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Posted by David Sherman on Monday, May 05, 2008 at 03:27:29 :
In Reply to: Re: Electrolytic cleaning on a big level posted by Franz on Monday, May 05, 2008 at 02:47:19 :
I've not used that method to remove paint, though it does seem to take most of the paint off of things. It seems to me that if the paint was well-stuck, it shouldn't remove it. It is excellent for removing rust, though. I will never pickle anything again unless I want that rough finish for paint adhesion.
I'm puzzled about why that article warned against using stainless as the "dirty" electrode. It does not dissolve in the solution, so if it produces any "hexavalent chromium", it would have to be only the tiniest amount. I much prefer stainless because in my experience plain steel gets covered with non-conducting gunk that needs regular cleaning. I use a continuously-variable battery charger that will go up to 72 volts. I usually adjust it to 5 to 10 amps, unless that's producing too much heat. The main trick with this method is to position the "dirty" electrode so that it's roughly the same distance from all parts of the item to be cleaned. I have a stainless steel cylinder that fits inside a 5 gallon plastic bucket that I use for most stuff. To clean the inside of a very corroded thermostat housing, I bent a piece of 1/2" stainless tubing to fit inside the casting, and made a bracket to hold it firmly in place. It was a bit of work, but it did a great job of cleaning the rust out of the elbow.
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