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my very simple electrolysis rig

G

GRAY GHOST

New member
hi all, i built my own electrolysis rig using directions from another forum some time ago. i wish i could remember the fella's name; he was sharp. listen carefully: 1. get a plug-in adapter for like an old shaver, etc.[i have a 9 volt adapter] 2. cut off the single end and strip off both wires. 3. screw alligator clamps [radio shack, get the big ones] onto each wire. 4. fill a large glass about half full of water. add 2 tsp. of salt and 2 tsp. of real lemon juice. mix well. [the juice is optional, it increases the effect] 5. clip the very edge of the coin onto one of the clips. attach the other clip to the top of the stainless steel spoon you mixed everything up with. insert both in the glass, keeping them separated. suspend the coin if possible. 6. plug the adapter in. if the spoon starts bubbling, then polarity is reversed[it's wrong] unplug the adapter, switch the clips. if the coin starts bubbling, your're in business! 7. in a minute or two, you will notice a black cloud of gunk coming from the coin, and surrounding it. the clip will bubble too, so don't be alarmed. everything is ok. 8. don't let the rig run for too long a time. wer'e only talking about 4 or 5 minutes total here. if you think more cleaning is necessary, unplug the adapter and allow it to cool for a few minutes. NEVER keep the adapter plugged in for long periods of time; it can catch fire. i labeled the coin clip side with a piece of tape to make sure i hooked it up right everytime. keep the spoon and coin separated. if they touch, unplug the adapter and re-situate the clips. an old toothbrush or very fine brass brush can then be used to get the black gunk off the coin. the black gunk also washes off easily in the sink. you will end up with a cleaner coin and a glassful of green water! just be careful, and remember to unplug the adapter and put it up when your're done. the rest is up to you. be safe, hope it helps, and hh,
 
Instead of using the lightweight power units like from cell phone or razor, I used a 12V car battery charger I got at Harbor Freight. I burnt up a couple of the cell phone chargers.
 
I like electrolysis on my heavily encrusted finds. I prefer the hot peroxide bath method or olive oil soaks for more valuable finds. But for ID purposes and to free encrusted objects, electrolysis cant be beat. I like the salt, baking soda also works well in place of salt. ALWAYS DO THIS OUTDOORS!! and not by an ignition source. Electrolysis produces hydrogen and oxygen gases in a dangerously explosive and lethal mix. And if nothing else here, remember this: DON'T USE THE WIFES GOOD SILVERWARE to run your positive into the solution. I found this out the hard way. :sadwalk: Or, dont use any silveware that you plan to eat with again for that matter, it just wont be the same. With all the drawbacks, its still a lot of fun to do, and really works well. Just be careful! HH!! JJ
 
Sorry BH, didnt mean to scare you off. The first time i dropped live wires into water, i was a little nervous too. But its like watching alka seltzer desolve. It really is a lot of fun to do, and an effective way to clean your finds. Just remember-good ventilation, be careful not to touch the pos. directly to the neg. and keep an eye on the operation. Check your power source (power pac, car battery charger) frequently for overheating. If it starts to feel too hot, unplug it. Houses have burned down from this if your not paying attention.
 
I was wondering what the ratio of water to salt or baking soda for this electrolysis. Is it best to use distiled water for this process or does tap water work?
What is the process of the hot peroxide bath method? I is as simple as it sounds? I've never heard of this before but am looking into processes for cleaning my finds.
Are some methods better than other for cleaning coins, iron, brass, etc..
 
hi, jfelly. welcome! my rig is about 3 cups of tap water, but distilled might do better. the peroxide method is really neat, and is effective too. some people bring the peroxide to a boil in the microwave and then remove the container, then putting the coin in to soak a short while. it can be repeated as much as you like. a toothbrush is necessary to get all the crud off. is one way to clean copper/brass better than all the others? i don't know; that's why iv'e been experimenting around with it. i feel if the museums can do it and get good results, then we can too! there's a lot of good and talented people on here, and we all regularly get good ideas from one another. i'm wide open to any and all suggestions. thanks, and hh,
 
1) Hey Rivermarine1, could you repost that website link, the one listed above doesn't work.
2) I am very interested in building one of these rigs for myself, just a little reluctant on dropping bare wires into a glass of water, goes against everything I've ever been told :wacko: I have been thinking of using a 12 volt trickle charger for the power source the only concern I have is the amperage on a source like the one listed in the original post would be in the milliamps where a trickle charger would be in the range of 1-3 amps. I have been unable to find much info about the (if any) affects this would have on the material being treated. Has anyone seen any info about what the safe limits are?
Thanks
Josh in Indiana
 
Hi Josh,
You should be fine with the charger. You're looking at the charger's rating of what it is capable of delivering. That's different than what the actual circuit will draw. The current the circuit will draw depends on how well the water conducts electricity (determined by mineral content and how much salt you added to it). As long as you keep the object to be cleaned separated from the stainless steel electrode, you should be OK. The circuit will only draw the amount of current that it needs to cause the reaction. Smaller chargers burn out because the current draw exceeds their service rating - in other words, too much current demand is being put on a charger that isn't rated for it and it overheats.

I use a home made power supply that is rated at one amp and it runs fine without overheating. Just be sure that the two objects in the water don't tough each other or you'll get a short circuit and the current draw will skyrocket. This will cause the power supply to be overloaded, causing it to burn out or trip a fuse or breaker if it has one. It will also damage the item you are trying to clean.

Also to repeat what was stated in an earlier post, do this outdoors only to vent the gasses produced.

I'm not an engineer, but I've had some experience with electronics.

I'm also a noob here. Hi everyone.
 
This forum website is very paranoid and doesn't play well with other website links. Rivermarine1's link was scrambled by this website, not by him. I've noticed this before with a few other links i tried to post. This link below has pics and also explains a simple setup. For this link to work, copy then paste the link below, then you have to delete the four stars ( **** ) between gometal and detecting, and add an underscore ( _ ) between electrolysis and cleaning, no spaces. Sorry for the extra work, but its the only way i could figure out how to get around our websites built-in jealousy feature. JJ P.S.- If you find the website below, copy the link and try to repost it to this forum and watch what happens. Its magically auto-scrambled!!!

http://gometal****detecting.com/electrolysis_cleaning.htm
 
JJ, Thanks for reposting. I did it as I was heading out the door on an errand and thought it went through ok. Just got back online and saw the mess. Thanks again.
 
sorry, another correction to my link above. I tried the copy/paste thing, and the underscore ( _ ) was already there, no need to add a second, there should only be one underscore between electrolysis and cleaning. (electrolysis_cleaning.htm)
What a mess!!! JJ
 
hey guys, the most important thing here is to remember you are dealing with DC. do NOT drop two wires from an extension cord plugged into a 110v AC circuit.............monster
 
I use a 12 v computer,switched-power supply, ( the old type ) it has a fan to cool it
and surge/overload pertection....lots safer.
 
Never thought of that idea...very interesting, and I think it would do a great job...just need to keep a close eye on the coins as the 12V will do the job in a hurry...


HH,

BH-LandStar
 
if you dont want to use the 12 V yellow wires , the power suppy red wires are 5V,...you can use either your choice.
 
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