What happens when pan is touching rebar in e-tank?

S

SpurgeonH

Active member
Hey guys,
In the latest e-tank thread, Mike C was wondering how streaks appeared on the bottom of his pan. Doug asked him if the pan was "touching or laying on something in the electrolyte". This got me wondering if maybe that is what caused the problem I saw in the last one I had in my e-bucket.

When I took the skillet out of the lye bucket, it looked great. But it had one small patch of black crud on the outside wall that was being stubborn. So, I put it in the e-bucket for a day. When I took it out, it had a huge rough spot on the bottom that was dark black. I don't think that was there when it came out of the lye.

I'm pretty sure the skillet was touching the bottom of my bucket and I'm sure there is a big pile of rust and old crud down there. (I can't see the bottom because the water is now black.)

Have I damaged the skillet? I scrubbed the crap out of it with a Chore Boy, put it in a 50/50 vinegar solution for about 45 minutes, then scrubbed it again. This helped with the dark "stain" but it is still a little rough to the touch in that patch. I didn't take any pictures of it showing the way it was, but here are some pictures after one round of seasoning ...

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HvBADEs.jpg


Here's the patch I'm talking about ...

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My real question is: What happens to the iron in the skillet if the skillet is touching the rebar, or the crap on the bottom of the bucket?
 
If the piece touches the anode, the circuit shorts out. I was speaking of some structure in the electrolyte put there to keep the piece from touching the anode, and perhaps leaving a "shadow" of crud where the line of sight to the anode was blocked. The piece touching your tank (or debris in the bottom) should not be a problem unless your tank is metal and is the de facto anode. The dark patch on the bottom of yours appears to be just where some rust once was. Spray some straight vinegar on it and scrub with SS scrubber or steel wool, and see if that lightens it. Otherwise, just wait until it blends with new seasoning.
 
On a purely theoretical level: If the positive touches the negative it should short out or weld itself together. With a solution there is a tendency for the positive to plate the negative from the material in the positive electrode or what is in the solution. This is normally carbon from the rebar that washes off easily, but there may be other material in the solution that can adhere to (plate) the cast iron more better.

Hilditch
 
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