Electrolysis pictures before and after

[TJ in KY]

I always forget to take before and after pictures but here is a good example of what electrolysis can do. I put front axle suspended in tub for about 14 hours and here is the results. Just thought I would post some pictures.
There were several layers of paint and heavy rust where the axle halves bolted together. Almost all paint and most of rust came off with just one treatment.

The last 4 pictures give a good idea of before and after.
 

[kylemorley]

What do you do with all that black stuff now? Clean it off or paint
over?
 

[TJ in KY]

My plan is to hit it with a gray scotch brite pad and soapy water and another trip to the tub if needed. From the research I have done I think it is iron oxide and can be painted over, but don't take my word for that. I still need to research that before I prime the parts.

Here are a couple of links about the subject. the first one is quite long

http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/miscellaneous/rust_removal.htm

http://www.myfordtractors.com/electrolysis.shtml

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[jrh009]

[quote="TJ in KY"](quoted from post at 16:54:54 12/09/12) I always forget to take before and after pictures but here is a good example of what electrolysis can do. I put front axle suspended in tub for about 14 hours and here is the results. Just thought I would post some pictures.
There were several layers of paint and heavy rust where the axle halves bolted together. Almost all paint and most of rust came off with just one treatment.

What is your power source? I use a battery charger but it generally will shut down on it's own after 12 hrs or so. Thinking of using some PC power packs.
 

[B-maniac]

I guess I'll just do the 10 minutes with sand blaster and have the whole bar perfectly clean. Prime and paint..total time maybe 2hrs at most and it's done. No dissrespect but it just seems like a lot of time and mess for no cleaner than it gets. I'm not that patient, I guess.
 

[TJ in KY]

My battery charger does not have an automatic shutoff so it is not a problem.
If i had a good sandblaster i probably would use it on larger pieces. This is not to time consuming, just a few minuets to put in and hook up and a few minuets to clean afterwords, usually the parts are done overnight when i am sleeping anyway.
 

[ASEguy]

I used a wire brush and a hose. Worked great and was a huge timesaver on bigger parts like fenders and hoods. I used Picklex 20 to prevent flash rust and stored all the parts indoors until I was ready to paint.