Thanks Guys I will try and answer some questions.
"Looks good Wombat. Can you put up some more pics of the set up and how you built it please?"
I'm sorry seavan I didn't take too many pictures as I made it.
The principle is pretty basic. You can use any piece of metal, (NOT STAINLESS, bad bad bad gases result), that you wish to sacrifice. This can be from a piece of single plate up to something similar to what i made. The outside metal needs the positive clamp, while the piece that needs cleaning the negative.
The other important thing is to use washing soda only in the water. This creates a solution that allows the electrical charge to travel in.
The final thing to remember is that when you turn the power on you will see small bubbles coming off the part you are trying to clean. These are oxygen and more importantly Hydrogen. So this needs to be done outside or where there is free flowing air. If in doubt just remember the Hindenburg!
"Is this method only good for internal parts or would you be happy with panels as well? "
I have placed some inner guards in there while I am away at work. The good part about this method is that you "set and forget". The system will only work till there is no more rust/ paint etc. Once this has been done the process stops. As for surface finish and panels I will be putting the front guards in the solution when I get home. I have spoken to the panel beater about it and he says that it is far better for the surface metal as it inflicts no abrasion on the metal surface. There is no chance of warping a panel, or residual soda if using soda blasting. I have seen in my research people using plastic kids pools and even a "tomato washing tub" to do a whole car.
"Thats fantastic and you don't have a drum full of chemicals that are costly and difficult to get rid of."
It is great. When I had the molasses tank it smelt bad and if it got on you it took days and a lot of soap to get the smell off. While disposal was environmentally friendly, it still smelt bad.
This is simply soapy water with rust or iron oxide in it, and i have researched and found that it is great from greening up the lawn as well! The only thing I would say is that as we are stripping lead based paint it would be advisable to filter the water and dispose of the paint bits appropriately.
"How do you stop the surface rust after you pressure wash them?"
WB the process that I have used so far, and seems to be working, is as follows.
After removal from the tank and pressure wash, I blow dry with air or allow to air dry if the sun is out. I then use a phosphoric acid in a spray bottle that I get from bunnings called rust buster. It destroys any remaining surface rust and seems to form a coating over the part. It can then be removed with metho or acetone prior to coating with primer etc.
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