- Thread starter T0rnado69
- Start date
As promised here's some pics of my set-up.
The leads from the 4 crocodile clips connect onto the s/s bolt on the right. The heavy clamp connects to that as well. The anodes are made from 3mm sheet and are linked by a length of battery cable.
Battery charger connected & ready to go.
Really need to clean out tank, quite a lot of rusty sludge in the bottom!
Need to replace anodes too, these started life as 3mm plate but are now like a sieve!
The leads from the 4 crocodile clips connect onto the s/s bolt on the right. The heavy clamp connects to that as well. The anodes are made from 3mm sheet and are linked by a length of battery cable.
Battery charger connected & ready to go.
Really need to clean out tank, quite a lot of rusty sludge in the bottom!
Need to replace anodes too, these started life as 3mm plate but are now like a sieve!
DAPPH
as dyslexik as I'm daft
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To me a cheap set of car jump leads for a fiver or so off eBay also sounds ideal as you can cut them in half and solder them up in 4 legged spiders .
One of my USA friends has said that they used plain 2 inch weld mesh cut to the shape of the container and lay a plastic kitchen drainer mat over it. As the mat is full of small drain holes the electrolyte can percolate through the holes easily .
Several have also mentioned using a fibre glass plastic bath that they have got out of a rubbish skip when homes are being refurbished as it has the added advantage of being able to be emptied easily .
One guy also uses a fine plastic kitchen sieve to take the scum off the tub .
Re battery chargers :-
You can't use the modern all singing all dancing electronic selective voltage / current pulsed chargers as they drop out as soon as the resistance of the battery is showing a dead short ( Guess how I know ?
)Re battery chargers :-
You can't use the modern all singing all dancing electronic selective voltage / current pulsed chargers as they drop out as soon as the resistance of the battery is showing a dead short ( Guess how I know ?
You can use an electronic charger, you just need to use an old battery in the circuit to fool the charger into staying on the charge cycle. Unfortunately the chargers are not suitable for continuous running on the charge cycle and they will eventually start messing about and will sometimes not want to start charging a normal battery. (Guess how I know this).
Tiggy_dorset
It looks just like a bought one!
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When I was electro-stripping several weeks back, I bought and used this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171670341948?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
This was after my battery charger went up in smoke (My own fault really), so thought to get a proper supply.
Yes its Chineseie..... It arrived with a dodgy fan but I continued to use it until a buy a new fan for it (a round tuit moment). The fan did die eventually!
When I realised I hadn't heard the fan for a while I checked the machine...damn hot! even to touch
. Let it cool and ordered a new fan for £10.
To be fair, I thought it was fried for sure, but after fitting new fan it fired up and still continues as if nothing had happened. It was great for the job, although I regret not going for a higher model for the extra juice.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171670341948?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
This was after my battery charger went up in smoke (My own fault really), so thought to get a proper supply.
Yes its Chineseie..... It arrived with a dodgy fan but I continued to use it until a buy a new fan for it (a round tuit moment). The fan did die eventually!
When I realised I hadn't heard the fan for a while I checked the machine...damn hot! even to touch
. Let it cool and ordered a new fan for £10.To be fair, I thought it was fried for sure, but after fitting new fan it fired up and still continues as if nothing had happened. It was great for the job, although I regret not going for a higher model for the extra juice.
A good power source is the power supply out of scrap pc tower units. I had one but it went bang when I tried to draw too much current out of it.
I rescued the fan from it and installed it into an old battery charger. That will now run forever without getting hot.
I rescued the fan from it and installed it into an old battery charger. That will now run forever without getting hot.
DAPPH
as dyslexik as I'm daft
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Bloody hell Tiggy , this metal work lark is supposed to be a cheap hobby for me , not a requirement for a second mortgage to pay for the charger. I'd love to have the old wall mounted battery charger that my crippled auntie had for charging her old electric bath chair ..it was over 40 yrs old when she was given one of the light blue fibre glass three wheelers with an engine and was still going strong.
It could push out ten amps all day every day apparently and a was constant voltage variable current jobby.
Tiggy_dorset
It looks just like a bought one!
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So nobody ever told you, This metalworking lark is akin to continually pouring coins into a molten-filled pot. We all dont know it, but our very first project is always to fabricate that pot
MattF
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If you can drop across any, scrap cast iron makes good anode material. Lasts longer than steel.
Wallace
Member
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When I was electro-stripping several weeks back, I bought and used this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171670341948?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
This was after my battery charger went up in smoke (My own fault really), so thought to get a proper supply.
Yes its Chineseie..... It arrived with a dodgy fan but I continued to use it until a buy a new fan for it (a round tuit moment). The fan did die eventually!
When I realised I hadn't heard the fan for a while I checked the machine...damn hot! even to touch
To be fair, I thought it was fried for sure, but after fitting new fan it fired up and still continues as if nothing had happened. It was great for the job, although I regret not going for a higher model for the extra juice.
I bought a similar Chinese 30V 10A power supply for zinc plating and rust removal justifying the cost as I could use it as a bench power supply for testing etc., I spent more time repairing and modifying the poxy thing than actually using it in the first few weeks! The transistor heat sink is just an alloy plate and was getting so hot one of the power transistors fried (amongst other problems), replacing all four transistors and adding heat sinks with compound made a big difference as it does stay much cooler now. It was a bit of a chore getting everything in the case and also added some finned heat sinking to the plate that was laying about to increase surface area with a view to extending the case and adding a decent heat sink at a later date if the unit continued to work ok. In the meantime I bought a Fusion FS-PS200ADJ 5-15v 15A power supply which is cheaper and has been very reliable so far for plating and electrolytic rust removal, seems better suited to the task compared to the PSU.
Tiggy_dorset
It looks just like a bought one!
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I agree the Fusion does look like a better machine for the particular job, and for less coins. Had I spotted it before, I may have opted for one instead of my current one.
DAPPH
as dyslexik as I'm daft
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No. It will give you 0 volts at 0 amps if you put rectified power into a welder (well, some inverters will handle a rectified input, but not like the 'wrong' voltage).
What 'might' work is to put 110v AC into a buzzbox and rectify the output, which might give you 24v ish, or it might just melt the step down unit
Remember, current is drawn not pushed (ok, if you up the voltage you'll draw more current, but still) and a buzzbox shunt only limits the current - so you could hook up a half-voltage rectified buzzbox and it'd only supply what it's asked to by the load, in this case the electrolytic reaction.
I had an 8 amp battery charger running a tub, and due to the electrode area it was only drawing about 5 amps - adding more electrodes drew more current - so using a welder as a power supply would just allow you to use far more electrodes (it'd probably please your electricity supplier too
Welder a proper Welder .... as in 35 yr old heavy 140 amp fan cooled stick welding jobby open circuit @ 240 volts is 90 volts , none of this using these Nancy negative half cycles here
T0rnado69
DIY nut !!
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hi wallace, where did you purchase that from.
im using a 12v car battery charger and little worried about just leaving it constantly on all the time.
this is the one im using.
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/attachments/battery-charger-jpg.71835/
i wonder if its better and safer to buy a proper supply..due to the quotes below.
You can use an electronic charger, you just need to use an old battery in the circuit to fool the charger into staying on the charge cycle. Unfortunately the chargers are not suitable for continuous running on the charge cycle and they will eventually start messing about and will sometimes not want to start charging a normal battery. (Guess how I know this).
