E Tank Questions

B

Brian_M

New member
Hello all-

I am trying to get up to speed with an e tank and have a few questions. First it is working, but seems to be much slower than I anticipated. I am experimenting with a semi gunked up number 5 skillet. Should it be 8+ hours and still not entirely clean?

Second, the alligator clips for both the graphite plate and skillet are in the water. Is this bad??? I noticed they are bubbling too and don't want them to harm pans or contaminate the tank.

Set up: 15 gallon plastic tub, 12x12 graphite plate, washing soda and manual battery charger

Thanks
 
Brian_M said:
Hello all-

I am trying to get up to speed with an e tank and have a few questions. First it is working, but seems to be much slower than I anticipated. I am experimenting with a semi gunked up number 5 skillet. Should it be 8+ hours and still not entirely clean?
Click to expand...

Some pans take longer than others. 8 hours is not out of the realm of possibility.

Second, the alligator clips for both the graphite plate and skillet are in the water. Is this bad??? I noticed they are bubbling too and don't want them to harm pans or contaminate the tank.
Click to expand...

Not so much contamination, but does contribute to corrosion, poor connection, and early failure.

Set up: 15 gallon plastic tub, 12x12 graphite plate, washing soda and manual battery charger

Thanks
Click to expand...

Sounds like everything you need.

See also: http://www.castironcollector.com/electrolysis.php
 
If you keep the alligator clip on the graphite plate under water, it won't take long for it to corrode away. It actually becomes part of the sacrificial anode. I allow my clip on the skillet to be under water and have run it nonstop, for 6 months, with no problem to the clip. I routinely leave my cast iron in the tank in 24 hour increments. I put in a new pan each evening after work. On occasion, 24 hours won't even take off some of the most stubborn corrosion.
 
Thanks for the feedback!


Also, now that I've left it running, the skillet has turned black?? Is this normal?
 
Yes, it's normal. You'll find when you actually wash/scrub the skillet after the etank a lot of the black will come off.
 
Also, even though I have an electrolysis set up... I still prefer to hit gunky pans with lye first... it seems to be more effective at either removing or 'softening up' the gunk... then the electrolysis only needs to be an hour or two at most.
 
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