Setting up my electro tank and have questions...

I have gathered all the materials necessary to begin my first electrolysis. The piece of metal I am using is taller than my tank. Does it have to be completely submerged or does it matter?
Also, can it or the skillet touch the sides of the tank or lay flat on the bottom? I am using a plastic tote we had in the garage. The tote is big enough for my skillet to hang from the handle with a piece of wood laying across the top but my donor metal is too tall, (an old fake christmas tree stand).

The sacrificial metal can stick out of the electrolyte. In fact, it can be better, as your charger clamp doesn't get wet. It or the piece being cleaned touching the plastic sides is OK, but laying down may slow cleaning of the bottom side. Also, the sacrificial metal should be bare metal, not painted.

Thanks Doug!
Another question. The sacrificial anode, does width matter? I have a steel rod that is about the diameter of a piece of rebar and about 3 ft long. I'm using it now and it appears to be working but I'm just wondering if a wider piece of metal would make a difference?

Also, I picked up a charger at Autozone this morning. It has three settings. 12v/6amp, 6v/6amp, or 6v/2amp (I think that's what the last one is). I'm using the 12v/6amp setting. That should be good, correct? When the charger is running the needle is reading really low but there are bubbles coming off the skillet so I know it's working and there is a yucky layer of gunk floating on top of my electrolyte.

Check your clamps, get a good connection and the reading should be higher. I've had trouble with weak clamps before. I do believe from experience certain things work better for an anode, stainless steel if you have an old bowl etc. works great.

Be careful about using stainless steel in the electrolysis tank. I have read that it leaves a toxic residue.

Think Erin Brockovich.

Jack

HWJohnson said:

Thanks Doug!
Another question. The sacrificial anode, does width matter? I have a steel rod that is about the diameter of a piece of rebar and about 3 ft long. I'm using it now and it appears to be working but I'm just wondering if a wider piece of metal would make a difference?

Click to expand...

A lot of people use re-bar, and appear to have success. I think a broader surface, like sheet metal, is preferable.

Also, I picked up a charger at Autozone this morning. It has three settings. 12v/6amp, 6v/6amp, or 6v/2amp (I think that's what the last one is). I'm using the 12v/6amp setting. That should be good, correct? When the charger is running the needle is reading really low but there are bubbles coming off the skillet so I know it's working and there is a yucky layer of gunk floating on top of my electrolyte.

Click to expand...

Mine is 12V 2A/10A. I use the 10 amp setting, although I understand 2 amp works just fine for many.

Hey, thanks for the replies fellas!

I'm now hunting around for some old scrap metal. May hit up an auto shop or metal fab shot at some point this week for a wider piece.

I did manage to get my #5 cleaned up pretty well and re-seasoned it. Made my wife some eggs this morning before work and it was pretty much completely non stick so I guess I did something right. It's a great cooker. I plan on doing some biscuits or corn bread later this week just to see if I can. I've never made either before!

Also, about the tank again, I used a 5gal bucket and that seemed to work ok. I did have some weak flow that I think may be attributed to some poorly fitting clamps like Ty mentioned. They did manage to eventually remove most of the gunk and buildup and a wire brush go the remainder.
If you have too much of the washing soda what will that do? I used about half a cup for the 5gallon bucket. Last night, when I was dumping the water out, I had a white crust of something, (I'm guessing the soda), that was layered on the bottom of the bucket.

Without seeing the residue I can't speculate. However, you can saturate the water and any undissolved solids will go to the bottom.

Clean (wire brush) your sacrificial anode periodically and it will increase the flow of current. Any time I drop below +/-3 amps I clean mine.

I recently changed to 1/4" plate but before that I was using cookie sheets ($0.99 from the Goodwill store) as my anode. They are usually good for 2 or three pans before they fall apart.

Jack