Rusted Parts

[Alacrity]

Molasses - I kid you not.

Luck
Alac

[Momo]

yeah but we all know Molasses is slow

[LaneRover]

Can the electrolysis method only be used for ferrous metals (steel, iron and such) or can it be used for any metal that will carry a current? Or in other words can it also be used with Aluminum if you use another hunk of aluminum as the sacrificial electrode?

Brent

[S11A]

I am thinking yes. I have seen a kit sold for household use that consists of a sheet of metal (anode or cathode) and a powder that is basically the washing soda as described in the link above. The metal sheet and the powder go into a bucket with water and the pieces to be de-tarnished are dipped in. It does a great job of removing tarnish from silver, brass, etc., i.e.- polishing the silverware. Light tarnish is removed almost instantly.

But w/o the power supply, it is probably going to be a lot more gentle, as you would want for silver.

On a similar note, on Mythbusters (Discovery channel show) they used a DC power supply and salsa to erode metal bars (simulating a jail break) and they managed to eat through a thick iron bar in about a month. AC didn't work at all.