Cleaning Coins Jewelry and Artifacts

[RustyGold]

I know this may have been posted before but I thought I would post my experience with cleaning coins and a ring with a DIY electrolysis unit.
Silver Dime was in the solution for 20 minutes then tooth brushed with liquid soap!
Ring was in for 2 hours then brushed clean.

Items needed:
1 - carbon rod (amazon.com) 2.00 plus shipping (carbon rod is not toxic unlike the stainless steel anode)
Plastic container (Pyrex Beaker optional) use a 1 - Gal. water bottle!
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda $4.00.
12V charger (free on hand)
Small Alligator Clips $1.00 or less.

For soldering the Alligator Clips you will need a soldering Iron and Lead free Solder. I purchased the Pyrex beaker online for $15 shipped but everything else I had on hand.
Electrolysis cleaning is awesome and cheap! Please use in a ventilated area! Negative clip goes on coin or object. Positive clip goes on carbon rod.

Best of Luck
Rusty

 

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[Old Dude]

Great post, Rusty. A simple tip for deciphering which wire is neg and which is pos is this: strip the end of the wires and split them apart a few inches so they will not touch each other. Place the ends into the water ( making sure they do not touch ) and plug the adapter into an outlet. One wire will begin bubbling. This is the negative wire.

 

[RustyGold]

Great tip Old Dude! I did notice the Negative side bubbling away!

 

[Limitool]

Thanks guy... great info.

Can someone point me to a thread on "how to" clean my iron finds using electrolysis? So I notice above you don't put the coin in the water (or wrong)? I got all the above items except the carbon rod.

 

[RustyGold]

You need to stick the coin in the water that has the Arm & Hammer Washing Soda in it (1/2 cup).
I saw a guy on YouTube cleaning iron parts with the same set up but was using a trickle charger for car batteries.
The bucket he used to stick the part in was a 5 gal. Plastic paint bucket. He used rebar for the anode. I did a search on YouTube for coin cleaning with electrolysis.
Be sure to put the Positive clip on the rod (anode) and the negative clip on the item you want to clean.

 

[Limitool]

You need to stick the coin in the water that has the Arm & Hammer Washing Soda in it (1/2 cup).
I saw a guy on YouTube cleaning iron parts with the same set up but was using a trickle charger for car batteries.
The bucket he used to stick the part in was a 5 gal. Plastic paint bucket. He used rebar for the anode. I did a search on YouTube for coin cleaning with electrolysis.
Be sure to put the Positive clip on the rod (anode) and the negative clip on the item you want to clean.

I'm doing something wrong (obviously). Used 5 gallon plastic bucket. Used hunk of steel for anode. Did use a 12 volt devise charger. I keep tripping the GFI. WHY

 

[Old Dude]

I'm doing something wrong (obviously). Used 5 gallon plastic bucket. Used hunk of steel for anode. Did use a 12 volt devise charger. I keep tripping the GFI. WHY

Are you using trickle charge and making sure the part to be cleaned is NOT touching the sacrificial metal?

 

[BVI Hunter]

You need to stick the coin in the water that has the Arm & Hammer Washing Soda in it (1/2 cup).
I saw a guy on YouTube cleaning iron parts with the same set up but was using a trickle charger for car batteries.
The bucket he used to stick the part in was a 5 gal. Plastic paint bucket. He used rebar for the anode. I did a search on YouTube for coin cleaning with electrolysis.
Be sure to put the Positive clip on the rod (anode) and the negative clip on the item you want to clean.

I too cleaned iron stuff with re bar and a car charger (adjustable power output)
I used a 5 gallon bucket and three re-bars around the edge. the object goes in the solution in the middle

I used a plastic carpenters clamp to hold the wire to the object.

 

[Limitool]

Are you using trickle charge and making sure the part to be cleaned is NOT touching the sacrificial metal?

No I wasn't using a trickle charge. Was using 12V wall plug. And yes I made sure they weren't touching. The 12V wall plug to much charge? So if I used my car charger set it on 1,2,3,4....??

 

[Old Dude]

Not sure what you mean by " 12 volt wall plug"? If you mean a 12 volt battery charger, you should have a switch that allows you a " fast " charge or a " slow " charge. Go with the lowest setting on the charger. Fast is probably exceeding the current limit of the GFCI.

 

[Old Dude]

Low and Slow applies to electrolysis as well as detecting. You want a low DC voltage so you do not end up burning the piece. Remember to check your work often until you get comfortable with the process.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

If I attempt electrolysis please remind me to make sure my life and home owner insurance is current and up to date.
(Murphy's law/my life).

 

[relicmeister]

I had an electrolysis set-up for a while and have mixed results. I think it's time to try it again, on a more moderate scale.

 

[RustyGold]

Is the positive hooked up to the anode? And the negative clip to the item?

 

[Limitool]

Is the positive hooked up to the anode? And the negative clip to the item?

Rusty... if your answering me (Limitool / Brad) I can't say for sure. I just learned yesterday how to tell the difference from a post above (negative side "boils" in the water). If this was reversed would this cause the GFI to trip. I'm just experimenting with these rusty old horseshoes I find. I have car charger but haven't tried that yet. Just the 12V wall mounted phone charger. I was using an old clean piece of angle iron steel for the anode. The shoe and anode never touched either. Had 5 gallon bucket but didn't put soda in. Does that cause problems without it in? Or the process just won't work? Thanks for any advise.

 

[RustyGold]

Brad,
Both the carbon rod and the coin show boiling! The wires coming from the charger will have one solid black wire and the other wire will have broken white lines on it to indicate that it's the positive wire! Do not let them touch and have the electrolyte in the water first, then hook up the wire with the white lines to it (positive) to the anode.
Then clip the solid black wire (negative) to the item you're cleaning and slowly place it in the washing soda solution (electrolyte). Hope this helps!

 

[RustyGold]

Brad,
The 12v charger should work fine unless it's has a short in it!
I'm using a 12v charger that is 100mAh shown in the first post!

 

[Limitool]

Thanks Rusty... I'll try again maybe later today. How much baking soda to the gallon? I got the "same" looking charger here but both wires are the same unlike your description above. But I greatly appreciate your time and effort helping me. Later, Brad

 

[Red James Cash]

You can also use common table salt instead of baking soda.

 

[Old Dude]

You can also use common table salt instead of baking soda.

That's what I use. I believe it makes the water more conductive.


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