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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

Electrolytic rust removal

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A useful and gentle process  - less aggressive than blasting or acid rust removal for potentially more delicate parts  - if you are not in a hurry.

I just committed a rather scabby deflector plate to the e-tank where it's bubbling away merrily. Anyone remember the 1950s TV science fiction series, "The Quatermass Experiment"  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quatermass_Experiment 

 

 

Forums

Chris G Fri, 24/11/2017

I remember Quatermass and the pit hiding behind the sofa watching it, think my dad was there as well..

Not done this yet, always used blasting, acid etc but will be giving it a go soon.

Do you use sodium carbonate in the solution? and plain old steel for the anode? I have some copper plates and was thinking of using them for the anode?

 

wristpin Fri, 24/11/2017

Yes, sodium carbonate - washing soda, from the village shop. Dropped a kilo bag into the 205 litre drum over a year ago and topped up the water a few times since.

Anodes. Old bottom blades from commercial mowers 30 -36" long and although some are nearly 1/4" thick it's amazing how they are eroded

Fuel tanks. the tank becomes the container for the electrolyte with the negative connection and the positive is suspended through the filler and insulated from the tank.

I find this a useful reference  http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/andyspatch/rust.htm

Chris G Tue, 28/11/2017

Very useful information, thank you.

That reference link is excellent, much more comprehensive / investigative than the usual utube toe dip stuff I have seen so far

wristpin Thu, 07/12/2017

Just an update to show the effectiveness of the method. This F12 Sloper tank has been on the go for just over a week and during that time the electrode has been cleaned three times and the tank flushed once - and it's still pulling out muck like this.