Electrolysis question

Chipk · Feb 3, 2017

Recently found a large, very rusty axe head. Due to research and circumstances, I am convinced it dates to the 1700s. I want to clean it up.

I watched a number of YouTube videos and set up my equipment. I used a car charger and plugged it in. In all the videos I watched, bubbling began immediately. Nope. After several hours and no bubbles nor scum on the surfaceI switched the leads and let it run 24 hours. Nothing. So I switched car chargers. Still nothing. So I rewired the axe and refreshed the washing soda. Nada.

So today I completely recooked up everything. I replaced the copper wire with a galvanized bolt running through the handle opening and used washers and nuts to secure it. Put it in a deeper container and replaced the soda water. Still nothing.

Finally I attached BOTH car chargers. Trying to put as strong a signal as possible. But now I worried I may ruin the chargers or start a fire. BUT it does seem I am finally getting a reaction.

Has anybody used two or more chargers?

flyin-lowe · Feb 3, 2017

A couple of questions. Is the battery charger a "smart" charger, does it have an automatic setting so it shuts off when your battery is charged? If so that could be the problem. You need a manual charger that will put out juice all the time. Another thing is exactly how rusty is the piece you are trying to clean. I have a large set up to clean large cast iron cookware. If I have a really rusty piece I have to scrape the rust off the small spot where I connect it. If it is really rusty you won't get good current flow.

Lastly I can't really tell from the picture. How large is the "sacrificial" piece of metal you have in the tank? Electrolysis works by line of site. In my large tank I have steel wrapped all the way around the inside of the tank. If you put a cast iron skillet in a tank and only have one piece of rebar in the tank, you will have a clean stripe about the size of the rebar on your skillet. If you are using smaller pieces(such as rebar) you would need several of them all the way around the item you are cleaning.

Also my charger has a manual setting for 2 amps or 10 amps. No matter what I set it on when I am cleaning a piece, the size of the piece dictates how many amps the charger puts out. If I put a really large skillet in the charger will put out almost 20 amps, even if on the 10 amp setting. If I put a really small skillet in the charger will only put out 2 or 3 amps, even when on the 10 amp setting. The smaller pieces often times tank longer because it doesn't get as much current.

Chipk · Feb 3, 2017

flyin-lowe said:
A couple of questions. Is the battery charger a "smart" charger, does it have an automatic setting so it shuts off when your battery is charged? If so that could be the problem. You need a manual charger that will put out juice all the time. Another thing is exactly how rusty is the piece you are trying to clean. I have a large set up to clean large cast iron cookware. If I have a really rusty piece I have to scrape the rust off the small spot where I connect it. If it is really rusty you won't get good current flow.

Lastly I can't really tell from the picture. How large is the "sacrificial" piece of metal you have in the tank? Electrolysis works by line of site. In my large tank I have steel wrapped all the way around the inside of the tank. If you put a cast iron skillet in a tank and only have one piece of rebar in the tank, you will have a clean stripe about the size of the rebar on your skillet. If you are using smaller pieces(such as rebar) you would need several of them all the way around the item you are cleaning.

Also my charger has a manual setting for 2 amps or 10 amps. No matter what I set it on when I am cleaning a piece, the size of the piece dictates how many amps the charger puts out. If I put a really large skillet in the charger will put out almost 20 amps, even if on the 10 amp setting. If I put a really small skillet in the charger will only put out 2 or 3 amps, even when on the 10 amp setting. The smaller pieces often times tank longer because it doesn't get as much current.

Neither charger are "smart chargers". They are at least 20 years old.
The axe head is quite large and extremely rusted. The sacrificial pieces are a second (modern) axe head and a second piece of iron. Combined they are close to the surface area of the one I want to clean.

I tried knocking off some rust with a wire wheel on a drill but made no progress.

Here's a picture of the axe head.

Country Dirt Kid · Feb 3, 2017

Don't let it drive you crazy. The problem is that the thick layer of rust is slowing
down the flow of electrons. You have two options, leave it running and after several days the rust will flake off enough to allow the metal wire to contact clean iron. It will bubble like crazy then. Option two is to drill a small hole in the head, thread an appropriate sized metal screw into the hole and then connect your wire to the screw. That will bubble like crazy as well. You should watch aquachigger electrolysis cannon balls on you tube to see how it's done. Just remember the black electrode goes on the relic. Think black equals dirty. It will work and then you should boil it in wax

Chipk · Feb 4, 2017

Bank Fisher said:
Don't let it drive you crazy. The problem is that the thick layer of rust is slowing
down the flow of electrons. You have two options, leave it running and after several days the rust will flake off enough to allow the metal wire to contact clean iron. It will bubble like crazy then. Option two is to drill a small hole in the head, thread an appropriate sized metal screw into the hole and then connect your wire to the screw. That will bubble like crazy as well. You should watch aquachigger electrolysis cannon balls on you tube to see how it's done. Just remember the black electrode goes on the relic. Think black equals dirty. It will work and then you should boil it in wax

Many thanks for the help. You mention boiling it in wax. How do you do that?

Rudy · Feb 4, 2017

Chipk said:
Many thanks for the help. You mention boiling it in wax. How do you do that?

Carefully! The molten paraffin is quite flammable.

You might look in Youtube for videos on candle making to learn how to do it safely.

Electrolysis question

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