Making 60l Electrolysis Tank

[mm289]

Hi,

want to build a large electrolysis tank for rust removal. Using an old plastic drum and lined it with a cut up tin drum.

Question is, what sort of power supply will I need? Does it need more amperage because of the volume of water?

Cheers,

MM

 

[Mr shiney]

How does that work then?

 

[BrokenBiker]

you need 12 volt dc supply and the amperage depends on the anode size i believe. Volume of water is fairly irrelevant afaik

mrpete222 had a very informative few videos on youtube where he does both small and large parts

 

[711jrp]

 

[BrokenBiker]

How does that work then?

basically it removes the rust from the part and deposits it on the sacrificial metal used to carry the current

 

[BrokenBiker]

funilly enough...

 

[711jrp]

Great minds and all that.......

 

[Mr shiney]

Ah! Cheers guys.

 

[Barlidge]

I used an old bin and a roughed up steel frame, it was pulling approx 8 Amps. For a power supply I used an old ATX PC power supply, worked fine and had thermal/short protection built in

 

[Barlidge]

I used an old bin and a roughed up steel frame, it was pulling approx 8 Amps. For a power supply I used an old ATX PC power supply, worked fine and had thermal/short protection built in

 

[MattF]

Question is, what sort of power supply will I need? Does it need more amperage because of the volume of water?

If it can supply a couple of Amp's max, that's plenty. 500mA to 1.5A has sorted everything I've done so far, and I've done a fair few decent size pieces. Owt excessive will just lead to your anode's corroding at a rate of knots for little to no gain. Slow and steady is the order of the day with the process. Mild bubbling is what you want. If it's frothing like a rabid dog, it's just waste.

 

[BrokenBiker]

if you only have a small supply, it will just take longer on bigger parts. We did a bit of this in college and only had something lime 700ma and we did a brake drum off an orion. Took a while but came out good enough

 

[MattF]

It will make little difference, time wise. The conversion process isn't directly related to current. Excess current is more breaking the water and anode(s) down more quickly rather than speeding the process much. There's obviously some difference, but not as much as you'd expect.

 

[mm289]

Thanks for the confirmation. I've got it hooked up to a old battery charger, checked its putting out 12v but need to dig out an amp meter to check current.

Not getting any bubbles at all, so was just checking I had enough power.

Will go play with connections etc to try and figure out whats going on

Cheers,
MM

 

[MattF]

Have you added any sodium carbonate else sodium bicarbonate to the water? Make sure the piece is not shorting to the anode(s) and that all of the connections are sound. That's about all that can be causing it not to work, barring a knacked supply.

 

[rikrobson]

You really should to have a resistor to control the current. If not the electrolysis is in control and could burn the PSU out/Shorten its life. The kits you get have wire wound round cardboard and a croc clip to adjust the current.

 

[awemawson]

Don't forget that hydrogen is coming off one electrode, and oxygen off the other, and that the ratio of oxygen to hydrogen is exactly correct for an impressive explosion so don't smoke near it or make sparks by making live connections or shorting the bits together

 

[mm289]

Thanks guys, got it sorted now. Bad connection was at fault on the -ve. Now have a test piece cooking nicely so see how it comes out. Will be interesting to see how it copes with turbo housings etc when rebuilding engines....

Its is a large ventilated workshop so should be no probs with hydrogen build up thanks

Cheers,

MM