Is Electrolysis better than Evapo-Rust? Let's find out!

Thanks for all of the terrific video suggestions! Thanks again and best regards, Todd. Evapo-Rust: amzn.to/2Ekc51h

The sliding part of the wrench wasn't electrically connected well. The rust remained on it. In the tank, this part didn't even bubble.

You somehow look like an absolutely terrifying drill Sergeant, but also the friendliest and most wholesome neighbor ever

every time you extend the dipping time in electrolysis, you NEED to clean up the sacrificial piece of steel, otherwise the conduction is weakened by the rust accumulation.

Can I suggest that every few hours, as the rust builds up on the sacrificial steel and wire, you give it a quick scrub with a wire brush. This exposes clean steel, which will speed up the electrolysis, and you will not have to wait 72hrs

I use both processes. For small parts (nuts, bolts, etc.) that can fit in my Horrible Freight ultrasonic cleaner, I use Evapo-Rust. I first clean the part in the ultrasonic cleaner to remove any dirt, grease, etc. that might contaminate or inhibit the Evapo-Rust. I then drain the ultrasonic cleaner and fill it with Evapo-Rust. I use both heat and ultrasonic agitation. It works great for getting into fine threads, crevices, etc. in the small parts. Much better than just letting it passively soak in Evapo-Rust. For larger parts I use electrolysis. Note that it's important to only use plain steel in the electrolysis process--both for the part being derusted as well as the sacrificial part. Stainless steel, galvanized steel, and other plated steels can make a toxic soup. Plain steel only leaves iron oxide behind so it's safe to dump it in your yard or down the drain. I reuse it over and over until it's just nasty looking and then dump it. Even when it's so brown you can't see anything in it, it's still effective for electrolysis. Another great video. Thank you and happy new year.

Happy new year! The movable jaw wasn't conducting electricity well and needed an electrode of it's own.

I use electrolysis frequently and found a couple of things that help. The more anodes you have the better it works and that cleaning the anodes of build up keeps the process efficient. The build up is easily wire wheeled if they are still damp, once they dry out for a few days the build up hardens.

Hey Project Farm, just an FYI an adjustable Power Source is FAR better to use than a Battery charger. You can set it to 24V+ and closely monitor the Amperage. The time it takes to use a 14-16v for electrolysis is also MUCH longer than when using 24V. The clear Amp reading is also helpful in getting the right amount of baking soda in the water, or to see if your plates are impeding progress. If the dilution is too low you will have low current (aiming for 2A is optimal), same goes for the plate over time! Cleaning the sacrificial piece is a big big factor in the time it takes for heavier jobs!

JUST WRAP THE WORM GEAR PIECE IN THE wire and it wont take a million days

I've been experimenting with electrolytic rust removal for years, in fact that was how I first encountered the late Aussie50's channel. First, having a large surface area on the sacrificial anode speeds things up, so a flat piece of sheet steel or plate works better then pieces of re-bar. Second, face the side of the object you need to strip towards the anode, then flip the object around to do the other side, unless you have more then one anode plate connected at the same time. Third, cleaner DC works better then DC with a lot of AC ripple, which is what a car battery charger puts out, adding a capacitor across the output will help. Forth, if you have an object with multiple parts like the worm gear block on that wrench, add an extra loop of wire to those parts as well. My next experiment will be to use a higher voltage then 14-15 vdc, which is what the charger puts out with a capacitor across the output, and maybe a stronger mix of electrolyte, washing soda is what I used, about 1/2 per gallon in a plastic garbage can. I have heard of some people using lye, which will strip the pain off of things as well, but then you have to neutralize the lye or it will not hold paint. Evapo-rust has one advantage, it does not harm aluminum, which electrolytic stripping potentiality can, so it's good for things that have parts made out of different metals. I don't know what is in Evapo-rust or Metal Rescue, but I suspect that it is a chelation process similar to using molasses and water, but something more effective and faster.

In case that you going to do that again, wire all movable parts to the negative, on bigger pieces you can wire it more places, you can also use more than 1 sacrifice metal at once. Also you can clean the sacrifice metal, brushing or sanding it when it gets too much rusted. You can do electrolysis with the sacrifice metal on the negative, when you want to cover something on copper or zinc, so those will be the sacrifice, and they will attach on the main piece, but you need to change the environment using another liquid solution.

The darker appearance after electrolysis looks like you “blued” the metal, turning the red rust to a more stable iron oxide often called black rust. Proper and complete bluing of metals will prevent the damaging and corrosive red rust from taking hold. It was more popular before chroming was a thing but it still works pretty well.

I grew up in a race car shop. We used electrolysis all the time. If you want that adjustable wrench to get free from electrolysis, wrap one of your negative wires around the adjuster. The electrical flow is not jumping the rust gap between the wrench and the adjuster.

Ideally, you need to connect the wire directly to the adjustable jaw for it to work. It wasn't getting a connection from the battery charger from the beginning.

I absolutely love this guy. No long ass intro, gets to the point, no bullshit

4:58 the state of your copper brush! 😂 Great video, as always..

Some other noteworthy advantages of electrolysis: The sodium carbonate is not “used up” and can be used indefinitely as long as lost water is replaced periodically and the electrolyte solution is strained or filtered to remove the sediments that build up. There is no danger of removal of metal (apart from loose rust that flakes off); no matter how long it runs, no iron will be etched away. Under some conditions less oxygen is removed, leaving “black rust”, the same substance as gun bluing, which will slow down the formation of “orange (bad) rust, with the help of light oiling. It is easy to make a temporary “tub” for larger parts. I’ve draped plastic dropcloth over a ring of cinderblocks to create a small “tank” on the back patio. Use heavier duty dropcloth for this. I have read that the process is cleaner using graphite rod as the sacrificial anode. Since the graphite does not react to the released oxygen there is minimal debris produced. Actually it’s not “sacrificial” at all! I’ve thought of trying the graphite pencils sold at craft stores like Michael’s for a small scale setup.

Some advice for anyone wanting to try electrolysis, use a brush to remove some of the rust on the item that you're trying to clean so the wire is in better contact with the metal.

I've noticed that you had the electrolysis wire hanger leads only to the non moving part of the wrench. After first inspection, it was easy to tell you could have used another wrap of wire around the moving section AND the thumbscrew for better conduction/effectiveness JFYI Loved the video. Keep up the good work