My E-Tank

[bo dawg 516]

Let me know what you think if it will work or not while I'm in the fab mode. I used metal coat hangers and cut to lenght to each rod while clamped with steel gas line clamps. Also let me know if my charger is ok for this or if I need to do anything else (besides add the water and soda powder). Will this work without needing a battery like I've seen some do.

[WHC-125 4]

Looks like it should work, and if you want you can hook up the ground right to the piece because it can go underwater. But the positive cant. I would use it on the manual because with an automatic charger it shuts off after it is almost charged and drawing low amps, because it will think its a battery.

[bo dawg 516]

Success, its a good feeling to see it work. Now just waiting for the results. I'm trying the spindle I had that was badly corroded to see about changing the bearings.

[fireman 1,022]

Looks good. Just make sure you you scrape off the coat hangers were they make contact. The coating adds resistance.

[bo dawg 516]

yes sir that I did thanks to both you guy's.

I wire wheeled everything that touched for contact. I think it would be even better if I had a bigger charger than 10 amps, but its bubbling pretty good. I hooked a light up to it and its working good. I started small with the bucket but I plan to use a plastic 55 gal drum. Maybe cut down for shorter height but to do wheels.

:thumbs:

[WHC-125 4]

Right now I have an 18 gallon garbage can and am trying to find a 55 gallon drum as well.

[bo dawg 516]

I'm with ya WHC-125, of course my job is recycling industrial plastics and the barrels/drums I always come into. Which I will grab one and set up as soon as I go through with this first run with the 5 gal bucket.

After 3 hrs in heres what it looks like now, (impressed with only a 10 amp charger)

I pulled it out shorty after that to quit for the night, dont want to atempt leaving un atended over night just yet. I will put her back in tomorrow. I didn't take a picture but can already see a big difference, I can even see some red paint in places now that was under the corosion.

[Coadster32 793]

Hey Chris, Go to Home Depot and buy a rubbermaid garbage can. Works for me!!

[WHC-125 4]

Hey Chris, Go to Home Depot and buy a rubbermaid garbage can. Works for me!!

How big? And Lowes is cheaper(My sister gets me 10% off) :thumbs2:

[Coadster32 793]

35/45 gallons. They work great. You've seen mine at the shop.

[bo dawg 516]

Just wanted to add that the results was great and I used just baking soda. Also all the crud falls to the bottom and the parts come out pretty clean! This is pretty cool and look forward to doing bigger and nastier things.

:thumbs2:

[tophatbufflo 2]

What ratio did you use on the bakink soda/water? Or did you use a different kind of soda? Thanks

[Indy w h 5]

So what is the purpose of an e-tank ?? Is it better than bead blasting?? Confused??

I have always sand blasted. Fill me in guys

Indy

[Doubletrouble 10]

I'm with Indy w h. I heard some of you talk about them and even seen some of them in your pics but I don't understand them. How do they work and how could one with no experience set one up, cheap? Thanks.

[ol550 830]

So what is the purpose of an e-tank ?? Is it better than bead blasting?? Confused??

I have always sand blasted. Fill me in guys

Indy

If you are used to bead blasting your parts then you will be totally impressed with the results and speed after E-tankin. I used to blast all my parts, but I've been E-tanking first then bead blasting. Now instead of cleaning off rust and old paint I skim over the clean metal and just target the rust pits. Mike :notworthy:

[Duff 206]

Bill and Indy,

An e-tank is an inexpensive alternative to blasting for those without access to a blasting set-up. Bill, they can be as simple or complicated as anyone wants to make them, and from what I've seen here, they can be made incredibly cheap as long as you have access to a 12 volt battery charger.

As you can see from Bo Dawg's pictures above, basically it's a bucket of water mixed with some laundry soda (first cousin to baking soda, but not laundry detergent like we normally think of the stuff) in which you hang the part that needs the rust cleaned off. The part is hooked to one side of a battery charger, and some steel rods hooked to the other side of the charger are stuck in the bucket around the part but not touching it. When the power is applied it bubbles the rust off the surface of the part and the rust falls to the bottom of the tank leaving a very clean part. Mind you, this is only a very crude explanation at best, not directions to make or use one. The key thing to remember is that e-tanks only work with parts that are made from steel or iron, which is fortunately most of what our tractors are made of.

There are a number of threads that discuss how they work and how to make them properly. One of the better threads here I was able to search out just now is this one:

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/index.php?...hl=electrolysis

Also here's a link to a very good explanation of an e-tank and how to make one:

http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp

Some guys have made e-tanks in small plastic buckets. Others have fabbed up containers big enough to put a whole trailer (as in over-the-road utility trailer!) frame into. It's all about what you want to do and how far you want to go to do it!

Hope this helps and happy reading!

Duff :thumbs:

[Doubletrouble 10]

WoW! Thanks alot Duff. Between your info and the links you provided it was all very interesting and informative. I think I will definatley try this but I may wait til spring due to the fact that the water solution will freeze outside will it not? ( N.W. Ohio winter is coming)

[Indy w h 5]

Hey ol550 & duff thanks for the info. That i'd say was quite interesting

think I'll stick to blasting till the 702 is done then try an e-tank next year

thanks again

Indy

[608KEB 796]

Will the e-tank strip paint I was thinking about trying it on smaller parts. Is there a ratio for water/ baking soda? Is baking soda what you use?

[WH854 44]

Will the e-tank strip paint I was thinking about trying it on smaller parts. Is there a ratio for water/ baking soda? Is baking soda what you use?

Read this whole link

http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp

Chas

[Steve B. 30]

That's a nice set-up bo dawg. Once the weather picks up a little more I'm planning to give e-tanking a shot. How have your parts come out so far? I like your idea of the four corner rods.

[kpinnc 12,775]

The best two things about electrolysis is that you can strip rust while you sleep, and the fact that it works great for freeing up parts that are rusted together. Stuck steering wheel? No problem!

Just don't let any copper or galvanized get in the tank. It makes the solution turn into green or orange goo. Otherwise the solution is reusable several times.

[armyvetwh 3]

i went to a radiator repair shop where the guy made a 10' x 6' E-tank. he designed for doing multiple parts by have the supports overhanging the sides of it which are cover by rubber. he has the one clamp on  the outside where he put a tab on it, and had multiple clips off the other side of the electrical connection for when he has to do more then one radiator. he told me that he tanked 15 radiators off small water cooled yard tractors at one time. only problem i see with that is most of us dont have that amount of room for a dedicated e-tank.