Is there any interest in a how-to on derusting a tank with electrolysis?

[chuck c]

I've just brought home a GL1100 that's been sitting for 3 years and of course it was not stored properly, just parked. :roll: There's much to do but I'm going to start with the tank. I have used the electrolysis before and it works well if a bit slow. The big advantage of this method on the Goldwing is I don't have to remove the tank to do it. On any other bike I'd pop it off and have an easier time of washing it out and such but that's a real PITA on a GW. If there's interest I'll document the job and post it.

 

[dan filipi]

I would like to see the entire process well documented.

 

[PappaJim]

Check this link for step by step electrolysis, very informative and helpful

https://users.eastlink.ca/~pspencer/nsae ... html#setup

 

[Steve83]

I'd love to see it actually work on a bad tank. I tried it on one of mine, and while it did remove a good bit of rust, after 5 or 6 days there was still quite a bit remaining. I used a couple of gallons of Evapo-Rust, and it cleared up nicely. Of course, the tank was out of the bike, so I could rotate it every few hours. It was strapped to an engine stand.

Go for it, and we'll be watching with great interest!

 

[slabghost]

Been a lot of tanks derusted that way with varied results. I would really like to see one done step by step with good results that can be repeated on other tanks with the same results.

 

[mike in idaho]

This tank was really rusty. The process took about a week, but the tank looked new inside.

 

[chuck c]

Well, I'm sorry I got everyone so excited but I finally got into it tonight and it seems it's in very good shape and doesn't need the treatment. That's a win for me! As partial compensation I will give the tips I have on the topic.

An automatic battery charger didn't work. At least mine didn't. They sense resistance and back down the power which is good for not killing batteries but all wrong for this operation. I had an old low power 12V power supply that worked nicely.

Don't forget to remove the petcock. You don't want the crud getting into it. You'll need to make some kind of plug for its hole. I cut a piece of thick scrap plastic about the same footprint as the petcock, drilled holes using the petcock as a guide, then used the orig screws to hold it on. I got lucky and it sealed by itself but you might need a little gasket goop.

I mixed the washing powder in a bucket and poured rather than try to mix it in the tank. It dissolves easier if the water is a bit warm.

The electrode should have as much surface area as possible because as it gets covered with crap it doesn't work as well. I pulled it and sanded it off to expose clean steel once a day for I think 4 days. It might have gone faster with a bigger PS but it was in really bad shape.

As for the electrode, I used about a foot of wire. To keep it from touching the tank I put it inside a plastic tube that I cut a bunch of notches with a table saw to allow good flow. This way I didn't have to worry about it grounding out. This time I was going to try sticking a rubber stopper on the end and maybe a few plastic bottle caps along the wire to keep it away from the tank. It would circulate better than my notched hose trick but still insulate it from the tank.

I hope that's helpful.