OT - Restoring Cast Iron Cookware With Electrolysis - OT

1voyager

I decided to play the mad scientist, so my cast iron restoration journey begins.

This is a Griswold 8 with heavy carbon.




Here is the setup. I would have preferred smaller steel sheets but this is all Home Depot had. They are 12" X 24".



The charger:



Here is the progress after just 50 minutes!



I'll give an update in 5 hours. In the meantime I would be happy to answer any questions.

Focker

Looks great.
An awful lot going on there.  

How much $$$ are you in to it at this point?

WeberWho

Great post. Looking forward to the results!

mEGG_My_Day

What is the liquid - water?

Jupiter Jim

Oven cleaner in a plastic bag will remove all the baked on grease, but do nothing to the rust.

nolaegghead

Assuming red is positive and black negative, why do you have shorts?

nolaegghead

Oh, nevermind.  You just have the plates hooked up in series. 

Woodchunk

Our Miele has a pots and pans cycle and no exposed wires

1voyager

Focker said:

Looks great.
An awful lot going on there.  

How much $$$ are you in to it at this point?

Thanks.

Around $70.

1voyager

mEGG_My_Day said:

What is the liquid - water?

Yes. Water and Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda. One tablespoon per gallon of water. 

1voyager

nolaegghead said:

Oh, nevermind.  You just have the plates hooked up in series. 

Yep.

kl8ton

Watching.  I may give this a go.  I have several pieces that came with the house or from grandma.

1voyager

This is after four hours.



Here's the entire setup. The wires connected to the steel sheets are two sets of cheap jumper cables. The tub has a 17 gallon capacity.

nolaegghead

FYI - some of the new digital battery chargers won't apply a current unless there's an existing voltage.  I noticed you used an old-school analog charger, which gets around this caveat. 

A trick to getting the newer digital chargers to work it to attache a battery to them.  At least, in theory, I think this would work.

Very similar to the voltage sense line in new alternators - they don't work unless there's an external voltage.

1voyager

nolaegghead said:

FYI - some of the new digital battery chargers won't apply a current unless there's an existing voltage.  I noticed you used an old-school analog charger, which gets around this caveat. 

A trick to getting the newer digital chargers to work it to attache a battery to them.  At least, in theory, I think this would work.

Very similar to the voltage sense line in new alternators - they don't work unless there's an external voltage.

You don't miss thing! 

Yes, it's a Schumacher SE-82-6 Dual Rate 2/6 Amp manual charger. $23.95 on Amazon Prime.

blasting

@1voyager  Way to cut my grass!  jk.  Your set up looks good, I'm sure it will be successful for you.  I'll post a pic of my set up shortly so it can add to your thread.  

nolaegghead said:

FYI - some of the new digital battery chargers won't apply a current unless there's an existing voltage.  I noticed you used an old-school analog charger, which gets around this caveat. 

A trick to getting the newer digital chargers to work it to attache a battery to them.  At least, in theory, I think this would work.

Very similar to the voltage sense line in new alternators - they don't work unless there's an external voltage.

Your theory tests out - I tried it last time I ran my tank.  A digital charger hooked to a battery works fine.  I have a manual, so I normally just use that

1voyager

@blasting - Cut your grass? I don't get it but I'm slow today. 

Thank-you for your compliment. The excess jumper cables look goofy. I planned to cut them down to six inches but was unable to open the connection between the clamp and the wire. Tried to pry one open with a screwdriver and of course it slipped and left a monster gash on the palm of my hand. NBD.

I look forward to seeing your setup. 

blasting

1voyager said:

@blasting - Cut your grass? I don't get it but I'm slow today. 

Thank-you for your compliment. The excess jumper cables looks goofy. I planned to cut them down to six inches but was unable to open the connection between the clamp and the wire. Tried to pry one open with a screwdriver and of course it slipped and left a monster gash on the palm of my hand. NBD.

I committed last week to doing a thread on this subject, I thought you were in on that.  I was joking.  

Carolina Q

Why so many sacrificial anodes? Pretty sure one is plenty, no? 

1voyager

blasting said:

I committed last week to doing a thread on this subject, I thought you were in on that.  I was joking.  

I was in on that thread. I figured that you were joking but I never heard the "cut the grass" term before. (Other than actually cutting the grass.) Please post your thread. This is my first time with electrolysis so I'm sure there are many things you can teach us.

Focker

1voyager said:

This is after four hours.



Here's the entire setup. The wires connected to the steel sheets are two sets of cheap jumper cables. The tub has a 17 gallon capacity.

Nice setup.
Now you're committed to finding more Fe. 

1voyager

Carolina Q said:

Why so many sacrificial anodes? Pretty sure one is plenty, no? 

Probably, but I didn't want to have to reposition the pan to get full coverage. My understanding is that electrolysis is "line of sight". There are lots of videos out there showing people using one rebar in a five gallon bucket and it works fine but they reposition the object from time-to-time. Boss Lady says the setup looks like something Rube Goldberg would have designed. Dunno if it was intended to be a compliment. 

1voyager

Results after six hours. Some of the carbon slid off of the pan as I lifted it out of the tub. Other areas are still as hard as a rock.

Carolina Q

Never would have thought that line of sight would matter for something in an "electrically charged bath". I haven't done this in a good 15 years, but I know I only used one piece of iron. But whatever works.

As for Rube Goldberg? That would be me.

DieselkW

Does the cleaner exterior of the Griswold line up to the anode facing spots? I wonder if the four (bare) corners of the plastic water/washing soda tub effected the overall cleaning?? 

I've only done this a couple times, using caustic soda (lye). What comes out after 8 hours or so is a very clean grey iron that begins to rust almost immediately, but blackens nicely with a layer of warm lard coating it, and a 400º Egg. 

That's a nice old Griswold you got there - start slicing some taters!!

Kcheves

Nice effort.  I have restored a few vintage vises using electrolysis, and have learned a few things:

- Don't use stainless as the anode, unless you want your home to be a Superfund site

- Steel or iron as the anode works well, but creates lots of sludge.  Graphite is much less messy.  Machine shops often have scrap graphite plates from making EDM tools, I buy rods from McMaster.

- If you don't have an old-school battery charger, lots of people use old PC power supplies as the current source.

- I make the electrolyte from pH Up,  a pool care product you can get anywhere.

- Don't run your tank in a closed area or near pilot flames.  Hydrogen is created in the process and will go Kablooee.

1voyager

@DieselkW - Yes, the cleaner areas are directly facing the anodes. Plus the areas closer to the anodes seem to be cleaning faster than the more distant ones. It may just be my imagination.

@Carolina Q 's comment makes sense that "line of sight" doesn't matter in an electrically charged bath. I'm just going to call it magic!

nolaegghead

Line of sight is somewhat true.  It's the path of least resistance.

Same reason we put lightening rods in high places to protect the structures below.  The electricity wants to go to ground, and the grounded rod is the nearest way to get there.

mEGG_My_Day

I have a related question.  I purchased this griswold #9 recently.  The bottom cooking surface is very clean and well seasoned.  But the seasoning on the sides is chipping off.  Should I strip it down and start from scratch, or try to just reseason the sides?

nolaegghead

@mEGG_My_Day

Strip it off.   You can put it in the oven with some oven cleaner, or in the oven on the clean cycle.

mEGG_My_Day

nolaegghead said:

@mEGG_My_Day

Strip it off.   You can put it in the oven with some oven cleaner, or in the oven on the clean cycle.

Thanks - that's the way I was leaning.