Electrolytic rust removal

[hampshirehog]

So the vinegar removed the black stuff?
Good to know, thanks!

Vinegar is the way to go - ?0.12 a half litre in Asda (our Walmart) 'value' stuff does the trick (so it's real cheap to do). Leave it in for a day or two depending on how bad the rust is and then blast it out with a garden hose - just leave it running in there for about half an hour. Sit back with a beer and watch all the crud come out.

Finish off by adding some detergent and more rinsing. Make sure the tank remains full with the ever more diluted vinegar at all times. Pour the water out but before it dries whack in loads of WD 40 and swill it around or else it will rust before your eyes (you need to be very quick if it's a warm day). Leave the WD 40 to dry naturally - it won't taint the fuel later.

Don't mess trying to save the vinegar - if you've emptied too soon just buy some more - speed is of the essence to stop the flash rusting.

I always take off the tap / fuel sender (if there is one) and make up plastic seals as the vinegar could start to eat them.

Save a few teaspoons of (unused) vinegar to put on your chips to celebrate.

So the vinegar removed the black stuff?
Good to know, thanks!

It sure did, along with the flash rusting from my not moving fast enough the first time!

[tkent02]

So the vinegar removed the black stuff?
Good to know, thanks!

Update!

I confess, after using electrolysis to remove a tonne of rust, I found that the inside was still coated in black stuff, so i soaked the tank in vinegar for a while. After the vinegar I rinsed with water then gasoline, then coated the inside with a healthy amount of WD-40.


A little more clear:



Never mind the paintjob... Im in the middle of removing the previous owners handywork.

Can anyone think of a good reason why the inside of the tank cant be galvanized???

wouldn't it would be a simple matter of reversing the polarity and switching the anode for zinc?

First off, in defense of not using the search method. Between not using the same spelling and not using the same terms to define meaning, searching can sometimes be frustrating.

Anyway back to the topic; I recently used this process to derust a tank. For my anode, I covered the end with tape so that I could really jam it in there without wrorying about it touching the sides. Also, when you finish, make sure you coat it ASAP, it will begin rusting again immediately. I was a little disconcerted when I saw how fast it came back.

That will clean the area around the filler neck just fine.
To get the bottom and the rear part of the tank, where all the real rust is, you need an anode that reaches way back there.

Thicker more rigid steel rods work well, they can be bent so they reach the back without touching anything else.

You will need something that will hold it rigidly in the filler hole, so it can't flop around.

I like to put an anode in the other way, through the petcock opening. Bend it so it runs along the side of the tank forward, down low. That gets it really clean where it counts the most, where the fuel comes out. Then I bend another to go over the hump to the other side, if there is a fuel sender opening, I do one from there too.

It takes a while, but once it is done in all of these areas, the entire tank is spotless.

That metal bar was only my first method, I later switched to a folded hanger that went all the way into the tank, that is what those corroded things are in pictures 3 and 5.

Here is another one that shows my second setup.

[tkent02]

That will clean the area around the filler neck just fine.
To get the bottom and the rear part of the tank, where all the real rust is, you need an anode that reaches way back there.

Thicker more rigid steel rods work well, they can be bent so they reach the back without touching anything else.

You will need something that will hold it rigidly in the filler hole, so it can't flop around.

I like to put an anode in the other way, through the petcock opening. Bend it so it runs along the side of the tank forward, down low. That gets it really clean where it counts the most, where the fuel comes out. Then I bend another to go over the hump to the other side, if there is a fuel sender opening, I do one from there too.

It takes a while, but once it is done in all of these areas, the entire tank is spotless.

So here some pictures of the electrolysis so far, because i know you guys like pictures...

This was my first setup, bar suspended in fill hole...

You can see rust accumulating at the top

I later switched to a folded hanger style sacrificial node and here it is after a length of time in the tank

This is a midway shot of the inside of the tank, not too shabby if you ask me. you can see some of the paint came off from my acetone rinse, good thing i plan on painting anyways!

my sacrificial node went to node heaven, i made another


So now its sitting over night with a fresh node and hopefully by tomorrow ill have a clean tank!

I will then flush it with acetone and let it dry, then fill it with gasoline to prevent further corrosion. Then its on to repainting!

alrighty, I bought a 1A charger for 20 bucks and now its working!

tank submerged, piece of metal bar suspended in the fill opening using piece of metal coat hanger, another piece of metal coat hanger hooked into the fill opening. the charger is a motomaster 6/12v charger and the clips are attached to the hanger pieces....

anyone see anything wrong with this?

hey there, i ve been using electrolysis to derust mostly all of my parts, and it works awesome!

but back to your problem.. the negative should always be on the tank itself, and if you wanna derust the INSIDE of the tank you connect the positive to the suspended hanger INSIDE the tank, but if you wanna de-rust the OUTSIDE you put the sacrificial metal OUTSIDE, it woks point of view, what ever is facing the positive charge will be the one that will be cleaned, and trust me if you put in outside long enough the paint will come off

quick note after derusting, rinse and line it with oil or gasoline as it will rust immediately after exposure to air

then there would be no friendly discourse
some folks cant grasp boolena logic

also there is no effective tagging of topics so slogging through material is just plain evil

I prefer the friendly well intentioned advice over the dusty tomes that some of the threads turn into

WERD!......
Exactly my point.

Just imagine if *everyone* found their answer when they used the search option.

then there would be no friendly discourse
some folks cant grasp boolena logic

also there is no effective tagging of topics so slogging through material is just plain evil

I prefer the friendly well intentioned advice over the dusty tomes that some of the threads turn into

Screw draining the tank.

Keep it full of stabilized gas, the bike will fire right up when you decide to wake it up for the season.

.

but it would be a fire hazard undeneath my bed!!!
I would have to take greater care when smoking there
also seals can fail and then what you find a crank full of gassy oil and a rusty tank

how can I put my shiny beautiful tank in a cold garage! its cruelty is what it is

I just typed the work "electrolysis" into the search window and it came up with 100 hits.

Here is a link to the search results:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/search.php?searchid=1486882

When all else fails, just go to BassCliff's website.

You guessed it, there is an article on cleaning a rusty tank there.

.

Just imagine if *everyone* found their answer when they used the search option.