E-Tank Performance Drop

C

CJ Lucas

Member
When I first set up my tank a week or so ago, it took off like a rocket, meaning the bubbles were going full tilt boogie. Now, after cleaning 5 or 7 pans I hardly get any bubbles at all. The battery charger was hitting 75% at first, now it barely makes the needle move - hardly pulling 1 amp. Could the charger be thinking the water (battery?) is fully charged? I cleaned the anodes and it didn't make any difference.
 
My tank is pretty murky, could probably use a clean out, but it still works if connections are good and the anode is reasonably clean. Maybe check and wire brush your clamps, in case there's some corrosion.
 
Is your battery charger automatic or manual? You need a manual one. An automatic one can be made to work if you have a battery between the charger and the tank.
 
CJ, same story over time. 1st set up went great. Took down. Next one the following year with fresh water but old semi-cleaned rebar just got an amp. Been that way every year since. New rebar better for a few hours and then back to an amp. I’m blaming my old wimpy 10 amp chargers which are manual. I’ve only done 1 or two pieces a year. Slower, but still work.

Hilditch
 
CJ Lucas

I have had mine go goofy also. It has been everything from bad connections, dirty anodes, too much electrolyte, not enough electrolyte, burned up battery charger and anything else you may think of. Only once I had too much electrolyte, but that is definitely not your problem.

Eliminate the easy ones first. Check all your connections, especially the one where the wire meets the clamp. Next check your battery charger with an amp/volt meter. If that doesn't help try adding some (if you are using) washing soda. If you over do it you will get too many amps, not too few.

If that doesn't do it, start over. New solution, new anodes, better connections.

And finally, if that doesn't do it, sacrifice a chicken, stand on your left foot, poke your right eye with your left index finger, while jumping up and down shouting I hate this hobby.

Good luck,

Jack
 
About 99.9% of the time you will find it's a connection issue. If your solution is correct and the battery charger is working then there is only one other problem it can be (connections)....either where you are connecting to the sacrificial anode or where you are connecting your leads to the piece being cleaned.
 
The charger is an old Schumaker (sp?) from the 70's. Yesterday I set up a whole new system and nothing changed. The guy that loaned me the charger said that's it's showing no resistance and that's a good thing. It still cleans the pans, though.
 
Definitely not too cold. I've run mine when it was in the 20's outside. Tank got down to mid 30's, still worked fine.
 
There may be one possibility that's temperature related. Sometimes transformers with a bad spot in a coil winding will operate inconsistently with temp variation.
 
Woo-Hoo! (again)... You all were right. After an initial good run using hot water, the amp meter thing again dropped to zero. I was reading on a metal detecting site, where they were using electrolysis to clean artifacts, that if there is not enough washing soda in the water that the tank won't work. I had originally used a cup of soda, thinking that was plenty. Apparently not. This morning I poured another 1/2 cup in the tank and it has been going strong all day. The amp meter is showing about 3 amps. I hope this helps anyone else that is having the same issues.
 
I scrape my anode off every several days. I have found that the larger the surface area of the anode, the shorter amount of time needed for each piece. Most of my skillets take 24 hours to clean. The rustier, grimier ones 48 hours. My anode is a CI roasting pan with high sides. It's large and heavy. I also will remove the piece from the tank after maybe the first 12 hours and scrape off the old seasoning and junk, rinse it and scrub it down with steel wool, then immerse again in the tank. I hang it opposite side for the next 12 hours. At this point the amperage is improved. It's worth noting that when I first set up this tank with fresh water/electrolyte, clean anode, the amp meter was consistently reading 10-12 amps for about a week. Then slowly descended into the lower range and stays there until I start fresh again. Now I get between 2-6 amps or so.
 
Ive had really good success with stainless steel anodes and bigger charger. I started with rebar then went to sheet metal. I got tired of cleaning the anodes everyday. I run my etank 24/7 and wipe off the anodes about once a month. Connections are very important. Ive got everything connected using SS bolts through battery cables running 20 amps.
 
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