E tank p*rn

C

CharlieK

Member
I thought you folks might like a look at my e tank setup, inspired by this forum. When I first got into collecting & using cast iron cookware, I used oven cleaner and elbow grease. Then I was inspired about electrolysis cleaning here, and got to thinking the process would be so much easier if I could use a stainless steel tank.
At first I hung my iron from a wooden grade stake that spans the top of the tank, but later I insulated the rim of the tank with a piece of rubber hose and hung iron from a 2' section of 1/2" stainless steel pipe, using 1/8" stainless steel wire. This enables me to hang as`many pieces of iron as possible, so long as they don't touch the tank or each other The results are great!
Here's a couple pix of the 18" diameter stainless tank I'm using, plus a taller spare I haven't decided what to do with. It works great, no fussing with anodes and such. If anyone has any suggestions on how I can improve this setup, please let me know!



 
New at this myself but then the tank is your sacrificial metal so won't it eventually eat a hole in it or am i wrong and leak out the water?
 
I work for a forklift company,and I have access to any battery charger 12,24,36 volts and I have tried all of them on my tank,the one with the best results is 12v at 10 amps,any thing above 10 amps over heats water,cables,and if you don't have a good connexion between skillet and hanging wire over heats pretty bad,so what I recommend is try different charger,2 amps takes forever.
 
KevM said:
New at this myself but then the tank is your sacrificial metal so won't it eventually eat a hole in it or am i wrong and leak out the water?
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I think that it will eventually, but being stainless, it will take a pretty long time to get to that point.
 
DougH said:
I think that it will eventually, but being stainless, it will take a pretty long time to get to that point.
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I hope so, Doug. It's schedule 10 316 stainless and it doesn't get as much use as what some on the forum seem to work theirs. At this early point in the hobby, I'm not selling any iron, just collecting for my own use. However, I am getting some redundancies so I may part with some ci, hopefully by trading for more! It doesn't help that I'm a hoarder . . . :oops:
 
Hi, I'm new around here and I don't want to spoil your party but I read somewhere that the use of stainless steel as a sacrificial Anode is not wise. Doing some basic research for info on setting up a system for my own use I found references that said as the electrolysis process runs the stainless releases some very nasty compounds. Trivalent Chromium among them. This is a very toxic substance and needs to be treated appropriately. You may want to rethink those beautiful tanks. There are Superfund sites contaminated with this compound that need millions of dollars to clean up. Just saying...

Mike
 
This is not a new subject around the collecting community. And each time the use of stainless as a sacrificial anode is discussed, the subject of hexavalent chromium is sure to crop up. The current consensus is that such hazardous byproducts, while a real concern in industrial plating applications both in terms of vaporization in the immediate environment and waste disposal, are not formed at the temperatures and amperages commonly used for cast iron cleaning. It would certainly be great to have some CI cleaning-specific research to rely upon to either support or dispel the concerns once and for all, as opposed to extrapolating from industry-related information.
 
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