Electolysis. What not to do....check out the fork.

[Blind.In.Texas]

This fork is stainless steel. I left it in the tank over night. 15VDC@550mA. The whole fork is identical to the leftover fork below it. Let this be proof that metal can be destroyed by electrolysis. The following pictures are the result. The dome object is the one undergoing cleaning. I believe it to be made of brass. So far the brass is unharmed. This is mostly in part because of the corrosion on the object is, I believe, the path of least resistance. The corrosion can be easily scrubbed away this way. However, metal is subject to corrosion as well and this can eat your coppers. There are various other methods including using distilled water and baking soda. This will be less corrosive than the salt water approach. The damaging solution was 7 cups water andtwo teaspoons of iodized salt.

Copper coins, tokens, clad, and other copper items, especially disk shaped ones, will begin bubbling at the circumferance. Bwar in mind that the amount of catalyst added to your solution will determine just how much, if any, surface area is lost to the process. Get some copper pennies and experiment with different mixtures of saltwater. Also remember that the idea is to just pass current through the object causing a loosening of the crud.

I have heard it said to back the voltage off just until the bubbling stops. A potentiometer would be a good investment and they can be removed and re-used from old radios with a volume knob.

GL

 

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[Don in SJ]

My brief experience in electrolysis has been that if the alligator clip attached to the steel object,whether a stainless steel spoon or the saw blade I used is that IF the clip is submerged in the solution the result you got is the result I got also. But once I kept that clip dry, the heavy eating away of the steel object slowed down considerbly.

Only the object being cleaned, shall the alligator clip be submerged, and then things work great....

Just my experince from just doing those trivets and two irons.

Don

 

[Blind.In.Texas]

My brief experience in electrolysis has been that if the alligator clip attached to the steel object,whether a stainless steel spoon or the saw blade I used is that IF the clip is submerged in the solution the result you got is the result I got also. But once I kept that clip dry, the heavy eating away of the steel object slowed down considerbly.

Only the object being cleaned, shall the alligator clip be submerged, and then things work great....

Just my experince from just doing those trivets and two irons.

Don

Absolutely. The problem I come across, with this process in general, is that something metal WILL corroded completely if left long enough. I would not normally leave something unattended that long. Submerging the clip, with the target item, as you suggested is certainly the way to. The wire attached to the fork is high up so that I am not constantly stripping back the jacket for fresh wire.

 

[Blind.In.Texas]

I used floaters arrangement with a plastic coffee can w/stainless steel bolts.
Worked great and appeared that it could be left overnight without hurting
anything. But I used a phone charger with an output of 3.7 volts and 350ma
rating. Looks like 15 volt 550ma is to much.

Well, it's not too much for this particular object. It was, however, too much for the fork!! Your use of a stainless bolt is much better than a fork. I had a large stainless bolt myself. I just don't know where it went. Guess I'll be getting another one.

 

[mountainplayer]

WRFP,

I think that most damage is due to excessive current capacity of the transformer used. 550mA is pretty high; enough to kill you if you are the conduit to complete the circuit. I've had really good luck with electrolysis, mainly because I started out with a really low current power supply...it forced me to be patient.

For anything less than a pound or so in weight, try to stay below 300mA. For smaller stuff, like large square nails, 100mA is probably enough. Watch what happens when you power up; if it takes a few seconds before you see a SMALL amount of bubbling, you're in the ballpark. The key, at least as far as I've found, is to go SLOWWW.

MP

 

[stevemc]

just posted about small power supplies. Also never use salt. Use sodium carbonate. Salt of course is very corrosive-more so with electricity. See my post about electrolysis.

 

[pcolaboy]

LOL...I've got a collection of those laying around

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

I tried it recently and used lime juice along with salt...It worked great on Indian Heads. It got the caked on concrete-like dirt off. Keep a close eye. The lime juice will eat away at the coin if left unattended.