Strouty
Well-known member
I may have to stop reading this thread for a few months, we are just going into Fall and then Winter, I may just get jealous of all this talk Spring and Summer weather after the snow sets in!
A Shed Downunder.
- Thread starter 1/2 Cup
- Start date
Denwood
Well-known member
Solar hot water... evacuated tube? Your day schedule makes me feel slightly lazy 
Of course, I'm about 3000km from home, so no home chores.. just business.
Seriously though, your thread is one of my favorite "***-kick" experiences here. Apparently you and Pope Francis also see eye to eye on the need for global sustainability
Of course, I'm about 3000km from home, so no home chores.. just business.Seriously though, your thread is one of my favorite "***-kick" experiences here. Apparently you and Pope Francis also see eye to eye on the need for global sustainability
metalhead140
Well-known member
Nice work 1/2 cup! I'm just starting a bit over a week off myself.
Strouty it will not be long that we are complaining of the heat but I must say the weather hear is glorious at the moment even though we could do with some rain.
Solar hot water... evacuated tube? Your day schedule makes me feel slightly lazy
Seriously though, your thread is one of my favorite "***-kick" experiences here. Apparently you and Pope Francis also see eye to eye on the need for global sustainability
Dennis, evacuated tube it will be, our hot water make up the largest proportion of our energy bill now. The intention is to couple it to our existing electric HWS and make the most of our sunny days.
The Pope and I do agree on that point for sure.
Thank you very much for your kind comments they are much appreciated.
All the best with your trip..
Thank you Andrew, what are your plans for your week off?
I spent the best part of the yesterday working on the MG F block, head and modifying the new oil pump to give the engine the best chance of surviving the punishment my son gives an engine.
I am ready to hot tank it all today at work.
Have a great weekend every one.
HOTFR8
Banned
At present I can count the listeners on one hand 
. Internet and Radio.
Have had no more feed back as yet on what went wrong with the broadcast after 9 am.
Still not giving up my day job and Eddie (who ran the control desk) and I agree the two fellow we filled in for for the two hour show do a pretty good job with the show.
Fantastic Solar weather the last few days so if you are having the days like we are here your power bill should be looking good (read as reduced).
Any updates on the other Solar system you are working on ? and are you still looking at the suggestion I gave you with the Solar Hot Water I use here ?
. Internet and Radio. Have had no more feed back as yet on what went wrong with the broadcast after 9 am.
Still not giving up my day job and Eddie (who ran the control desk) and I agree the two fellow we filled in for for the two hour show do a pretty good job with the show.
Fantastic Solar weather the last few days so if you are having the days like we are here your power bill should be looking good (read as reduced).
Any updates on the other Solar system you are working on ? and are you still looking at the suggestion I gave you with the Solar Hot Water I use here ?
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At present I can count the listeners on one hand
Have had no more feed back as yet on what went wrong with the broadcast after 9 am.
Still not giving up my day job and Eddie (who ran the control desk) and I agree the two fellow we filled in for for the two hour show do a pretty good job with the show.
Fantastic Solar weather the last few days so if you are having the days like we are here your power bill should be looking good (read as reduced).
Any updates on the other Solar system you are working on ? and are you still looking at the suggestion I gave you with the Solar Hot Water I use here ?
HOTFR8 from what I heard of the show you came across well
Let us know if you find out more about the broadcast.
Many years ago Mrs 1/2 Cup did her own segment on our local OneFM playing stuff from her own collection of seventies and eighties music. She is a huge Neil Diamond fan.
With minimal power usage at this time of year our bills are looking pretty good compared to what we were paying nearly two years ago.
The solar hot water that you suggested will be our next investment for sure. We have not progressed much further with it at this point in time having to replace our gas heater and dishwasher recently.
This week should see me do a little more on the Solar Powered Electrolysis Tank I have to pick up a tub today. Been busy reading all the posts about E - Baths on the GJ and taking on board all the lessons learned.
I will post pics as I progress.
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Nursepeter1973
Well-known member
Hey 1/2.. you should move over to WA!... This is my solar output for the last 7 days
View media item 53783
I'm looking forward to the ability to have a reasonably priced battery system to draw from at night.
View media item 53783
I'm looking forward to the ability to have a reasonably priced battery system to draw from at night.
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Tinkering around in the shed last night and managed to get a bit more done on the Solar Powered Electrolysis Bath
View media item 53805
The tub is about 60 lt ( 16 us gal ) and should suit most of my needs.
After reading what seamed like every thread on the GJ in relation to Electrolysis Rust removal a couple of things really stood out.
1. Stating the obvious... They produce hydrogen, it goes bang big time. So the focus is on all the electrical connections in and around the tub.
2. Good electrical continuity is paramount to a successful process.
3. I will be using plate steel in lieu of rebar for the anodes on either sides of the tub and the reason behind this is to provide a greater surface area, much like a battery plate.
4. I intend to measure the resistance of brew across the item to be derusted and the anode, voltage and current to find out the optimum settings. Given that it is solar powered there is also some settings on the reg I can play with.
5. I have used rebar tie wire from the negative link to connect to the work piece. This also poses another question, a good connection to your piece will also help the process along.
That's all for now, out to the shed to make some anodes.
Have a good one guys.
View media item 53805
The tub is about 60 lt ( 16 us gal ) and should suit most of my needs.
After reading what seamed like every thread on the GJ in relation to Electrolysis Rust removal a couple of things really stood out.
1. Stating the obvious... They produce hydrogen, it goes bang big time. So the focus is on all the electrical connections in and around the tub.
2. Good electrical continuity is paramount to a successful process.
3. I will be using plate steel in lieu of rebar for the anodes on either sides of the tub and the reason behind this is to provide a greater surface area, much like a battery plate.
4. I intend to measure the resistance of brew across the item to be derusted and the anode, voltage and current to find out the optimum settings. Given that it is solar powered there is also some settings on the reg I can play with.
5. I have used rebar tie wire from the negative link to connect to the work piece. This also poses another question, a good connection to your piece will also help the process along.
That's all for now, out to the shed to make some anodes.
Have a good one guys.
HOTFR8
Banned
I do not like the mention of any BANGS. If it was me that Solar Panel would be set up making power for something else given I do not like the idea the system would produce Hydrogen. Looking good and looks like you have been very productive with the break away from work.
HOTFR8The bath is for outdoor use only for sure, the panel is set up to be multi functional in that it is able to charge batteries as well but not at the same time. I have purposely fitted a long lead on it so that the panel and the tub are a reasonable distance apart.
I am certainly enjoying the break and just taking things at my pace for a change.
shortykorte
Well-known member
Great little rig you have started. I like putting the tank on a dolly. What is the conduit for? I assume it it holding the negative leads.
Looking good so far. From what I understand, the process does not produce all that much hydrogen. As long as you use it in a well ventilated area, like outside, as you are planning, there should be no issues with hydrogen build up at all. I think a charging battery produces more hydrogen than electrolysis due to the acids involved.
drivesitfar
Well-known member
1/2: nothing better than having a sparky fine tune the Electrolysis methods we use. looking forward to seeing how your projects turn out. feel free to add any comments or projects to the homemade electrolysis thread we have on GJ and if there is a better thread or source for information please let us know.
good luck
good luck
Thanks shorty Yes I need to be able to move stuff around here and that tub full of water would kill my back.
The conduit is a very ridged HFT PVC conduit and you are correct in saying it will hold the negative leads, the main reason I did it this way was to keep the items as centred as much as I could and to suspend smaller items as required. In theory centralising the items between the two anodes should provide a more even derust given the resistance between the positive anodes and negative items should be much the same, therefore the current flow will be similar at any given point.
Its basic OHMS Law really.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohm's_law
I will be doing some tests and post my findings in due course.
You are right on the money there Coop
And I guess we have all at some point charged a battery in our sheds, me included.
drives Thank you, I have copied the above into and will continue to update the home electrolysis thread just to keep every one in the loop
Pass or fail it is great to share lessons learned.
Have a great day guys..
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The Solar Powered Electrolysis Bath update.
Anodes done and ready for its first test run.
Its bubbling away as I type this
I have used 1 cup ( and no, not a 1/2 Cup ) of washing soda first up to see how it goes, sitting on a steady 12 volts at around 4 amps at the moment.
View media item 53821
Back to it guys.
Anodes done and ready for its first test run.
Its bubbling away as I type this
I have used 1 cup ( and no, not a 1/2 Cup ) of washing soda first up to see how it goes, sitting on a steady 12 volts at around 4 amps at the moment.
View media item 53821
Back to it guys.
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HOTFR8
Banned
Looking forward to the before and after (photos) with the parts in the tub at present.
HOTFR8
Banned
Now that is impressive.
HOTFR8
Banned
I am thinking it would be good for my fire unit project. May have to stick with the angle grinder and wire brush for that 
.
.I am thinking it would be good for my fire unit project. May have to stick with the angle grinder and wire brush for that
I just had a thought ( I know that's hard to believe ) with the amount of solar you have and if you had a pool we could up scale my set up at your place and de rust the fire unit.
Thanks nines it works well thus far.
A little more tweaking and refining the process from lessons learned and I think we are on a winner.
I have coupled a 40 ah gel cell battery to the system firstly to get it going and secondly to maintain the system voltage fairly constant and set the low voltage cutout at 11.5 volts.
I used cold rolled steel plate for the anodes and I will run the disc sander over them to improve the continuity, in hind sight I should have used bright steel plate.
I will give it a run tomorrow again and see how the improvements go.
Have a
good one.sounds like good improvements, I found degreasing first along with brushing the parts or wire wheeling them about halfway through the process seems to help too. Definitely get that mill scale off and give it a shot. They say line of sight works better too, like having the bars up level with the center height of the parts but IDk, mine was vertical rebar all around so I didn't get to try that theory.
HOTFR8
Banned
I just had a thought ( I know that's hard to believe ) with the amount of solar you have and if you had a pool we could up scale my set up at your place and de rust the fire unit.
Dump the whole thing in a swimming pool for a few days
.Well
maybe not. Impressive how well those two items came up after.HOTFR8
Banned
You guys laugh but they do it with welding machines and car/truck bodies. just need enough water and enough juice!
I have enough (Solar) panels here to do it but nothing to put it (something so big) in. 1/2's system sure looks to work well.
southern_tango
Active member
Wow,Cup nice set up and even better outcome.
With the strong sun here in Oz I recon you and Hot could derust the titanic,ggg
With the strong sun here in Oz I recon you and Hot could derust the titanic,ggg
Strouty
Well-known member
I have wanted to setup an tank for a while, now I want a solar one!
That was very impressive for only two hours.
That was very impressive for only two hours.
rmalkow2
Well-known member
Details on the anodes? They look constructed from the plates near the bottom of the tub maybe welded to pieces of tubing? Then with a bolt or threaded rod at the tube top for wiring attachment and a strap hook for hanging over the side of the tub? Anything I'm not seeing?
drivesitfar
Well-known member
1/2: awesome. also for huge items if you have any friends with property you can dig a big hole, put in heavy duty plastic (think pond liner) and fill with water and put in a car or whatever you like. of course if it's rusted too much the rust might have been holding it together.
thanks for trying this and with your knowledge i'm still learning more so when i set mine up i should have a system to last the rest of my life.
cheers 1/2 and nice work. are you painting or using BLO?
thanks for trying this and with your knowledge i'm still learning more so when i set mine up i should have a system to last the rest of my life.
cheers 1/2 and nice work. are you painting or using BLO?
Thank you southern_tango
The possibilities are endless.
Great result!
Thank you Vieux
Strouty my only regret is that I did not have it in the early days of the Model A restoration after seeing what it can do.
rmalkow You have pretty much nailed it.
The two plates are 3"x 1/8" cold rolled flat.
The rods are 3/8 solid round mild steel bar.
All just tacked together with the MIG
I drilled out the bar and tapped an M6 ( 1/4 ) thread and used M6 threaded rod for the termination point, two flat washers either side of the crimp lug and wingnuts for easy disconnection.
The straps for hanging over the sides were just some scrap 1"x 1/8" mild steel flat I bent in the vise then tacked onto the rod, you could use angle iron.
This was just basically to keep the anodes a little up from the bottom.
I trust this helps.
Thanks Coop even with limited day light hours one would be worth a try. I was amazed what mine did in just two hours.
Thanks drives I can just imagine an excavator in HOTFR8s front yard.
At this point in time I will be using boiled linseed oil on the block and tackle as it comes out of the bath. I really don't want to paint it as it has a lovely patina and I don't want to lose that.
Have a great day every one.
I am off to get that hair cut I sorely need.