De-rusting project

[SwallownAmazon]

Originally Posted by falcoron

washing soda which is basically salt

NO IT IS NOT!!!!!!!

Salt is sodium chloride and is highly corrosive to iron, steel, etc.

Washing soda is sodium carbonate and is quite different to sodium chloride.

The only similarity is that they are both soluble in water!!!!

[falcoron]

Originally Posted by SwallownAmazon

NO IT IS NOT!!!!!!!

Salt is sodium chloride and is highly corrosive to iron, steel, etc.

Washing soda is sodium carbonate and is quite different to sodium chloride.

The only similarity is that they are both soluble in water!!!!

Ok noted! Still better and safer than caustic

[SwallownAmazon]

Hanuman,
If you want to de-rust, tannic acid is very effective at "pacifying" the brown oxide. The ferrous oxide is converted to dark blue ferrous tannate which is to all intents inert. I have used it on my 1965 Volvo Amazon panels where rust was established and after about seven years, there has been no further appearance.
The drawback is that it would be difficult to electrolytically plate over it.

[tractor Dave]

Originally Posted by SwallownAmazon

NO IT IS NOT!!!!!!!

Salt is sodium chloride and is highly corrosive to iron, steel, etc.

Washing soda is sodium carbonate and is quite different to sodium chloride.

The only similarity is that they are both soluble in water!!!!

And sometimes add a little salt to soften the water. That's why you should never use any kind of household detergent to wash your car with as the added salt will cause corrosion.

Bilt Hamber do a brilliant rust remover soak. It's a powder you mix with water and you can use it many times over.

[SwallownAmazon]

Originally Posted by falcoron

Ok noted! Still better and safer than caustic

How on earth is it better and safer than caustic if it doesn't work?????

[falcoron]

Originally Posted by tractor Dave

And sometimes add a little salt to soften the water. That's why you should never use any kind of household detergent to wash your car with as the added salt will cause corrosion.

Bilt Hamber do a brilliant rust remover soak. It's a powder you mix with water and you can use it many times over.

Yes but we are not talking about washing a car with it,we are talking rust removal. I only suggested that electrolysis with salt or washing soda is way safer than caustic.

Washing soda, aka sodium carbonate (or soda ash), is a natural cleaner and a powerful water softener. It's very basic with a pH of 11. The Environmental Working Group gives it an “A” on their scale, so it passes with flying colours , making it safe and non-toxic.

Just a suggestion that can be taken or not.
I did lots of parts recently and the results were spectacular to say the least. Small old style battery charger and a couple of steel anodes and 24 hours later all rust gone!
Cheers

[SwallownAmazon]

Originally Posted by tractor Dave

And sometimes add a little salt to soften the water. That's why you should never use any kind of household detergent to wash your car with as the added salt will cause corrosion.

Adding salt to water doesn't soften it, all it will do is make it more corrosive to steel.

Quite correct that using washing up liquid to wash cars is to be avoided because salt is used to raise the viscosity and in the mind of the average user, the quality of the vile green stuff.

The confusion arises because you add salt to dishwashers, etc. that have an ion exchange softening unit built in. The incoming mains water passes through the softening unit which converts insoluble calcium carbonate (chalk) in the hard water to soluble sodium carbonate resulting in softened water. At some stage the ion exchange system is "re-charged" by passing saline water back through the resin ready for the next use. This water is then discharged to waste somehow. I have never investigated that far as we have a softener in our mains supply because the water is so hard in West Kent. No need to add salt to our dishwasher so absolutely safe to clean engine parts.

[falcoron]

Originally Posted by SwallownAmazon

How on earth is it better and safer than caustic if it doesn't work?????

It does work! in an electrolysis tank like I said I’ve just done loads of parts with it and it works perfectly! Why on earth do you think it won’t??

Caustic is very corrosive to skin washing soda is not, ego safer!!

[tractor Dave]

Originally Posted by SwallownAmazon

Adding salt to water doesn't soften it, all it will do is make it more corrosive to steel.

Quite correct that using washing up liquid to wash cars is to be avoided because salt is used to raise the viscosity and in the mind of the average user, the quality of the vile green stuff.

The confusion arises because you add salt to dishwashers, etc. that have an ion exchange softening unit built in. The incoming mains water passes through the softening unit which converts insoluble calcium carbonate (chalk) in the hard water to soluble sodium carbonate resulting in softened water. At some stage the ion exchange system is "re-charged" by passing saline water back through the resin ready for the next use. This water is then discharged to waste somehow. I have never investigated that far as we have a softener in our mains supply because the water is so hard in West Kent. No need to add salt to our dishwasher so absolutely safe to clean engine parts.

Interesting. I will shut up now because I didn't know that

[Hanuman]

I think we’re getting a little distracted.

I’ve used a bucket full of dissolved (citric?) acid to clean some brake parts. Average bucket, a few calipers and brackets. Job finished.

I’ve now got some longer parts, but which need a lighter cleaning, before finishing. Hence length of tank required.
I also want to do some plating. Generally a lot of smaller parts, which will need to be suspended in solution during the process.

So the tank could do with being multi tasking.
I don’t want it to be too big that it can’t be stored easily when not in use, and be unobtrusive when in use.

The longest (1130mm) part is actually about 250mm wide. Rear crossmember for one of the jalopies. I also have 4 wishbones that need tidying up. It’s stuff that could be cooking away while I’m working on other stuff, like pressing bushes, rebuilding struts, etc.

I think I may go with a couple of euro- polypropylene crates. Chop one end off each, and plastic weld them together for the suspension parts. And if I don’t get around to stitching them together, so be it. I’ll just get the long bits blasted and painted.

If I knew of someone close by with a blaster, I’d just bug them to do it, and be done with it.