Topic: Electrolytic Rust Removal From A Motorcycle Gas Tank.... anyone see this?

[xsmooth69x]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Electrolytic-Rust-Removal-From-A-Motorcycle-Gas-Ta/#step1

looks cool i wonder if it works?

[HondaMan]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Electrolytic-Rust-Removal-From-A-Motorcycle-Gas-Ta/#step1

looks cool i wonder if it works?

I used salt instead of baking soda: it worked fine. Maybe the baking soda is less aggressive than salt?

[Dyrden]

Ive done it.  Works like a charm.  Science instead of elbow grease!

[xsmooth69x]

if i took a huge pool of water and B powder can i just drop in carbs and petcocks and exhausts in it?

[Dyrden]

if i took a huge pool of water and B powder can i just drop in carbs and petcocks and exhausts in it?

Yes.  However it works on "line of site" so things not exposed to the sacrificial steel will still have rust.  Youll need to move things around a bit.  I used a 12v batter charger and let it sit for a day.

[xsmooth69x]

what if i use a cookie drying rack?

[Dyrden]

what if i use a cookie drying rack?

Your wife won't appreciate it. And it's such thin gauge a probably coated with somthing so I don't think it's the best solution. I used a 1 foot piece of angle iron.

[Radam]

A friend of mine used a big plastic outdoor storage tub and made a cage out of rebar around the edge of it and it worked great.

[Dyrden]

I used a plastic trashcan from homedepot on sale for like 8 dollars.

[zackblack]

I did it to my tank and it only sorta cleaned it...

[sopo400f]

I just did the molasses treatment for my tank and it worked great! Safe on paint and cheap.

[BobbyR]

This has been posted here before. If you do a search you can find a how to with pictures.

[nancy]

I used this technique on my gas tank 16 months ago with great success and used it recently to de-rust the inside of my front wheel rim, prior to re-chroming and new spokes. I used a large polystyrene fish bin full of water with about a pint jug of salt. Used a 3 foot length of steel pipe as a sacrifical anode. Put the wheel in (without tyre of course) and left it for 4-6 hours and rotated till all the wheel received equal treatment - left it for about 4 days total. Produced enough brown foam to fill an olympic pool - what a mess! Rim came out really nice. Finished with a linishing by the electroplater.
I see no reason why this would not work on a carb rack. Consider removal of everything non-metallic...seals etc.
Mark

[BeSeeingYou]

Why would you use this on carbs and petcocks?  It will not clean gas residue,varnish, grease, etc.  It is used to remove corrosion from steel.  I would be careful about putting mixtures of metal together in an electrolyte.  Your carb has aluminum, brass, maybe stainless or plated steel?  Research galvanic corrosion.

I have used this on gas tanks.

[zackblack]

On the contrary - when I did this to my tank it did clean the gas residue, varnish, grease, etc from it...

...it just didn't get it all and (not even a third of the rust) and it took a LONG time.

[tango911]

I bought a 5 gallon bucket of "metal rescue"  for $80 and cleaned 6 tanks with it.  You can re use it till it turns black.  that came out to $13 per tank to clean.   Its also safe for the environment.  I fill the tank over half way, let ti sit for 12 hours, then shake it up  and turn it over for another 12 hours.
I would like to try the electrolytic way sometime.
just another option

[Johnie]

I did the same as tango and used an environmentally safe rust remover which did a great job. Price was the same as tangos, but again I can re-use it numerous times. Came out of NY. Here is the website http://www.safestrustremover.com/ if you want to give it a try. I like that fact I don't have to worry about breathing it, won't hurt paint, won't burn hands and there is no flash rust. No need to line it either. Here is a before and after pic. Click to enlarge it...

[splitt]

Another product for rust removal is called Rustbeeters:

http://rustbeeter.com/

It's a green product made from sugar beets. It's made for removing rust from steel an cast iron. You cannot do aluminum with it though.

[BobbyR]

Here is a link on the electrolysis method. While he built his own power supply, a car charger will do the same thing.  http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f38/rust-removal-using-electrolysis-63065.html

[Radam]

I just pulled apart a tank from a 81 Kawasaki 440 and I'm thinking about using the electrolysis method or sand blasting. This is my first attempt at fixing a tank, so the tank is just a piece of crap that came off a bike that got totally submerged in a basement flood. I won't be loosing anything if I F it up.
How it started



After taking it apart at the seam with a 4" grinder

After a quick round of rubber mallet


I still have lots to do, but it's a start!
 

[gnarlycharlie4u]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Electrolytic-Rust-Removal-From-A-Motorcycle-Gas-Ta/#step1

looks cool i wonder if it works?

I used salt instead of baking soda: it worked fine. Maybe the baking soda is less aggressive than salt?

salt can make it flash rust faster.

I've used electrolysis with varying degrees of success. It usually works pretty well as long as you're doing it to things are a single piece.
Multi-piece components don't work too well.

here's a PDF of a thread from somethingawful.com on the subject of electrolysis from a couple years or so back:


Couple things to remember:
1) don't use stainless steel, the chemical reaction will result in chromium being released into your water. it is highly toxic and illegal to dump.
2) WASHING SODA (sodium carbonate, NA₂CO₃) is what you're supposed to use. not baking soda (sodium bicarbonate).
3) the closer together you put your annode and cathode the less resistance between them and the faster the process works. (DON'T LET THEM TOUCH THOUGH!)
4) Electrolysis produces Hydrogen which is highly explosive. do this in a well ventilated area and away from open flame.

also, in that thread he had the (-)negative terminal attached to the tank where it was painted. attaching it to bare metal will yield better results.

[WarwickE36]

+1 to Charlie

4) Electrolysis produces Hydrogen which is highly explosive. do this in a well ventilated area and away from open flame.

So if you're one of those MPG crazed "red green" mr. duct tape fix it types, put a top on the electrolysis bin and route a hose to the intake on your bike/car ... you can clean metal and get 150mpgs all at the same time.... and remember if the women don't find your handsome at least they'll find you handy

[gnarlycharlie4u]

+1 to Charlie

4) Electrolysis produces Hydrogen which is highly explosive. do this in a well ventilated area and away from open flame.

So if you're one of those MPG crazed "red green" mr. duct tape fix it types, put a top on the electrolysis bin and route a hose to the intake on your bike/car ... you can clean metal and get 150mpgs all at the same time.... and remember if the women don't find your handsome at least they'll find you handy

i prefer hose to a waterbottle. then toss the bottles in a fire

[Terry in Australia]

I'm currently de-rusting the tank for my K6 project, it's a beautiful dent free OEM Valley Green (?) K4 tank but sadly, inside there's more rust than steel.

I used the tank cleaner from my POR15 kit but that hardly put a dent in the huge amount of rust inside it, so I thought "nothing ventured, nothing gained", so I used an old engine mount bolt (the long one) as the anode, filled my tank with a washing soda mix, and hooked up my crappy little 2.5 amp battery charger.

Now being that most articles here and on the interweb talk about using 8+ amp chargers (in contradiction to the linked article above, surprisingly) I wasn't expecting much, so I was pleasantly surprised with the large amount of rust I witnessed hanging off the anode only a couple of hours later!

Don't get me wrong, I'm only just noticing clean metal inside the tank now (on the anode side of the "hump" mostly) after 5 days of electrolysys so I might well need a bigger charger, (actually I bought a 16 amp charger on EBay but it's one of those stupid automatic "smart" chargers and it won't work on my electrolysys rig at all, so I wasted 105 bucks, bugger it...........) but regardless, it's producing a better result than the acid did. Cheers, Terry.     

[xsmooth69x]

I'm currently de-rusting the tank for my K6 project, it's a beautiful dent free OEM Valley Green (?) K4 tank but sadly, inside there's more rust than steel.

I used the tank cleaner from my POR15 kit but that hardly put a dent in the huge amount of rust inside it, so I thought "nothing ventured, nothing gained", so I used an old engine mount bolt (the long one) as the anode, filled my tank with a washing soda mix, and hooked up my crappy little 2.5 amp battery charger.

Now being that most articles here and on the interweb talk about using 8+ amp chargers (in contradiction to the linked article above, surprisingly) I wasn't expecting much, so I was pleasantly surprised with the large amount of rust I witnessed hanging off the anode only a couple of hours later!

Don't get me wrong, I'm only just noticing clean metal inside the tank now (on the anode side of the "hump" mostly) after 5 days of electrolysys so I might well need a bigger charger, (actually I bought a 16 amp charger on EBay but it's one of those stupid automatic "smart" chargers and it won't work on my electrolysys rig at all, so I wasted 105 bucks, bugger it...........) but regardless, it's producing a better result than the acid did. Cheers, Terry. 

you should try that eco green stuff posted above^^^

and are you cleaning off or replacing the your sacrificial anode when it gets all gross?

i would love to see pics 

i cant believe this thread got so big