electrolytic rust removal

[Screwdriver]

Not tell anyone when you tip it down the drain.

I think it's ok to go down the drains, same as your average dishwasher/washing machine. The problem is with 1000 litres of it anywhere near your garden, lawn or fishpond!

The only real danger is if you inadvertently introduce some chrome parts into the equation. You end up with hexavalent chromium in the residue, that needs to go for specialist disposal.

S.

 

[T0rnado69]

My large vat is 3/4" ply lined with DPM, like Screw's block one. You can make it whatever shape and size you want with ply.

i have plenty of 18mm marine ply with the brown waterproof coating
could use that i suppose. silicone the joints and screw it together, proberly wouldnt need the DPM then.

IBC if you can get your hands on one would prob be perfect and last forever and a day....

funny you should mention that, i spotted one on ebay last night. fairly local.
was going to message them to find out the rough measurements..

 

[MattF]

Just make sure you don't screw into the end grain. Get some lengths of timber and screw the panels to those instead. It's likely to give with the weight of the water if you just screw into the end grain rather than into struts. Hope that makes sense, btw?

This is my large vat, btw.

Those front panels are screwed onto some 2"x2" or so uprights, and then the end panels sit between the front and rear panels, butted up against the inner face of those uprights, and are then screwed to the uprights, so that it's a flat surface internally. Same setup underneath for the bottom. I think that one is 4'x2'x2' or thereabouts, if I recall correctly.

The anodes are the two halves of the top of one of those cheap cast iron outdoor tables. It was persuaded to split with the sledgehammer.

 

[MattF]

The biggest issue is cleaning out the scum. An IBC tank would be great until you had to climb in it to refresh the tank. I *think* the electrolyte last for ages but you do have to scoop out a ton of nasty each time and you need to clean the anode.

S.

You don't need to clean them out that frequently. I think mine has only been emptied and cleaned out twice in all the time I've had it running. If you wanted to get some of the crap out of the bottom, one of those kids crab nets on a cane would make a good scoop for any chunks in the bottom of the vat. The silt is barely a problem.

 

[rtcosic]

You don't need to clean them out that frequently. I think mine has only been emptied and cleaned out twice in all the time I've had it running. If you wanted to get some of the crap out of the bottom, one of those kids crab nets on a cane would make a good scoop for any chunks in the bottom of the vat. The silt is barely a problem.

Wet and dry vacuum works too. Leave to settle for a minute or two then decant the solution back into the tank and dig the sludge out of the vacuum's container. Same method as cleaning out drain gulleys.

 

[T0rnado69]

well i got a reply back from the guy about the IBC tank..
he says 46" High x 46" Deep x 39" Wide
too deep and high really, so i think il make one from the marine ply.

 

[MattF]

It'll serve you well if you build it stoutly. I've half expected mine to give up the ghost well before now, but it seems as sturdy as the day I built it as yet, and it has some fair old weight in it just with the water alone.

 

[T0rnado69]

yer im sure it will.

been thinking about the build and might make the sides double thickness. ie 36mm
and also joint the edges like tongue and groove with waterproof glue..
instead of using silicone.

 

[MattF]

I'd go with the silicone, personally. That will flex whereas the glue won't.

 

[T0rnado69]

well i can use the glue where the joint is, to get a strong joint between the pieces.
and silicone on the inner edge where they going to meet each other.

 

[DAPPH]

now i have a few things that i was going to look at getting blasted..
then i thought they are a bit big for me to do myself with my set up.

so was going to ask on here if anyone local to me would let me blast the items for beer tokens.

then yesterday while attending to my DIY bucket of rusty water kit LOL
i thought. why not just go bigger, something that will be big enough to fit the items in.
even if one at a time.

had a browse on the bay, but couldn't find any suitable dip tanks.

need something around 3ft high x 3ft wide, not sure on width till i measure the saw base.

got two of these to do...

View attachment 73273

and the saw base..

View attachment 73275

and legs

View attachment 73276


the way screwdriver did the above is a great idea.

but sadly i just don't have the room anywhere to do it like that (right now)

so an upright tank would be better.

Perhaps you need to , " Think outside the box " .....
Dig a bloody big hole that at you can cover over in boards or slabs on a metal frame when not in use , make it big enough so it will consume all your bits when they are laid on some cut up plastic crates or quadruple folded Kevlar f 3 -5 mm welded anti insect / pond mesh . The mesh will be used as the stand off / insulator layer . Line the pond with old tack free carpet ( free cycle ?? ) then put in some 3 mtr wide buytl pond liner then the stand off layer , buy your washing soda in bulk on the Bay . When you make your stand off layer , use plastic cable ties to keep it in the four thickness blanket shape .

 

[DAPPH]

well i got a reply back from the guy about the IBC tank..
he says 46" High x 46" Deep x 39" Wide
too deep and high really, so i think il make one from the marine ply.

They cut down well with a four inch angle grinder and are even better if you make a wooden lip inside and on the outside as part of reinforcing the rim .
I used to have two IBC's , one cut down for a caustic soda cleaning tank , this was the extra deep one , cut at the top rail . The other was cut between the rails for rinses and sterilizing . The shallow part from the big tank eventually ended up being used as a kiddies down hill snow sledge with a lump of an old foam mattress glued inside for them to sit on .

 

[T0rnado69]

Perhaps you need to , " Think outside the box " .....
Dig a bloody big hole that at you can cover over in boards or slabs.

unfortunately that isn't an option for me,as i only have a front garden and the only space available is right under my downstairs Loo window right where the cables come into the house, mains, Gas and BT phone..

They cut down well with a four inch angle grinder and are even better if you make a wooden lip inside and on the outside as part of reinforcing the rim .

if i cut it down the size i could use inside the shed the container wouldn't be usable.

 

[T0rnado69]

right i have finished the tidy up in the shed today and made some space.
fair bit to go down the tip, bits of board, plasterboard and cardboard.
but needs Must !!!

room for a 48" wide x 18" deep x 36" to 42" high tank

 

[DAPPH]

A picture or three when your making it paints a thousand words .

If you cut the seats out of your car ........ that's about the size of tank you'll need , job solved .. Nae probs .
Mind a trailer with a cut down tank in it sounds viable , so long as you can avoid HASAW folk , the council & the police

 

[Maker]

What do you think to using sodium hydroxide (Caustic soda) in place of washing soda? My understanding is you just need to dissolve any ionic compound to make a conductive electrolyte? Using NaOH would have the added advantage of itself being a good cleaning agent too.

I started to test this theory but I had lots of power supply trouble. To start with I was a 28 volt (A bit too high?) 120 watt supply which worked, but it's fault lights kept blinking so replaced it with a 11.5 volt 30-60 watt dimmable light transformer and a small full wave rectifier. The rectifier got very hot so I screwed it to a heatsink and attached said heatsink to a 12 volt fan. The fan made a droning noise and did not move. Hmm thinks I, maybe the transformer isn't putting out enough volts so I poked it with my multi meter...

66.5 volts. What's going on here?

I've got about a dozen power supplies of various powers so it's no big deal to just try more tomorrow.

It wasn't a huge failure though, the caustic soda striped some of the paint.

 

[DAPPH]

Washing soda is somewhat kinder to cats , dogs & kids if they get splashed or fall in it . Plus Id rather go for a pee or take a dump with a washing soda solution on my hands that any caustic solution no matter how diluted it is thought to be. .

 

[Maker]

Other than the safety factor though, it should work?

 

[Maker]

Part of the 'thing' with electrolysis is it's safety factor, why make it more risky for a very marginal gain?

Because I've already got 5KG of NaOH, I don't have any washing soda.

 

[Screwdriver]

Because I've already got 5KG of NaOH, I don't have any washing soda.

I use Daz.