There was a brief discussion on electrolytic rust removal in this "Bodywork" thread:
http://whtractor.15.forumer.com/index.php?...indpost&p=13481

I've been using it on bits and pieces for a few years now, and it does work well. A few weeks ago I threw in a hitch cable that was stiff, and the end result was so succesful I decided to try it on some completely frozen throttle and choke cables.

After a couple of hpurs in the bath, the cables began to move, but very stiffly. I worked them a bit and put them back in for another 2 hours. Pulled them out, blew throught with compressed air, blew through with WD-40, blew through with compressed air again and finished off with some 3in1 sewing machine oil. Both are completely useable now, free and smooth. I was amazed, and now will be able to use OEM origional parts on the old Lawn Ranger.

I'm stoked!

That's great information. I'll have to try it on a few I have laying around. Does it affect the plastic knobs at all?

Mike I've been reading up on the sites you posted & am in the process of makeing my own out of a cut down 40 gallon blue plastic barrel.
May be giveing you some PM's about the process.

It doesnt seem to affect the knobs, but mine had gone kinda grey on this tractor. I tried buffing them hoping they'd come up black, but they're not there yet.

The boss that holds them in the dashboard is aluminum, and it didnt seem to hurt that either.

No problem Tickster

The cut down barrel should work well. I was thinking about using a blue barrel because I thought it would be big enough to fit a complete frame in.

One thing I've done differently lately is to use a big sacrificial electrode. One of the thousand unfinished projects I have lying around is to build a mid-mount grader blade. I used a section cut out of an old air compressor tank for the blade, and had a piece of that lying around. Its perfect as the curve lets it sit out of the way on the side of the bucket. My piece is about 8 inches wide by about 12 inches long. I used to use a couple of sticks of rebar. The bigger electrode really seems to get stuff fizzing pretty well

Document the process and we'll make it an FAQ....

OK, I'll try to document how I do it. I wont pretend to understand how it works, I'm a little shaky in electrical theory and downright inept when it comes to chemistry, but it is explained in detail in a lot of the information available in cyberspace. This link will take you to a google search page:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navc...ectrolytic+rust

Equipment:

Plastic bucket

I have recently switched to a 12 gallon container, but for years I have used a 5 gallon bucket. The 5 gal wasnt quite big enough to get a hoodstand into. You can put one end in and zap it and later turn it over and do the other end, but obviously it takes twice as long.

Power Supply
I use a generic 12 v power supply that I had lying around, but you could use a manual battery charger as well (an automtic one probably wont work).

Washing Soda

Arm and Hammer is available in most (but not all) supermarkets. Its normally in the laundry soap department.

Sacrificial Electrode This needs to be a piece of ferrous steel. I have used a couple of sticks of rebar for this, but have recently found that the more area the piece has the better. You could use a piece of sheet metal or steel plate for this.

Set up
Use about a cup of washing soda to 5 gals of water. Put it in the bucket then fill the bucket up trying to mix the powder in. The ratio isnt critical, not enough soda and it wont conduct, dont know what happens if the mix is too strong. I dont think it matters. I have heard of people putting lye in the mix as well to help with paint removal. I've never tried this, and I like to be able to touch the parts without my hands falling off.

Put the sacrificial electrode in one side of the bucket. Some of it should stick out of the water so you can hook it to the POSITIVE side of the power supply.

Hang the piece to be treated in the other side of the bucket. It should not touch the sides or bottom of the bucket, and it should not touch the sacrificial electrode.
It needs a good connection to the NEGATIVE side of the power supply. I usually sand a shiny spot on the part to get a good connection. I use an alligator clip on the power supply to connect to the part. I also have an automotive stop light bulb in the -ve line so I can see that current is flowing (if it doesnt light up, usually there is a bad connection somewhere). The bulb also increases the current flowing in the circuit and speeds things up. When you switch on the power the part will start to "fizz"



Thats it! Every couple of hours I usually pull the part out, give it a quick wire brush, hose it off with a garden hose and put it back in. As the part gets cleaner it will fizz more and more (and the lamp will glow brighter and brighter). The sample piece in the photo's was done after 4 hours, but I have left stuff in the tank for a couple of days before I was happy with it.

Here is a series of pictures showing a part getting cleaned:
I started with a head shroud off a Tecumseh engine.



After 2 hours:


You notice the rust on the part starts to change from orange to black. I dont think the mixture is removing the paint, it's loosening up the rust underneath the paint, so the paint flakes off.

After 4 hours:


No more orange, its all been turned to black

After a quick trip to the wire wheel on the grinder:


Ready for some hammering, sanding, primer and paint.

Im sure I've forgotten something here, let me know what it is...

I'm going to have to try this on my 552 cables the orig. ones one moves a little the other don't.
I'd like to add it might be a good idea to plug this in to a GFI outlet for safty sake