Interesting use of electrolysis

teed · February 08, 2019, 02:51:31 PM

I have made a video where I use electrolysis to clean my chain from rust and sap.
I'm so surprised by how well it works. I hope you enjoy it.
How to get a perfect chain for your sawmill - YouTube

HolmenTree · February 08, 2019, 03:06:07 PM

teed, very nice video and very well explained.

teed · February 08, 2019, 03:26:36 PM

Quote from: HolmenTree on February 08, 2019, 03:06:07 PM
teed, very nice video and very well explained.

Thanks

doc henderson · February 08, 2019, 04:06:57 PM

very cool and looks like it works well. will have to watch again and try sometime

teed · February 08, 2019, 04:48:09 PM

Quote from: doc henderson on February 08, 2019, 04:06:57 PM
very cool and looks like it works well. will have to watch again and try sometime

Yes it works better than I expected

Old Greenhorn · February 08, 2019, 05:14:03 PM

SLick! How much current is your power supply limited to? I think I will try this because it has MANY more applications than just chain. Yeah, really slick!

teed · February 08, 2019, 05:31:39 PM

Quote from: Old Greenhorn on February 08, 2019, 05:14:03 PM
SLick! How much current is your power supply limited to? I think I will try this because it has MANY more applications than just chain. Yeah, really slick!

I think it's about 4Amp but you don't need so much. Yes it's perfect to remove rust from everything. But you need to add more iron scrap for bigger things

Old Greenhorn · February 08, 2019, 05:35:37 PM

I would imagine more current shortens the time, and less current, or bigger objects increase the time. This is really neat. Thank YOu!

teed · February 08, 2019, 05:47:00 PM

Quote from: Old Greenhorn on February 08, 2019, 05:35:37 PM
I would imagine more current shortens the time, and less current, or bigger objects increase the time. This is really neat. Thank YOu!

no I don't think so, as I understand it's just going to bubble more and note speed up

Caloren · February 08, 2019, 07:54:20 PM

I've used electrolysis to resurrect rusty C clamps, clean rusty tools and old tractor parts, etc. but never thought of using it on chainsaws!
Nice video.

doc henderson · February 08, 2019, 08:41:46 PM

WD40 brand has a soak that works pretty good, but not nearly as cool

teed · February 09, 2019, 03:23:20 AM

Quote from: Caloren on February 08, 2019, 07:54:20 PM
I've used electrolysis to resurrect rusty C clamps, clean rusty tools and old tractor parts, etc. but never thought of using it on chainsaws!
Nice video.

Thanks

teed · February 09, 2019, 03:27:28 AM

Quote from: doc henderson on February 08, 2019, 08:41:46 PM
WD40 brand has a soak that works pretty good, but not nearly as cool

I have never seen it in Sweden. But your correct not as cool 😆

Air Lad · February 10, 2019, 05:32:59 AM

Don't know if I would go the trouble to clean up a chain but this is a very interesting idea for so many other applications
Thanks for sharing teed

Al_Smith · February 10, 2019, 05:58:29 AM

Citric acid does wonders also .On a web forum concerning old Caterpilars a gent in Australia gets spoiled citrus fruit from a fruit market and smashes it up in a big tub and dumps the parts in including an entire track chain .Lets them soak a few days,week maybe and it eats the rust off .
I've never done that but I have used citrus based hand cleaner to free up little parts and it does work .

joe_indi · February 12, 2019, 06:36:05 AM

This was too tempting that I just had to try it ;D

Had a 12" Picco chain to try on.
I used a mug.
Power is from a 12v 10Ah SMPS unit that I use to run my dc grinder off the mains.

teed · February 12, 2019, 07:07:49 AM

Quote from: joe_indi on February 12, 2019, 06:36:05 AM
This was too tempting that I just had to try it ;D

Had a 12" Picco chain to try on.
I used a mug.
Power is from a 12v 10Ah SMPS unit that I use to run my dc grinder off the mains.

How did it work for you?

joe_indi · February 12, 2019, 07:09:06 AM

30 minutes later :laugh:

joe_indi · February 12, 2019, 07:11:01 AM

Quote from: teed on February 12, 2019, 07:07:49 AM

How did it work for you?

Worked really well. Thank you for the tip.

HolmenTree · February 12, 2019, 08:19:10 AM

My wife's Dodge mini van came from the dealer with a electronic unit they installed to prevent body rust.
$1,000 I thought for snake oil was a bit much , but 3 years later no sign of rust .

Al_Smith · February 12, 2019, 11:35:12 AM

It's an anode type thing similar to what's used on pipe lines .However I've never seen a unit on an automobile .If you really are curious of how it works you could "Google " cathodic protection .
I could go into how and why it works but online stuff can do it better than myself .
To simplify things most erosion of metals take place because of differences of materials because of differences in the amount of valance electrons in the outer shells of the atomic structure of the metals .These in turn act some what like a battery causing galvanic reaction .The protection devices reverses this action .Simple as falling off a log ;D

shinnlinger · February 12, 2019, 09:53:48 PM

Technically, this is reverse electrolysis, and I have used it a bunch for de rusting axe heads and occasionally reversed the leads to deliberately rust certain items.

A few points. Using salt in your water can create chlorine gas, the same stuff used in WWI. I use washing soda instead, but in theory, hydrogen could build up so ventilation is still key. I understand washing soda isn't readily available everywhere but supposedly you can bake baking soda in the oven on a baking sheet to create it if you can't find it in the laundry aisle.

Good luck.

Dave

Al_Smith · February 13, 2019, 07:06:29 AM

It's an interesting subject .I've worked around plating machines and installed cathodic protection on industrial applications both active and passive types .In passive a "sacrificing "electrode is used ,usual made of zinc .This dissolves as it protects the metal .On ships it's just solid zinc cast around a steel bar which is welded to the hulls .
In some applications a low voltage DC current is connected between ground and the metal to be protected thus reversing the action of electrolysis .The idea is to get a neutral electron flow .Over current could actually cause the metal to be protected to be plated which you don't want .Too little would cause it to erode or sacrifice itself .