VERY aggressive rust removal easypeasy!

[Benji]

The citric acid works really well. Got 25 kilos off fleabay for £20 and made up a bath out of a few bits of timber screwed together and lined with heavy duty polythene. Chucked in a couple of old gates to see what would happen. They came out clean as a whistle after about a week. (I got sidetracked and anyway the weather turned to sh--). have now thrown in the ironwork off my cart and will try to post piccys of before and after the bath.
The gates came out so well that they are now freshly painted and re-hung so no pics of them.
Aha, managed to create an album, its my first

 

[HarryD]

If you are in no hurry, Molasses is a very effective rust remover. 10 to 1 with water and let her soak for a few weeks.

 

[Omniata]

If you are in no hurry, Molasses is a very effective rust remover. 10 to 1 with water and let her soak for a few weeks.

Treacle???

 

[Chickenjohn]

The citric acid works really well. Got 25 kilos off fleabay for £20 and made up a bath out of a few bits of timber screwed together and lined with heavy duty polythene. Chucked in a couple of old gates to see what would happen. They came out clean as a whistle after about a week. (I got sidetracked and anyway the weather turned to sh--). have now thrown in the ironwork off my cart and will try to post piccys of before and after the bath.
The gates came out so well that they are now freshly painted and re-hung so no pics of them.
Aha, managed to create an album, its my first

Great to hear someone benefitted from my tip! Citric acid works faster if the solution is hot. For speed de-rusting of small items immerse in a solution of citric and microwave for 10mins. (use tip at own risk etc!!)

 

[G Jones]

Got 25 kilos off fleabay for £20 and made up a bath out of a few bits of timber screwed together and lined with heavy duty polythene.

Hi - I wonder if you can remember where you got it at that price ?
Many Thanks...

 

[davenport]

as another option for removing the dreaded tin worm:

http://www.cookhaus.co.uk/vinegar/index.htm

 

[Benji]

Hi GJones, I got the acid from Andy.lunn@tesco.net . I dont know if he has any left but at the time he was advertising that more was available. Give him a shout at the above address and see. Good luck, Benji

 

[GeorgeB]

But using citric acid or similiar (I'd heard that there are other chemicals such as the acidd used for swimming pools) seems much safer then messing about with water, power supplies connected to the mains and a proccess that builds up qualities of poisionous/flammable gasses.

I must try citric acid but I'd be worried that it dissolves some of the underlying steel as well. I'm fairly certain that electrolysis attacks only the rust. It converts the orange iron oxide (rust) to a black form of iron oxide, with a different chemical formula. Whereas it's a devil of a job to remove the orange oxide; the black oxide falls away after a bit of rubbing with a wire brush or something. It may not be entirely effort free but it's cheaper than buying acid, perfectly safe and works an absolute treat.

 

[Omniata]

You'll need a small amount of acid in there to "drive" the reaction. Can't nemember but there is a right and wrong way round to connect the metal to the power supply...
A very small amount of sulphuric in the water is usually helpful, can be bought over the counter as battery acid...

Oxalic acid is excellent for rust removal and doesn't require a power supply, just use it with a wire brush in a bucket, works a treat...

Be very careful though to rinse the metal thoroughly with clean water, then dilute caustic, then clean water again to remove any trace of acid. Use a clean wire brush with the caustic to thouroughly work it in, then do the same with the clean water...

If you leave any acid behind be it oxalic or citric it will cause a nightmare with rust, almost propagating it. Oxalic and citric can cause rust to spread under paintwork too!!!

Don't be worried about citric or oxalic removing the metal, they're not really agressive enough to attack the raw metal sufficiently to damage it to a noticable extent unless you don't clean it properly afterwards...
Sulphuric on the other hand will, hence a very small amount of dilute just to kick the electrolysis off...

 

[darren.a.roberts]

Hi,

Converted an old plastic dustbin, added six vertical strips of metal and bolted them into the sides and wired them externally (aka like the aircraft pilot in Canada did). Rigged up a frame wo hang the parts from. Tried first with washing soda - didn't have much joy. We decommisioned a water softener at home so I used 12kg of salt I had left over and boy did it bubble.

I haven't loloked back yet so guys thanks for the tips. I';ve been using it to clean range rover suspension parts covered in crud.

I do have one question - is it ok to put precision parts in such as wheel hubs? MY bearings are shot so I will be replacing them - should I leave the old bearings in place while I clean them to protect the mating surface between bearing or hub, or is it safe to remove them first? Obviously I don't want to destroy my hubs !

Again thanks for the tips.

 

[Unclefista]

Bearing surfaces are fine, only rust is affected

I did a pair of Cortina hubs for my car, thousands of miles later the bearings are still good (I re-used the bearings, just removed em for electrolosis).

 

[darren.a.roberts]

UncleFista,

Thanks for the prompt response. No prizes for guessing what's going in next - a pair of hubs and a couple of knuckles for a Range Rover axle.

cheers

Darren

 

[deltabravo]

To all those who noted the mistake imperial verses metric, it makes no real difference other than cost and speed of rust removal. I have stated that it is a very aggressive remover of rusty or good metal as opposed to soda. If you want to try it out without any hassle first. Put a tablespoon full of salt in a cup full of water, get a piece of steel offcut or a washer that has had a dab of paint on it that has dried, use crocodile clips to hold the anode and cathode ( connected as described in original post). Use a car battery, for convenience, as a power supply, after 5 to 10 mins the results should show you how effective it is in removing metal, easily, rapidly, & cheaply, exactly as described in my posting. You can make your own metal badges and labels etc using this method and commonsense. kind regards, Bob.

 

[madkayaker]

have spent the last couple of days with landy brake hubs bubbling away and its worked a treat! but the tub i was doing it in looks like very hazardous waste and it took my boss some convincing that it was only rusty salt water!

 

[the snooper]

have spent the last couple of days with landy brake hubs bubbling away and its worked a treat! but the tub i was doing it in looks like very hazardous waste and it took my boss some convincing that it was only rusty salt water!

is your boss very bright what else could it be

 

[madkayaker]

he realised the error of his ways when i told him. it was the fact is was frothy he hadn't realised what was in the water to start with

 

[Ian D]

Soda here to.