Electrolysis on rusty throttle and choke cables

[Joe401 5]

Hi , has anyone tried electrolysis on rusty frozen throttle /choke cables ? Thanks 

[ebinmaine 67,397]

 

 

 

I have used electrolysis for removing the corrosion from an outside surface. 

 

I'm under the impression that for electrolysis to work right the sacrificial steel must be facing the piece being cleaned. 

 

Edited August 8 by ebinmaine

[Joe401 5]

Thanks, I was not aware that it only worked on the outside surface.  Just trying to keep things as original as possible.  I have had them soaking in Evapo-Rust since June 10th (2 months) , occasionally brushing off any residue on the outside. I wouldn't recommend that avenue of rust removal.  Thank you again for your insight.  

[ebinmaine 67,397]

I've never tried this but I understand a proper ratio mix of ATF and acetone is the cat's meeyow of rust penetrants. 

 

If you could get the inner wire and outer sleeve separated you'd be doing well. 

[Joe401 5]

Atf and acetone,  I can give that a stab also , thanks. Yes, the sheath is frozen fairly good up by the brass and steel portions with the threaded end. I haven't been able to twist or move the internal wire at all yet..Thanks 

[TractorEd 633]

Agitation would maybe help speed the process up, too.  I’ve seen some clever people put rusted parts in sealed containers with some other small items like hex nuts, and their solution of choice and strap it to a drive wheel jacked up and let it go for a while.  Or use an ultrasonic parts cleaner? Paint shaker?  Taped to a reciprocating saw?

Edited August 8 by TractorEd

[ebinmaine 67,397]

4 minutes ago, TractorEd said:

ultrasonic parts cleaner

 

Oooooooooo

I like that one

[Joe401 5]

Yes, agitation or ultrasonic would be a great possibility.  I'm just trying to protect the plastic knobs. Ultrasonic might be a possibility.  Thanks 

[Handy Don 12,204]

1 hour ago, Joe401 said:

Atf and acetone,  I can give that a stab also , thanks. Yes, the sheath is frozen fairly good up by the brass and steel portions with the threaded end. I haven't been able to twist or move the internal wire at all yet..Thanks 

I've not heard of a one-thing-always-works solution. All of the above are worth trying.

One thing that has helped some for me was to coil the cable quite tightly, say to an 8” diameter and secure it with a four or five wire ties. This separates the coils of the sheath spring a tiny bit and lets the penetrant in. Uncoil and coil “backwards” (the cable will want to “lay” in one direction, you can can fight it and win!) to get to the other side.

Obviously, this doesn’t help at the collar ends except that it opens a “back door” for the penetrant 😄

Lastly, you can carefully straighten out any kinks in the inner wire by bending gently on the outer sheath--slow but sure and it definitely reduces internal friction.

[Joe401 5]

Yes I have them in a coil about 8" every 2 weeks , I bend the circle the opposite way . The submerged photos were from early June. I can get a current photo tomorrow. 

Edited August 9 by Joe401
Dating photos to show progression.

[peter lena 8,604]

@Joe401  like , 3/1  penetrating oil , also KNOCK R LOOSE  aerosol penetrant , the angular cable end point , to movement swing point , usually has other small holes in it , experimented with  small light extension springs , to assist pulling cable to CLOSE , that way any time you move the cable , you have a spring assist , once used , consistent  smooth / easy , throttle / choke action , have this set up on my 3  kohler engines , also regularly lube my cables ,  used perforated  metal pull point for spring to any close  screw mount . hiding in plane sight , pete  

[Lee1977 6,655]

The motor cycle method is used a plastic bag punch a hole in one corner insert cable tape bag tight . Fill bad with the best pentare you can come up with then hang the bag up.

I have found the best way to fix them is to install new cables.