E-tank questions

SpurgeonH

Active member
I gave up on trying to remove the rust from my Sportsman fish fryer via a vinegar bath. Now I've got it in my old e-tank. The tank I have is a five gallon Home Depot bucket, so I can only do one end of the fryer at a time.

It looks like my rebar is bubbling ok, but the fryer seems to barely bubbling. The battery charger I'm using is set to the 12-volt setting. However, it is only showing about 4 amps on the gauge.

Does this mean I don't have a good connection? The e-tank hasn't been used in a year and there was some green buildup on the wires I have wrapped around the rebar. Also, I have the negative clamp hooked directly to the fryer. In the past, I clamped the negative to the wire the piece was suspended with. That shouldn't make a difference, should it?

Or maybe I didn't put enough washing soda in the water? I used 1/3 cup in about 5 gallons of water.

---------- Post added at 10:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 AM ----------

Here is what it looks like ... Image
 
clean al your connections and brush the rebar. it will come clean with 4 amps. it just takes a little longer.

Jack
 
Here's my progress so far ...



It looks like there is writing on the back of it. (I'm not talking about the 3052A stamp). I can make out an A and maybe an N? I wonder if it used to say Atlanta Stove Works on the bottom?



---------- Post added at 02:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:56 PM ----------

By the way, has the electroysis done about all it can do on that end? Seems like the rust is gone and all that's left is baked on crud.

Would it help, or hurt, to use my drill with the steel brush bit? Or should I soak it in Easy-Off for a few days to loosen up the black stuff?
 
Always avoid power tools if you can. Not sure lye will be effective on what appears to be left. I'd see what a medium stiff stainless steel hand brush or SS Chore Boy scrubber would do.
 
If you are sure all the rust is gone the rebar will leave a black coating of iron on the piece which will easily wash off with a brush & soap leaving bare iron. If there is still a lot of black rust I'd give it more tank time.

Hilditch
 
Thanks. I didn't know there was such a thing as black rust! There is definitely something crusty on it. The piece also has some pretty extensive pitting, but I still think it is usable. I can already taste the fried speckled trout.
 
I think you should tighten your connections and add more laundry soda. Do you have a bigger bucket, maybe a plastic trash can so you can get the whole thing in at once? It looks to me like most of that should come off of there down to the bare cast iron.
 
What do you do with the bath when you are finished. I know it can be reused, but I would like a new fresh bath after doing several in the bath I now have.
Thanks.
 
I dump mine in the fire pit in my back yard, although I have an experimental area of lawn in acidic soil under a spruce tree that I've been dumping some of it lately.
 
I dump mine in a bare spot in my yard. (It's only a 5 galling bucket). But I don't know why you couldn't just pour it down the drain. It's only water and washing powder ... Don't know if the rust sludge would cause any drain issues.
 
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