Can someone explain electrolysis?

[photosnick64]

I have a few questions about cleaning coins. I have some old indians that are looking pretty bad. no key dates just plain indians. i was wondering how does electrolysis work. is it something you make on your own or is there a machine you need to buy. i would appreciate any plans if it is a make yourself kind of deal. thanks.

 

[Cherry Picker]

Here you go!

http://www.detectorplace.com/treasure/clean/

 

[photosnick64]

Here you go!

http://www.detectorplace.com/treasure/clean/

Awesome. Thanks a lot.

 

[Cyberborikua]

I have a few questions about cleaning coins. I have some old indians that are looking pretty bad. no key dates just plain indians. i was wondering how does electrolysis work. is it something you make on your own or is there a machine you need to buy. i would appreciate any plans if it is a make yourself kind of deal. thanks.

Electrolysis is easy to do, but keep an eye on some coins, especially nickels for you don't want to leave them too much time and fry them. If you have rusted relics or items, electrolysis will clean them very well too. Always begin with low voltage (6V) and low amperage (1 amp). As you gain experience you may use 12V and 1.5-2.0 amps. It works well on silver too. Good luck.

 

[crimson]

I'm about to try this on a very rusted iron relic I found yesterday.

The article in the link doesn't mention what polarity on the wires from the AC adapter should be. It only mentions a "stripe" on the wire which isn't any kind of a standard for wire marking as far as the manufacturing of AC adapters is concerned. It may be positive, it may be negative.

It's much better to use an inexpensive multimeter to determine the polarity of the two wires.

The plus or positive wire should go to the anode (the stainless steel conductor you place in the water) the negative wire connects to the alligator clip which attaches to your rusted object.

Here's a link I found. It's about cleaning old rusted tools, but the same applies to cleaning relics.

http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/Miscellaneous/Rust_Removal.htm

 

[bassgreg]

I bought mine on ebay already made up for me for around $16 shipped.Works great.......

 

[Terry Soloman]

Hope this helps

I have a few questions about cleaning coins. I have some old indians that are looking pretty bad. no key dates just plain indians. i was wondering how does electrolysis work. is it something you make on your own or is there a machine you need to buy. i would appreciate any plans if it is a make yourself kind of deal. thanks.

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=79857