Anode and location questions

[TyHiggins]

Yesterday cleaning out my shed, I found a sheet of what looked like tin, maybe galvanized? I cut off a square sheet, and after a full night in the tank it showed virtually no corrosion or ill effect. The FPW #9 showed little result, the cooking surface and maybe a third up the wall was clean, and it stopped there. Do I want to not use that type of metal?

Also last night was bitter cold, the tank being in my carport the surface was frozen over. I don't want to put it in my basement, due to the hydrogen gas issue, wouldn't that make me a Darwin Award candidate? I do have an enclosed shed with electric, but it'd have to be heated? Also I'd assume hydrogen builds up from the top down, due to its buoyant nature?

 

[Doug D.]

I don't think temperature was your problem, unless the cold prevented your washing soda from dissolving sufficiently. If the sacrificial metal is clean and new, more likely is contact issues with the clamp on the piece itself. You may need to do some manual pre-cleaning (wire brush) on the spot you want to attach the charger clamp to. My charger's meter, when set on 10 amps and good contact with metal is being made by the clamps, reads 8+ amps. If the connection is poor, it reads 2 and below. If the problem is the type of metal, I think you'd see poor amperage readings. Also, in some cases, the crud is just really cooked on tight, and it may take days instead of hours.

 

[TyHiggins]

I'd say a layer of ice constitutes a problem, unless underneath the process continues unimpeded. There was one other thing I used before that was very resistant to the corrosion, it was a metal junction box for wiring, maybe this sheet metal is of the same type. Looking at the piece used, it does show some surface corrosion, but white instead of the rusty layer I usually get.