Great work! I was told copper and aluminium react in the presence of water (computer water cooling days) so using an aluminium anode seems a good idea!
I just found your video when looking to see if it's Ok to use electrolysis on aluminium. I have a gear box that has an aluminium case. The gears are rusty and the case has the white powdery corrosion. Do you think that electolysis will clean both aluminium case and steel gears well enough to enable strip down ?
It should work.. The spraygun also has some steel parts, which i did not remove for the electrolysis process..It is a slow process..You can observe the progress and stop the experiment, in case something goes not to plan.. I used citric acid as a electrolyhe...
@@LariFariRU-vid - I've just found out about something known as Hydrogen Embrittlement (H.E) which can take place in a citric acid solution. Basically, carbon steel parts can be weakened by microscopic amounts of hydrogen getting into the surface of the part. So gears, being a high stress item, maybe not such a good idea. But, apparently, it only takes place at room temperature, so I figured that doing it in a heated solution, close to boiling, should prevent H.E from happening. Plus it can be neutralised by heating the part to about 220 degrees C within 4 hrs of treatment. So I reckon a close to boiling point electrolysis bath, a quick strip down and into the oven. with the gears. That's the plan, but I will check with a couple of gearbox resto specialists first. Cheers.
You can unscrew and remove the valve immediately behind the spray nozzle. The intricate parts will stay in the gun but you'll give room to wash out the dried paint from the main chamber
Hi, Ian.. Yes..i know.. I tried to unscrew the nozzle but it is seized up.. And i dont want to ruin the thing by applying brute force.. Maybe i should try, to put the thing into solvent for 24 houres and try again.. I am carpenter by trade and learned / know everything about sprayguns.. But i never came across a design like this..No wonder...it is from the 1960s... For my daily work, i have a SATA Paintgun.. But i wanted to rescue this oldtimer from the scrapyard.. And you are right... Just because i did not know what i am doing, i wanted to avoid dissimilar electrode materials.. and also used only the bare minimum of electrolyth to get the reaction going... It was a fun experiment with some learning factor ... And Joe was fascinated by the bubbles.. xD
50 Volts / 0,5 A About 18 houres..as far as i remember.. And yes, thats how the process actually works... Material gets removed at the Cathode ( negative) and accumulates at the Anode (positive).. But in my experiment i did not notice a damage of the surface.. What i noticed though, the aluminium got a bit darker in colore. I am no expert but i am guessing, thats a kind of oxide layer.. I personally like the look of it.. But, just saying..be aware..
Id add ultrasonic cleaner with aluminum or Co2 blasting or wet blasting with baking soda its leaves no darkening of the part vs chemical oxidation of caustic solution as it's like etching solution. THINK BOUT HOW THEY HOT TANK CAR PARTS !
It's a revolutionary aluminum corrosion removal method If you use this for the corrosion cleaning of the graphics card heat shield that's been happening a lot these days, you could make a lot of money
Hi, my friend.. Electrolysis cleaning is nothing new. The method is not revolutionary.. And it works with any DC current source...Even a 12 Volt car Battery or a Battery from a cordless power tool would do the trick... I used the welder just because i have it. ;) A lesson which i learned from this experiment...Dont use to much electrolythe (acid), when using this Method to clean aluminium... Less is better...take your time and you will not end up with ugly discolorations of the workpiece. As i said, i am not a chemist. It was just an Experiment out of curiosity.. xD Greets from Germany
Hmm, hard to say.. I notized on my experiment, that the electricity was not able to remove some of the old paint on this paint gun..I brushed it off, after the electrolysis process, with no effort.. My recommendation is, to remove all the residual oil with a solvent (gasoline), first.. At least, as best as you can. Think about welding... Dirty and painted Metal is hard to weld because it makes for a bad electric contact... Same goes for electrolysis.. But give it a try.. Would be nice if you can keep me updated on the reult on your engine block. I am curious... Greets from Austria.
@@LariFariRU-vidclean but the remaining oil crust needs a little effort.. there is a change in color maybe just a little vinegar to prevent it.. greetings from INDONESIA 😊
Yes, there is a change in color.. The aluminium is darker after the process.. This is a oxide layer.. I think, there is no way around it. But the oxide layer will form anyway after a while, thats the nature of aluminium.. ;) You can see this on my befor and after picture of the spray gun... I am not sure, if vinegar is a good idea.. I used citric acide as a electrolyth.@@21_gunsjovank23
Don't use this method - I thought the parts came out of the bath dirtier that they went in - it seems other polishing methods were then used to make things look good! I tried it anyway - simply made the surface a dark grey, and increased pitting. Not for me...
Oh, that sounds not good...As you can see on the result. It worked for me..I like the dark oxide layer , which it got from the process.. I am not an expert but i think, there are some factors which influence the outcome.. The electrolythe ( i used just a tiny bit of citric acid) and what kind of aluminium it is.. I am assuming, the spraygun is a aluminium / silicium alloy.. I think, i was just lucky with my experiment, to get such a result... But, i would try it again, if there is the need... ;)
