Sacrificial Anode Material?

Is not recommended.the best is graphite.You may don't want to spend a lot of money on that,the second best and you can get it for free or real cheap is stainless steel,is what I have.how to get cheap? If you're good with tools you can get a stainless steel pot at flea market doesn't have to be pretty you can get the ogliest pot and tear it down and set it up, you can clean about 200 skillets with no problem:whip2:
 
Whenever the subject of sacrificial anode material comes up, there are to be expected the usual caveats against using whatever is being talked about. With stainless steel, there's the warning about hexavalent chromium, but that has been generally determined to not be a problem at the temps, pH, and voltages used for CI cleaning. I do see some people saying galvanized should not be used, but don't seem to ever recall hearing the reason why not. In my BBQing days, galvanized was the subject of much debate as a material for the construction of fireboxes and such. The critics cited the hazard of welding galvanized metals from the vaporization of the zinc contained. Zinc, however, does not vaporize until far beyond the temperatures of burning firewood or charcoal, somewhere in the neighborhood of 1600°F. Before graphite, I used galvanized sheet metal for years in my electro tank. I would suppose it would similarly take more in the way of temp and voltage to get anything from the anode airborne or chemically bonded to the iron. I think, however, that whatever you use, disposal of the electrolyte should not be anywhere that would contaminate a source of potable water or migrate to food crops.

If galvanized is a concern, there are several other sources of cheap or free metal that will work just fine, cut open and flattened coffee cans being one. Graphite may be (relative to free) expensive up front, but in the long run promises to be more efficient and cost effective. You don't have to clean it, and one piece will probably last as long as the average collector collects.
 
I have I made when it comes to sacrificial anodes. Have a few clients that have scrap metals, currently running 1/8" stainless plate.
 
Yes, surface area. It's my understanding that the size and shape affect the "line of sight" between the two metal objects. Also have read that solid is better than objects with holes (is it called expanded metal?) like a grate.
 
I have been using rebar for years, surface area is a problem so I surround the outer edges of the tank with them. They are cheap and last quite a while so long as you remember to wire brush them. I just obtained graphite bars and will be giving that a try.
 
I've been using a 10 gal tall kitchen trash can with a length of rebar in each of the 4 corners. I have 8 pieces of rebar, I change them out when I change out pans. When the rebar drys out some, I hit it with a wire brush then clean them with a wire wheel on a bench grinder. I always have 4 cleaned pieces of rebar ready to go. I hold the rebar to my tank with squeeze clamps and wire them together with jumper wires.

It's been working fine for a beginner.
 
Doug D. said:
Graphite may be (relative to free) expensive up front, but in the long run promises to be more efficient and cost effective. You don't have to clean it, and one piece will probably last as long as the average collector collects.
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I tore down my e-tank last night because I'm going to move it indoors, add ventilation, and build again with a bigger, deeper tank. Anyway, it has been in operation 24/7 for 2 months pretty much to the day, and I took some pics of my graphite plates as they stand right now. There is some wear on them, but not much...I didn't do any cleaning, just took them out and let them air dry.

http://imgur.com/a/MusgG

I don't know that you'll be able to see it that well, but in the on edge picture, I was trying to get a shot of how it's a bit thinner with the part that's been in the electrolyte. I didn't measure it, but I would say it's approx 1/16" thinner at the bottom than the top.
 
Wow is worn a lot for 2 months 24/7.i have ss plates I haven't pull them out since I set it up,3 months 24/7 water is dirty, and still working as the first day,I think my plates are going to last longer than those graphite plates
 
Very interesting DougH. I am using 2 - 1/2" thick brush hog blades x 5" wide for my anodes, with Lye or NaOH for electrolyte. All set up in a 55 gallon food grade barrel since the later part of March 2015. I have put around 100 pieces through this same tank, and have clear water and my anodes have not been cleaned, nor do they need to be cleaned and show no wear. Those blades made me some $$ and in there 2nd life are still going strong. If you look at the bottom of my barrel you can see rust, but the water is clear.

Here is the thread on it. http://www.castironcollector.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1928

Image
 
Jeffrey R. said:
I am using 2 - 1/2" thick brush hog blades x 5" wide for my anodes, with Lye or NaOH for electrolyte. All set up in a 55 gallon food grade barrel since the later part of March 2015. I have put around 100 pieces through this same tank, and have clear water and my anodes have not been cleaned, nor do they need to be cleaned and show no wear. Those blades made me some $$ and in there 2nd life are still going strong. If you look at the bottom of my barrel you can see rust, but the water is clear.
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Do you put in pieces that are greasy and gummy or do you process them with a lye bath before hand? I'm curious about a single tank lye/e-tank combo, but I'd imagine that water would foul up pretty quickly with greasy "soap".
 
I do the 2 tank cleaning. First into the lye tank around 40 gals. Yes, it is black as tar but still going strong. My E-tank is just for rust or hard spots, that is why the water is clean.
 
BenjaminO said:
Do you put in pieces that are greasy and gummy or do you process them with a lye bath before hand? I'm curious about a single tank lye/e-tank combo, but I'd imagine that water would foul up pretty quickly with greasy "soap".
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I have run my combo tank for over 20 pieces before dumping the electrolyte (I dumped it because I was leaving for a couple of weeks and didn't want it sitting around). It's only a 9 gal tank, so 2 lbs of NaOH wasn't a big deal to throw away. It still had plenty of life in it. It was black, but that's ok. I do skim it once in a while with a SS strainer. Either way works ok.
 
BenjaminO said:
Do you put in pieces that are greasy and gummy or do you process them with a lye bath before hand? I'm curious about a single tank lye/e-tank combo, but I'd imagine that water would foul up pretty quickly with greasy "soap".
Click to expand...

I only run e-tank right now, so everything goes in there. Old seasoning, crud, rust, paint...it's all run through. So, for me, the water is only clear for the first couple pieces (I cleaned it and started over once in that two month period). I've skimmed it to pull paint that's floating off the top, and that helps, but it's still not clear by any stretch.

I feel like two tanks or a combo tank is probably the best way to go if you're doing a lot of volume...I'm just not there yet in my process.
 
Over the weekend, I noticed that my tank wasn't cleaning pieces as it used to. The battery charger gauge was off from what it has been. First thought was bad charger. I hooked it up to a battery and charger is working correctly. Next I cleaned all my connections and rebar. Clean rebar first with wire brush then with wire wheel on bench grinder. I added a bit more washing powder and tried again. Still not working right. The next step was cleaning the rebar with stone wheel on the grinder. That did the trick. Tank is up and cleaning good again.

I guess the rebar was pitted so badly that their wasn't anywhere near enough clean surface area for the process to work. Downside of using rebar.
 
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