Better Electrolosis Tank (E-Tank) Power Supply Needed

[oliver2-44 9,696]

I've used a 55 gallon barrel E tank to de-rust a bunch of tractor parts.  (all of a 312-8, close to 3 Suburban's, several Implements, and a bunch of random farm stuff)   But I've killed two 2/10 amp battery chargers in the process.  I will say both died during summer use, and I had a fan on the second one.  All the new battery chargers on the shelves are smart chargers and won't work unless a good battery is in the circuit, plus I don't think their smart electronics will hold up to long use.  I tried an "electronic" 12 volt power supply my son happened to have, but it was also to smart. 

What do some of you use for you E-tank power supply? 

Has anyone found a 12 or 24 volt power supply that will work? 

Would a larger auto shop/commercial battery possible last longer? 

 

The two chargers still cost  a lot less than what I've been quoted to have one pile of tractor parts blasted.

I have a blast cabinet, but a marginally sized 2-1/2hp/220v 12cfm@90 psi air compressor. It works great for all the smaller stuff, and to make a final pass over the E-Tanked parts to bring them close to a "near white " commercial blast spec.  But without running them through an E-tank first, larger parts like rear rims, hoods, fender pans, frames can take a long time to blast from scratch. 

  

[Handy Don 12,163]

5 minutes ago, oliver2-44 said:

I've killed two 2/10 amp battery chargers

Not really up on E-tanks so I'm wondering what amperage you actually need to do the job and how you balance match the load to the available power?

You can buy 25-30 amp 12v regulated power supplies for about $20 on the bay and elsewhere. Input can be 110vac  or 220vac. They are designed with built-in cooling fans and can run continuously at their rated output. Larger outputs don't cost much more. No battery needed at all.

Probably would be useful to put an amp gauge into the circuit. 

[oliver2-44 9,696]

@Handy Don Most of the articles I've found people use older transformer type 12v/10amp battery chargers.  The amp draw will vary based on the size of the part and especially the size of the anode.  When I was using the 2ns battery charger I had a roughlt 2 ft square piece of sheet metal as my anode and was drawing 8 amps at 12 volts.  you could see nice gentle water circulation in the barrel 

[Handy Don 12,163]

 

47 minutes ago, oliver2-44 said:

people use older transformer type 12v/10amp battery

Certainly the regulated power supplies are overkill in terms of their precise output, but being able to not use a battery would be good as would continuous duty.

My guess is these would be more efficient that the transformer, though the amount of electricity applied in the tank here is not great--120-240 watts (10-20 amps @ 12v). A transformer would be maybe 70% efficient (using 170-342 watts) and the power supply more like 85-90% (using 135-280 watts)

One thing a power supply would NOT like is to have a short circuit across the output--it'll trip an internal breaker and then usually reset after some minutes.  A transformer would shrug off a brief short on the output side.

[formariz 11,987]

I use a large car battery with the charger connected to it in parallel usually on a 20 gallon tank. This way most of the voltage is provided by battery with charger just helping along by keeping it charged.

[953 nut 55,093]

I think I remember @pullstart was using a 36 volt golf cart charger.

[DennisThornton 4,769]

12 hours ago, oliver2-44 said:

I've used a 55 gallon barrel E tank to de-rust a bunch of tractor parts.  (all of a 312-8, close to 3 Suburban's, several Implements, and a bunch of random farm stuff)   But I've killed two 2/10 amp battery chargers in the process.  I will say both died during summer use, and I had a fan on the second one.  All the new battery chargers on the shelves are smart chargers and won't work unless a good battery is in the circuit, plus I don't think their smart electronics will hold up to long use.  I tried an "electronic" 12 volt power supply my son happened to have, but it was also to smart. 

What do some of you use for you E-tank power supply? 

Has anyone found a 12 or 24 volt power supply that will work? 

Would a larger auto shop/commercial battery possible last longer? 

 

The two chargers still cost  a lot less than what I've been quoted to have one pile of tractor parts blasted.

I have a blast cabinet, but a marginally sized 2-1/2hp/220v 12cfm@90 psi air compressor. It works great for all the smaller stuff, and to make a final pass over the E-Tanked parts to bring them close to a "near white " commercial blast spec.  But without running them through an E-tank first, larger parts like rear rims, hoods, fender pans, frames can take a long time to blast from scratch. 

  

Sandblasting needs a LOT of AIR and I think better suited to small solid parts.  E tank is the way to go for complicated parts and sheet metal.  I've done lots of small parts with chargers similar to yours but your larger setup would put a strain on a small charger.  You could use less soda or lye in your solution.  Start with very little and add until you just max out your charger.  Might have to wait a little longer.  Or look for plating power supplies instead of chargers.  What about an old larger charger with boost?  I'd think they would be more robust.  

[Pullstart 62,800]

I used a 12/24v charger and ran batteries in the mix too.  On 24v, it was exponentially quicker than 12v.  I am not up on the ins and outs of why, but it was an awesome cooker tank!

[DennisThornton 4,769]

22 minutes ago, pullstart said:

I used a 12/24v charger and ran batteries in the mix too.  On 24v, it was exponentially quicker than 12v.  I am not up on the ins and outs of why, but it was an awesome cooker tank!

More power, more bubbles, faster rust removal.

[DennisThornton 4,769]

I've got a couple of 275 tanks I want to make into a E-tank and sandblast cabinet.  Gonna need a bigger power supply for the size E-tank!  I'm thinking about using my old Lincoln tombstone and a pair of BIG diodes.  I bought a cheap inverter welder that might work too.  Doesn't need a very sophisticated power supply if you also regulate by concentrations. 

[formariz 11,987]

If one connects the battery in series rather than in parallel then the available voltage between terminals is 24V. In this case the amperage is limited to the amperage of charger. I used this method a couple of times but did not see a real difference in results.

[953 nut 55,093]

7 hours ago, DennisThornton said:

Lincoln tombstone

Is the Lincoln a DC unit?

[DennisThornton 4,769]

13 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

Is the Lincoln a DC unit?

Not until I add the diodes.

[oliver2-44 9,696]

I was search on some auto restoration sites and they talked about using an old Lincoln tombstone welder. Said it worked but ran up the electric bill more than a charger. 

I just need to find an old larger charger, but I haven’t seen any at sales in a while. Then again with COVID I hadn’t exactly been out making a lot of sales lately.