# RE: Caliper Rebuild using electrolysis. Anyone? Anyone... Bueller?



## 1upDub (Jul 5, 2008)

*RE: Caliper Rebuild using electrolysis. Anyone? Anyone... Bueller?*

Ok, so I was reading the MKIII DIY and envying all those who had painted their calipers -- Soooo hot.
So I decided to do my own given that my rears were pretty much shot since I first got my hands on the 1UpDub (I call it that cos' it reminds me of a 1up super mario shroom -- incidentally I found one that I'm gonna use as my shifter knob but that's after I paint it to match the funky carribean blue/green of my exterior). The fronts started to go this past week, so it topped my priority list of things to get done.
To try and save down-time, I bought a set off e-bay but they could only send me three of the four. The set I got wasn't what I was looking at on e-bay since it was a private paypal sale from the same distributor and they were CAKED and the bolts were frozen. Rather than waste the penetrating lubricant on it just yet, I decided to remove the rust using Electrolysis to see if it would have any effect on the bolts. You can look here http://www.rickswoodshopcreati...l.htm the information I referenced when deciding to go this route.
I've heard of people using this process to clean up their old rusty tools and antiques and even heard of some people using this process for old car parts. Since I'm a daddy of three on a single lowly income and I really wanted to keep the stock looks, I decided it was time to try this out -- I've taken some pics of the setup and some of the milestones in case anyone is interested in following my little experiment.
Rusty a55 calipers








The Tub I threw together








Into the Drink -- Process 5 mins in...








Ooooh -- BUBBLY!!! green and red stuff showed up really fast!








About 1.5 hours in -- More rusty bubbles collecting around the anodes








They said on the site I referenced above that most tools only take about two hours to with this method, but these calipers I'm sure are the exception to that rule, so I'm leaving them to bathe overnight.
I really hope this works and doesn't destroy the bore and pistons -- I should have probably taken them apart, but in the interest of laziness and fun I left them as they were.
More pics to come!!! 
EDIT: Apologies for posting to the wrong sub-group. Mods can move or remove this post and I will repost to the appropriate category...










_Modified by 1upDub at 1:24 AM 8-3-2008_


----------



## Ajlal24 (Mar 7, 2007)

I wanna try this...did the tub get eaten out by the entire electrolysis process?


----------



## 1upDub (Jul 5, 2008)

*Re: (Ajlal24)*

When you say "tub" are you referring to the plastic tub I used or the caliper bore where the piston resides?
Plastic/rubber is non-conductive, so nothing should happen to it other than get a good cleaning from the detergent (Arm & Hammer's Cleaning Soda's primary ingredient is sodium carbonate -- the label says it also contains enzymes and detergenty stuff) or dirtying if you count the amount of rust and debris coming off of the calipers.
This is an "in process" posting so here we are at 3.5 hours








The rust in the four corners of the tub in the previous picture is where the steel anodes join the circuit. This is where either the hydrogen or oxygen is made but I have n idea which... I haven't done the "match" test where you attempt to ignite the gas near the poles to prove which pole is generating which gas and probably shouldn't even though it's supposed to be "somewhat" safe.
Note the lack of rust surrounding the leads -- this is the negative pole and must mean that the process is working, pretty well from the looks of it.








Prolly gonna hit the sack now. 
More pics to come after I wake up and get some java juice in me. Gotta get to Pick n' Pull early in the morning to find that missing rear caliper...


----------



## VWn00b (Mar 4, 2005)

interested to see what they look like afterwards.
your in the wrong forum though...


----------



## Veedub_junky (Aug 13, 2005)

*Re: (VWn00b)*

This is very cool - go science








Subscribed so I can find it if/when it gets moved


----------



## 20aeman (Jun 8, 2006)

*Re: (Veedub_junky)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Veedub_junky* »_This is very cool - go science








Subscribed so I can find it if/when it gets moved









same.


----------



## 1upDub (Jul 5, 2008)

*Re: Caliper Rebuild using electrolysis. Anyone? Anyone... Bueller? (1upDub)*

So I'm awake now and into my second cup o' the good stuff...
Here's approximately 10 hours into the process








Lots and lots of sludge buildup around the anodes now.
I think I'll leave it connected until I get back from ripping the other caliper off...
I'll update again, sometime early this afternoon after I return from Pick n Pull.


----------



## 1upDub (Jul 5, 2008)

*Re: Caliper Rebuild using electrolysis. Anyone? Anyone... Bueller? (1upDub)*

Welp -- That was a complete waste of my time; 5 hours, several sockets and all the gas I used getting to and from over the last two days that I'll never get back. ARRRRGH!








Gonna have to call around to the junk yards now to see if they have one or try to locate a complete rear set for cheap off ebay if I can't find the drivers side by itself. f'in irritating...
Anyway, after I got back I pulled the calipers out of the drink and hosed 'em down. As I was spraying them off, I could see some of the areas begin to flake away! YAY!!! It looks as though the one that was worse off will need to be dropped in again but I'll make that determination after I hit it with the wire wheel.
Not much changed after I woke up today. After 14.5 hours, just a little heavier concentration around the anodes since around 10:15 am, but nothing exceptionally noticeable.








Here's what they look like (wet) after the process... Sorry, not much to see although they do look a bit cleaner than before (maybe it's just 'cos they're wet -- We'll see later...).








Here's a close-up of where, upon hitting it with a jet from the hose, the oxidation began flaking off... 








Looks like it was working, pretty well on the less oxidized areas. We'll have to see how well it worked on some of the heavier areas.
I'll be pulling these apart first and the running a wire brush over both -- Ill snap some more pics after I get 'em apart and after the first brushing.


----------



## 1upDub (Jul 5, 2008)

*Re: Caliper Rebuild using electrolysis. Anyone? Anyone... Bueller? (1upDub)*

I finally got confirmation of my other rear caliper so I'll be doing the rears this weekend.Rotors and pads are due Thursday so I'll be getting those done, hopefully as soon as I get them. 
The calipers spent about 15 hours in the soup, and after spraying them off and letting them dry, I was a bit disappointed with the results. A little further research revealed that the amps through the circuit should be as high as you can get them without burning out your charger. I didn't test mine -- too lazy to break out the multimeter cos and my charger doesn't have an ammeter -- But anyway, apparently, the higher the amperage (10 or so) the more effective it will be.
Overall, I guess the process helped. With the removal of a lot of the surface rust and oxidation, evident by the cloudy rusty water left over after the process, they're definitely not as bad as they were but they're not even close to what I'd like 'em to look like before paint by any stretch. I think I should have left them in much longer -- close to 24 or even 48 hours given how bad they looked before I started. 
After wire wheeling them for a quick minute or two, the sparkly clean caliper I had imagined still wasn't showing... I realize it's gonna take alot longer than a minute or two to get these looking good again, but much of where I did wheel looked unaffected. 
After researching a little more, someone suggested I try using Naval Jelly -- so I went to Advance Auto and picked up some stuff made by Permatex(Item 81756 Rust Dissolver Gel). I'll be slathering that on later tonight and will post the before and after pics sometime later. If that doesn't work, then it's back into the Electrolysis tub for another run.
More later...


----------



## Veedub_junky (Aug 13, 2005)

*Re: Caliper Rebuild using electrolysis. Anyone? Anyone... Bueller? (1upDub)*

That's a bummer man - I was hoping to see this thing work like magic







I'm sure it works better on less severely rusted items, and I wonder how big a difference higher amperage would make















for trying something different.


----------



## 1upDub (Jul 5, 2008)

*Re: Caliper Rebuild using electrolysis. Anyone? Anyone... Bueller? (Veedub_junky)*

Surprisingly, the Naval Jelly is working exceptionally well... It took everything off of the carriers and cleaned them up so well they look nearly new. The calipers, not so much... But the areas I hit with the wire wheel prior to putting this stuff on cleaned up almost as well as the carriers did. It's a phosphoric acid base chemical so it's eating the rust like, I dunno, Mario Batali's in the kitchen, or some sh*t...
I'll post some pics of the before and after first round of jelly here in a bit.
I may run the calipers through the electrolysis tub again after the fact to see if I can optimize my results; Tune the amperage and see if I can get anything more off of them before I hit them with the wheel again and then hit 'em with that jelly. That seems to be key with this stuff... Getting as much of the surface oxidation off. Maybe it'll just start to flake away when i hit it with the wheel. It's anyone's guess right now, so keep your fingers crossed.
I'm gettin' all giddy... lol


----------



## 1upDub (Jul 5, 2008)

*Re: Caliper Rebuild using electrolysis. Anyone? Anyone... Bueller? (1upDub)*

Post Electrolysis, pre-jelly. Completely discouraging to look at these and think I'm actually getting anywhere.








Worst of the two, pre-jelly. Man... I really wish I had the cash to buy new.








Bottom side of the GOOD Caliper, Pre-Jelly...








Post-Jelly bad caliper, wet from rinsing and drying...








Post-Jelly good caliper, wet from rinsing and drying...








The Naval Jelly leaves a white pasty film over the areas where it was doing all the work. Here's the carrier after wheeling it for a few minutes after the initial jelly run... WOW!








The BAD caliper -- You can actually see the text stamped into it now...








The GOOD caliper -- and it looks great aside from the fact it's still lookin rusty, even after wheeling it.








Even if I have to work at this for two weeks, I'm GONNA have shiny clean calipers, DAMMIT!!! I plan on wheeling them again and then I'll probably hit 'em again with the jelly. If that doesn't do it, then they're going back into the electrolysis tub for another run. After that, I don't really care. They'll be clean enough for paint, after which, you'll never be able to tell and besides -- I still have the rears to do... AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!


----------



## 1upDub (Jul 5, 2008)

*Re: Caliper Rebuild using electrolysis. Anyone? Anyone... Bueller? (1upDub)*

Just finished up hooking these back up to the electrolysis tub... Since I removed a great deal of the surface oxidation and sediment from the outer shell using the power sprayer and the naval jelly, and since there's still surface rust on the caliper that doesn't appear to be coming off with the wire wheel, I figgered I'd try another dunk in the soup to see if it removes any of the remaining ugliness...
More pics to come...


----------



## HilF (Jan 10, 2004)

*Re: Caliper Rebuild using electrolysis. Anyone? Anyone... Bueller? (1upDub)*

i really hate to rain on your parade, but the best and easiest way to get that crud off is to sandblast the calipers.
You should probably rebuild the calipers after that (seal kit) and it looks lik you coul plate them with a home kit http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## Mortal_Wombat (Jan 29, 2004)

*FV-QR*

you should check out a product called evaporust...freaking amazing


----------



## 1upDub (Jul 5, 2008)

*Re: Caliper Rebuild using electrolysis. Anyone? Anyone... Bueller? (white_r!ce)*

This was all done in the interest of experimentation with something that I had never done before but was interested in trying. I had seen it on the net several times in the past, but was put off by not really having anything of interest on hand that needed the rust removed.
That said, yes -- the EASIEST solution would probably be to sandblast, but it SOUNDS costly but I don't really know since I didn't investigate it as an option. This sounded and has been far cooler than paying someone to do the work for me.
The process itself is time consuming and if you're waiting on parts to arrive and you have an extra set of calipers it's definitely worth the time and little bit of effort... The second round in the tub (roughly 36 hours) produced three times as much sediment as the first and aside from the black residue left on the calipers after the process, it seems most if not all of the surface rust is gone. I have yet to clean them up, but I'm feeling confident about how they'll look.
I started the rears yesterday afternoon...
And BTW, amperage DOES have an effect... I had to buy another battery charger 'cos the one I was using was an "all in one" solution with air pump and light and it failed after starting the second round about 15 hours in. Went and bought a dedicated stand-alone trickle charger from DIEHARD that has a variable 2, 10 and 50 AMP switch with ammeter on it. Although the ammeter doesn't register the amperage very well, the juice in the current IS stronger as measured by my multimeter. After another 24 hours with that attached, I feel that was the extra kick I was needing to get these clean. I'd love to be able to use the 50 AMP setting, but every time I do, my circuit breaker blows...








Anyway, as soon as I get some time to clean them up, I'll post more pics. I've been picking up some extra time at work and been very busy...
BTW, when you said "Plating" -- what did you mean? were you referring to Electroplatiing?


----------



## HilF (Jan 10, 2004)

*Re: Caliper Rebuild using electrolysis. Anyone? Anyone... Bueller? (1upDub)*

yes, cadmium plating for corrosion resistance. 
i don't know the details, but i figured you might be able to pull it off with your current contraptions


----------



## stuston (Nov 1, 2006)

*Re: Caliper Rebuild using electrolysis. Anyone? Anyone... Bueller? (white_r!ce)*

Plating is basically just the reverse of the settup you have now. Just swap the polarity of your power. Replace the cathode (in new setup) with the metal that you plan to plate. The cathodes will give up metal and plate the part. It will be best to suspend the part by wire, so that the part is recieving the plating, not the wire grate.


----------

