Rust Removal by Electrolysis

[Riveted1]

So I had seen the Trucks where they used electrolysis to remove rust from an exhaust manifold, and I had been thinking about trying this little experiment out. I had a day off today, and since I was sick w/food poisoning the last 4 days (Thanks Del Taco!) and it's 107 degrees, I didn't feel like working on my truck. Perfect day for experimentation!

I looked up how to do this on the web. The Trucks! guys made it look really easy, but all the sites I looked at said to do it a different way. I did it the way they suggested, but now I don't see why it wouldn't work just as well the Trucks! way.

Went to Home Depot and picked up most of the parts. Cost me more than it should have, but for the sake of time I didn't want to go looking for pieces I probably have stashed around my house.

Here's what I got: A plastic tote, 5 pieces of Rebar, spool of wire, 2' of small chain, some "S" hooks and a spring link.

I went to the local pool supply and picked up some Soda Ash, aka sodium carbonate. This is the same thing as the A&H Super Soda they used on Trucks! but cheaper and easier to find.

I also had some plastic wire ties at home that I used, along with a drill, an angle grinder, wire strippers and my trusty DieHard battery charger.

First thing I did was put the tote outside. Lots of ventilation. Then I ground down the ends and the middle of the rebar bars to bare metal to get a good surface to conduct current. Multiple bars are being used b/c the process is basically "line of sight" and portions of a part closer to a bar will de-rust quicker. So I spread em out into each corner. Using my drill and a 1/8" bit, I drilled two holes toward the top of each corner of the tote. After slipping each bar into a corner, I used a small plastic tie to secure the bar to the tote. The 5th bar is going to be used to suspend my part from, so it was lightly tied across the top of the tote. (cont.)