings, without considering it.. I put the quill through an electrolysis bath with the gears that needed cleaning...

www.hobby-machinist.com

But there doesn;t seem to be a difinitive how to with experience.....
Might be a worthwile effort?

couple more links:
this one reccomends a carbon rod! (never heard that. interesting)

Model A Ford Garage ~ Carbon Anode Electrolytic Rust Removal Method

www.fordgarage.com

Electrolytic Rust Removal Aka Magic

Electrolytic Rust Removal Aka Magic: This is a relatively simple, safe and cheap way to remove light or heavy rust from any ferrous object. I used this process to restore an old wood plane that I bought for $1 (it looked totally un-usable because of the rust). As opposed to grinding, h…

www.instructables.com

 

[pontiac428]

Electrolytic rust removal is, in my experience, superior to all other methods when retaining the original properties and appearance of the base metal matter. It takes slightly more effort over chemical derusting because you need to disassemble rearrange the parts to get good coverage. The sacrificial metal arrangement is critical, rebar doesn't have much surface area and quickly loads with rust, requiring constant cleaning and repositioning. Plate anodes give better coverage. It is a very safe method, produces great results, is fully scaleable, and requires only a bit of tending and supervision. It is superior in every way and safe for the home shop.

@great white is right, simple and clean, dump it in the driveway. You can get washing soda all over your hands and skin without PPE (keep your fingers out of your mouth, trace metals are in the solution).

Another benefit of electrolytic derusting is it minimizes pitting. Acid derusting removes oxide complexes from the remaining surface leaving voids. Electrolytic reverses rust, which means the material is restored rather than removed. The restored metal does not have the integrity of the original, but it remains on the part rather than dissolving into the solution, so it leaves less in the way of visible voids. If I were restoring any type of valuable antique, electro is what I would use, because it's what the museums use.

All that said, I still do 90% of my routine derusting chemically. But when it matters, electrolytic derusting is top shelf.

 

[pontiac428]

Example of electrolytic cleaning before, during, and after. Note the surface color and finish, acid would have dulled and blackened everything.

 

[Dabbler]

Another benefit of electrolytic derusting is it minimizes pitting. Acid derusting removes oxide complexes from the remaining surface leaving voids.

Exactly why my soak is in citric. It chelates the iron, and it isn't a 'strong acid' so it's erosion of steel is imperceptible even after a year in the solution. Evaporust is *supposed* to work that way, and Youtuber "Hand Tool Rescue" left some parts in Evaporust for a year, and there seemed to be discolouration and some very minor pitting, but nothing to write home about. Neither seem to reduce the complexes, but I could easily be wrong. My soaks are never more than 48 hours.

I am not an advocate for using muriatic acid or other 'strong' acids.

 

[pontiac428]

Citric is a chelating agent, but it is also a reducing agent (antioxidant if you have use for that word). Iron oxide that is reduced is "restored", and iron oxide that is chelated is "removed". The issue being that restored iron lacks structure and may work only to change iron that's already in solution due to greater active site exposure against an already weak chemical gradient. It's a good cleaner and coating prep for light work for sure.

 

[tq60]

We do electrolytic as well.

But we use LYE.

it attacks anything organic so Grease comes ff too.

To make it "better", add an ammeter.

As it orks, the electrodes collect gunk and do not work as well.

As current coes down you know to clean them.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

 

[Shotgun]

"clean them"

Just a wire brush? slosh them in the solution?

 

[pontiac428]

Wire brush the sacrificial electrode. That is the part about electro derust that is a PITA. Always need more surface area to get bubbly with the amps!

 

[Dabbler]

You see all these tips and experiences need to be collected in one place. I have created a new thread here:

Electrolysis for rust removal

Some guys use a bath with lye, some with washing soda to fill a tank for de-rusing using electrolysis. Here's a PDF to get us all started. Additional comments and tips will be greatly appreciated!

www.hobby-machinist.com

The way the tutorials section works is that you comment on the thread and the comments are edited for brevity. This is to help the reader to get all the facts with the minimum of extra stuff.

Can I please ask you guys to have a quick read of the PDF I posted there and add your experience and critique? If you have a better PDF, Video, or corrections, please post them there.

-- we really have hijacked the OP's thread, and I want to edit the thread when the Tutorial is ready.

 

[dogma]

I use simple green. try not to use some of the more harsh chemicals anymore. May take some more time but it works.

I stopped buying "regular" simple green after the USAF banned it for causing aluminum corrosion.