Battery Charger for Electrolysis

[83glt]

I hope this is the correct forum for my question...

I picked up an old Sears battery charger a flea market for $2 in working condition, essentially identical to this one, and was wondering if it will suffice for several electrolysis projects I have on hand. It would be used exclusively for this purpose. Thanks!

 

[gilbo]

yes it will

 

[83glt]

Great! Thank you. I'll start a general restoration thread once I get up and running.

 

[gilbo]

this will help you also

ELECTROLYSIS

 

[Chasbec]

I just did a big electrolysis project (125 lb vice in about 20 gallons of water) using basically the same charger (a little newer but same 6 amps and 6/12 volts. It worked just fine.

 

[gte718p]

Perfect. Actually any battery charger except one of the new computer controlled smart chargers will work.

 

[gilbo]

so ru gonna give the charger a quick face lift with a fresh coat of paint,btw nice little find with the charger

 

[83glt]

Thanks. This was a pic I found online and I couldn't figure out what was different about mine until I got home and realized the "Sears Allstate" badge is missing on mine. Otherwise it's exactly the same. Mine is a little grimy with some surface rust so I figured I'd just throw it in the vat at the same time as the vise!

But seriously, ya I was going to clean it up a bit. I already rehabilitated the connectors as they worked but were frayed. I'll post back once I'm underway.

 

[drivesitfar]

83: good find on the old charger and should work great. here is a thread a lot of the GJ members did recently about electrolysis in case you have any questions because most are covered in it somewhere.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=237752&highlight=electrolysis

also if you want to do a before and after post of your restoration on the Vise Repair 101 thread that would be great so any of us can find a fix or issue on our vises maybe by checking one thread instead of spending hours looking at them all. McB did a great before and after on his Parker that had a lot of issues on posts #117-124 in that thread if you want to see a really good example. two posts is usually good enough for most vises, but feel free to take a few posts if you have plenty of pictures and comments.

good luck

 

[83glt]

Thanks, I'm going to do that for sure.

 

[83glt]

So I added a post to the 101 thread about the vise. So far the little charger is working out really well!

 

[Fretters]

So far the little charger is working out really well!

As it should. You'll find that charger is ample for pretty much anything you might ever want to do in the vat. A lot of people like to see some serious frothing action going on when using electrolysis, but you really don't want that. A couple of amps is ample for even quite large pieces. Low and steady is the best approach. The supply I use is only around 3A or so maximum output, and I never let it go anywhere near maximum.

 

[drivesitfar]

83: thanks again for adding the posts to the 101 thread. there are several options that might help tighten up that vise nut and if you have a welder or machinist (or maybe you are one or both) you could even make a pin that will fit in the hole and have a big round portion to hold the nut in. say the pin is 1/4 inch diameter and above the pin is say an inch or inch and a half whatever it takes to make it snug and omit the slop.

nice vise and looking forward to the restore so i can store you pictures in the same file with Kevin's because i didn't have any Red Seal vises saved until he posted his just recently on the vise thread.

good luck

 

[404]

It looks like the clamps might not be original. Maybe check the polarity of the output to make sure the red one is positive.

Regards,
404

 

[83glt]

These pictures were found online and are not of my actual charger. That said, my clamps are identical to this one, so I suspect that they are original.

 

[404]

These pictures were found online and are not of my actual charger. That said, my clamps are identical to this one, so I suspect that they are original.

Okay good. Have read about owners getting creative with the labels.

Regards,
404