Etank Water

[JGGregory]

Hello all,
I typically soak my really cruddy CI in lye prior to a run in th E-tank. It seems no matter how long I soak in lye and rinse after, there is a considerable amount of crud that comes off in the E-tank. The crud and rust typically settles to the bottom of the tank between runs. My question is... should I change the water before each run? Or is reusing the water a number of times ok.
Apologies in advance if this has already been discussed.
- Jeff

 

[D_Madden]

I would wash the crud off between the lye tank and the e-tank... there is enough stuff that settles to the bottom of the e-tank, no need to add to it. But I've used the same e-tank electrolyte solution for a couple of years and hundreds of pieces.

 

[WallyF]

JG,

I remove all the crude off a piece before putting it into the etank. So before it goes into the etank, I wash it with dishwashing liquid and use a stainless steel brush to remove any remaining crude. If this doesn't work, it goes back into the lye bath for some period of time. Repeat washing and brushing. The total time in the lye bath is variable. It could be a week or so. If there is still hard to remove crude, like in the numbers/letters, I spray with oven cleaner and let sit in a garbage bag for a day or two. Don't know why, but this usually works.

When it goes into the etank, there is only rust to remove. As D says, it settles to the bottom.

I changed my etank from 30 gal. to 44 gal after approx. 1 1/2 years. So haven't done hundreds, but haven't had to change it otherwise. Just add water or laundry booster as needed.

In contrast, the cold of winter apparently has an impact on the effectiveness of the lye in the bath. Not sure how to measure it and adjust, so am going to restart the lye bath this week.

Hope this helps.