Am i doing this right-electrolysis.

[Tigerdude]

I have a 5 gallon bucket with carbon rods as my sacrificial metal. I have a 10 amp manual battery charger. I use water and baking soda. Sometimes it works like gang busters but sometimes it’s slow as heck. I have used self tapping metal screws to get a bite of larger durable items such as ax heads but others i can’t because it’s either too far gone, small and i simply wrap the wire around the rusty item . There are some occasions i don’t get any reaction and i wonder what I’m doing wrong. Sometimes i think it’s my battery charger and the next thing you know it comes out fine. The water i use has a high alkaline measurement. Any ideas..

 

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[villagenut]

Without a good connection to both the artifact and the sacrificial material you will have slow or no progress.Placing your alligator clip on a surface concretion will not make for good progress either. Slow though is not bad thing, but you might want to amp down to between 2 and 6 amps.You could also add a little more baking soda to your water sometimes this helps if your water/soda mix is light.

 

[Tigerdude]

I appreciate the input. I do notice that some of the slow items have a rust cocooon on them due to being under water. I guess I have to penetrate to good metal with my contact.

 

[Tigerdude]

I appreciate the input. I do notice that some of the slow items have a rust cocooon on them due to being under water. I guess I have to penetrate to good metal with my contact.

 

[Army]

Colin Pearson , conservation of marine archaeological objects, it is a great source for electrolyzing