No piffling little bucket for this bloke

http://antique-engines.com/trailer-electrolysis.htm

Welder for power source? Scary

What on earth did he do with 1600 gallons of used electrolyte! Generally nasty stuff that you shouldn't be dumping just anywhere...

David

[Edited on 17/12/04 by David Jenkins]

Obviously he's never heard of 'The Tool'

quote:

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Originally posted by David Jenkins
What on earth did he do with 1600 gallons of used electrolyte! Generally nasty stuff that you shouldn't be dumping just anywhere...

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quote:

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Originally posted by MikeRJ
It's only water with a bit of washing soda dissolved in it, quite safe to put it down the drain.

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Leave it out in the sun- the evaporation will take care of the volume leaving the rust etc. to put in the bin!

quote:

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Originally posted by David Jenkins
...but surely it's not quite so safe once you've stripped all the cr*p off the steel?

DJ

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Ahhh - maybe it's the chromium I was thinking of...

DJ

I was wondering whether this idea would work if one has a large object to de-rust: instead of a bath, one would use a "semi-dry" method whereby the object is wrapped (swaddled) in a cloth soaked with the electrolyte, and the second electrodes placed on the outside of the resulting metal mummy! Obviously, it would take longer because the resistance of the electrolyte is higher, and gas diffusion (and heat conduction) is lower. However, if this is feasible, then it would be possible to extend it to treating INSIDE surfaces of tubes etc. In fact maybe one could do the whole thing in situ:
1. spary melted gealtin containing the electrolyte.
2. Once solid, spray a second layer of gelatin containing electrolyte and iron filings.
3. Connect electrodes.
4. next day spray with hot water and drive off in a prestine, rust free car!
5. the gelatin could be recycled, or fed to pigs. What porker would refuse a mix of protein and iron, with a smidgen of salt?

Leg pulling aside, there is actually a method of electrophoretic transfer named "semi dry", which is commonly used in molecular biology research labs. The main limitation to the speed of this method is the rate of heat dissipation because in this application you normally are transfering proteins or nucleic acids and you don't want them to cook, but if you are transferring Fe2O3, you hardly care if it gets a wee bit warm.
Cheers
KT