Hey mike a. tenn.

Did you get the email on the electrolysis? I just pulled the to20 hood out of the bath and cleaned it up. remarkably, underneath all of that paint and rust, there was only one small rust-thru hole. The top side looks great - the pock marks on the underneath side looks like the "before" picture on a before and after commercial for that acne treatment(Proactive??)that Lindsay Lohann does commercials for. I hope my anti-rust treatment beautifies my tractor more than that treatment does for Lindsay.

when you said something about anti-rust treatment, are you talking about the electrolisis, or are you using some of that paint on rust inhibitor stuff? i bought a small container of it just to test it out and see how well it works and i'm kind of impressed. i painted some on a test piece and it looks pretty good, but i want to try sanding it (when the weather warms up a bit) to see what kind of painting surface i end up with. let me know if you know anything about the stuff. stay warm!

-mike

I've had problems with it being seriously dog slow but it sounds like I need a battery in paralell to the parts. I use steel long enough to stick out of the water and have not lost any copper wire. Mine always starts foarming right off the bat but within 4-8 hours just about gone and amp draw next to nothing. It beats sand blasting 'casue you throw your parts in and go do something else instead of standing there and is cheaper than buying sand.

I have a picture at home of my setup and can email you if yo want or just post, looks like everyone elses except I'm using a big plastic tub with 2 rope handles and I'm using a 50/50 mix washing soda and lye

learniing about this rust removal system and seeing your and pojo's and everyone else's pics of your projects...(as well as wanting to do ANYTHING other than paint walls and ceilings)...is really getting me fired up to do another tractor project. and since i have my little TO-20 just sitting down in the pole barn looking neglected....uh oh, i better quit thinking this way until i get this house project done.

-mike

• Another source for Electrolysis tips

I had the same experience as Jeff with copper - I used copper wire to hook up my sacrificial metal and the process ate that wire into almost within a couple of days. I now try to attach my wire to the sacrifical part outside of the water mixture to keep it from being consumed. I now use stainless steel for the metal because it seems to last forever and is easier to clean off before the next use (currently using side panels salvaged by my son from some sort of commercial kitchen appliance). Regular steel will be consumed quickly if it is thin metal.

The bad part of the process (at least in my experience) is that you trade the red dust in your nose for black dust. The process converts the rust into a much softer and inert coating, but I still have to apply the wire wheel to the parts. The difference is that the black stuff is much easier and quicker to remove than the rust coating. I use a dust mask, but I prefer to clean it up outside (upwind!) when I can. I also have found that I can speed up the process and get better results if bad rusted parts are taken out after about two days, remove the crud that has already softened, and then returned to the process for a second run. I"ve used the process on every piece of metal that came off of the to20, including back wheels, brake drums, fenders, hood, front hubs, and bolts and nuts (suspended in a basket made out of hardware cloth).

The only rust preventative that I use is a metal prep primer that has phosporic acid in it. It is supposed to help new metal hold the primer paint and also to inhibit rust on metal that has been cleaned of rust.

Since any snow will be coming thru your area first, make sure it doesn"t turn into freezing rain - I had 23 days without power several years ago due to an ice storm. Be careful!

Larry

-mike

When my son built his house a couple of years ago, he did his own contracting so we ended up doing a lot of the extra stuff like painting, trim work, staining, etc. The ONLY job I hated worse than painting ceilings was staining baseboards and door frames. I don't mind getting greasy or covered with "un-rust" as my wife calls it, but I hate painting inside or outside of the house. Maybe you need to remind your wife that even prisoners get time off for good behavior!

i painted for a living for over two years once, and learned to hate it. i'm having the outside of my house clad in vinyl next week to avoid the outside painting, but i haven't found inside vinyl yet. oh ya...she wanted all new trim in the bedroom too...more painting and staining.

-mike

I"ve been doing Electrolis for about two years now. I did a whole 2 bottom Fergy plow and a 1 row coulivator.

I have used launry soda (sodium-carbonate) for the electrolyte. However, I have found that plain old (and cheap) rock salt for ice melting works the best for the cost.

For the cathode I have used old mower blades, pipe and even copper pipe. The copper pipe quickly broke down.

Hope this helps
Jeff

right now i have two things holding me up from setting it up. the first is the cold i've mentioned, but the second is that i've been "old-man-napped" from my shop, (can't call it kidnapped at my age) and forced into a life of slavery patching, sanding and painting walls in the house by the woman that cooks my meals, under the threat of total starvation. i had to submit or die!!

-mike

Washing soda is one on them old fangle products that is on the bottom shelf because theys don't have no glitzy ads.

Washing Soda is found at most grocery stores in the laundry detergent area. It will be in with the Borax, and Flies Naptha and other basic detergents away from the "Namebrand" detergents.

That said, use the cheepest electrolyte you can get. i.e. salt. All you need is somthing that will desolve into ions and allow the electic to flow through the water. In fact if your getting snow and you township is anything like mine. Just go down to the nearest road intersection and shovel up the pile of excess road salt that piled up when the salt truck slowed down. :-)

Jeff