So today is a beautiful day here in Birmingham and tomorrow is suppose to be just as nice. I had planned on getting the bike running this weekend but a piece of equipment I ordered from Amazon has not arrived. In the interim I will continue with the rust removal from the fuel tank. When I looked in to the tank this morning I was surprised to see that it hadn't flash rusted after my last attempt to clean it and that there was only some stubborn spots of rust remaining, which made me pretty happy that this is all going the right direction.
My first item in the order of things was to rinse the tank with some CLR; it's not as good as straight phosphoric acid but the only phosphoric acid I could find yesterday was in a huge jug and I really didn't need that much. CLR does do a fairly good job with rust and my intentions were to just loosen and rinse any large particles of rust at the start up. The picture to the left shows the equipment I'm using today. Battery charger, steel rod for use as an anode and baking soda.
If anyone is not familiar with the electrolysis method of rust removal, it goes something like this. The tank is filled with regular tap water to the brim, baking soda is added (approximately 1 tablespoon per gallon of water), a sacrificial anode is placed inside the tank, now the important part here is that the anode not be allowed to touch the inside of the tank itself; I accomplished this by placing a large wire nut on the end and running the bar through a rubber stopper at the filler. Once the set up is in place the negative lead from the battery charger is connected to the tank (I connected it to the forward mounting bolt bracket) and the positive lead is connected to the anode. With the power on some magical scientific process takes place that electronically frees the rust from the tank and attracts it to the anode. Essentially its an electromagnet where the ferrous rust particles are attracted to the positively charged anode. Check out you tube for some great video examples of how this works.
So now with the process up and running we will let it sit for about 24 hours, checking the water level and cleaning debris from the anode as we go. I guess I should mention the "danger" involved in this process. The chemical reaction that takes place creates hydrogen gas and THAT as anyone who has ever seen video of the Hindenburg knows, can be a bit volatile. So, I will be back here tomorrow with the results, wish me luck...
So today is a beautiful day here in Birmingham and tomorrow is suppose to be just as nice. I had planned on getting the bike running this weekend but a piece of equipment I ordered from Amazon has not arrived. In the interim I will continue with the rust removal from the fuel tank. When I looked in to the tank this morning I was surprised to see that it hadn't flash rusted after my last attempt to clean it and that there was only some stubborn spots of rust remaining, which made me pretty happy that this is all going the right direction.
My first item in the order of things was to rinse the tank with some CLR; it's not as good as straight phosphoric acid but the only phosphoric acid I could find yesterday was in a huge jug and I really didn't need that much. CLR does do a fairly good job with rust and my intentions were to just loosen and rinse any large particles of rust at the start up. The picture to the left shows the equipment I'm using today. Battery charger, steel rod for use as an anode and baking soda.
If anyone is not familiar with the electrolysis method of rust removal, it goes something like this. The tank is filled with regular tap water to the brim, baking soda is added (approximately 1 tablespoon per gallon of water), a sacrificial anode is placed inside the tank, now the important part here is that the anode not be allowed to touch the inside of the tank itself; I accomplished this by placing a large wire nut on the end and running the bar through a rubber stopper at the filler. Once the set up is in place the negative lead from the battery charger is connected to the tank (I connected it to the forward mounting bolt bracket) and the positive lead is connected to the anode. With the power on some magical scientific process takes place that electronically frees the rust from the tank and attracts it to the anode. Essentially its an electromagnet where the ferrous rust particles are attracted to the positively charged anode. Check out you tube for some great video examples of how this works.
So now with the process up and running we will let it sit for about 24 hours, checking the water level and cleaning debris from the anode as we go. I guess I should mention the "danger" involved in this process. The chemical reaction that takes place creates hydrogen gas and THAT as anyone who has ever seen video of the Hindenburg knows, can be a bit volatile. So, I will be back here tomorrow with the results, wish me luck...
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