43138 Road 52 Reedley, California 93654
Carl Bergman, who is a member of EDGE& TA Branch 30 located
in southern California, contacted his friend, Don Ross, who is
employed as an aerospace engineer, for advice. Ross is most
qualified and knowledgeable about removing rust from every kind of
old metal, and offered the following formula to Bergman, who in
turn presented it to Branch 30 president Jerry Wymore and the rest
of the EDGE&TA Branch 30 members.
Several members, who at first were skeptical, experimented with
this formula many times and found it to be absolutely workable and
effective. EDGE&TA Branch 30 is eager and excited to present
this workable formula to all ‘Old Engine Lovers’ who may
have rust removal problems. Our special thanks to engineer Don
Ross, Carl Bergman, and president Jerry Wymore for their
willingness to share this formula and offer valuable advice to all
who may find rust difficult to remove.
With apparatus set up as shown in either Sketch I or Sketch
II(15 ampere battery charger, preferred), fill the container (vat)
to a desired level with tap water. Plug in or turn on the battery
charger, switch to 12 volt output, and note the current flow on the
battery charger meter (a sensitive one, we hope). Unless your tap
water is extremely hard, the current will indicate ‘zero.’
(And you thought water was a good conductor, at least when standing
in it.) We need a salt or acid solution to serve as an electrolyte,
conducting electricity between the two electrodes. Either common
table salt or toilet bowl cleaner (crystal type) will serve our
purpose very well. Use toilet bowl cleaner if you are likely to
splash or wash the salt water in the grass in the backyard. In
either case, dissolve a pound in a gallon of water and start to add
the solution slowly to the vat water until the current flow becomes
10 to 14 amps. If the current flow becomes excessive for your
particular battery charger, add more tap water. After the rusty
part has ‘cooked’ for about an hour, remove, hose off and
scrub with steel wool or a wire brush. Note the progress and
continue ‘cooking’ until all rust has been removed-or until
the process is obviously pitting or roughing the metal part. If one
side of the rusty part becomes derusted early on, turn the part to
expose the rust to the positive electrode. When you conclude that
the ‘cooking’ is finished, hose off the part and swab it
with a diluted solution of one of the phosphoric acid products.
Overall, this is a very cheap and safe- but messy-rust removal
process. And it needs more handwork in the form of wire brushing
than the other processes require.
To each his own process-and good luck. Whatever you do, keep
your mind on reasonable safety!
