Big Electrolytic Rust Removal

Hi Guys,

I am looking into removing rust from car parts using electrolysis. I have seen this done with valve covers, clutch plates and even engine blocks.

I want to go a little bigger however, and de rust entire body panels. I plan to use a paddling pool and the usual soda/water mix for the electrolite.

Trouble is I would like to put more current into the system than my trickle charger can manage, to cope with the enormous surface area. I know somone in the States did somthing similar (I think it was a trailer chassis or somthing) and used a DC welder to do the trick.

Any thoughts on this? Could I use a MIG (Clarke 151) as the power supply?
Also, what are the major safety issues associated with this (not too keen on the big hot electric thing/400 gallons of water/hydrogen and oxygen released combination)?

Thanks a lot guys,
FL

I removed rust from much of a car wing by using a fair-sized plastic tub. The plastic container wasn't huge but I could put each corner of the panel in the water for a few days each, and therefore expose most of it to the electrolysis process, bit by bit. I only used a 12 volt car battery charger on about 5 amps. I doubt if higher power is either necessary or desirable.

I also moved the electrode around every few hours, so each part of the wing was relatively close to the electrode, for a few hours in each spot.

Heya mate,

I'm doing some smaller parts of a car engine, not sure if this would help you out but I've been using this thread to assist me.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=12686

Kind regards,
MajorPayne