I’ve been using electrolysis for years for antique car parts, and the manual battery chargers are getting harder to find, never would have I thought to use a DC Supply (other then a rigged up electrical cord with a dimmer ) and didn’t expect such amazing results. I found this channel searching for alternatives, although not cleaning cast irons, I found the info very helpful
If you found yourself here I assume you're looking for a power supply, I was too. I wanted to share my findings on chargers. These power supplies were no longer available on Amazon so I decided to try a 40 amp charger. I started with a Schumacher 1565 200 amp charger from Walmart $114. I thought a manual charger would putout 40 amps if that's what it's set on but it doesn't, it puts out 14 amps while set on 20 amps. In that case two must put out 30 amps, wrong again. They cut back to 14 amps combined so I tried a Schumacher 1445. 250 amp charger for $200 but it only put out 14 amps set on 25 amps. It is a better charger with heavier leads and a built in fan. I decided to keep one of the 1565 chargers and let a fan blow on it. I can clean 3 skillets at one time with it, if my tank were larger it would do more. The amperage goes up as you increase the load until you reach 40 amps. You get a constant 14 amps. If you want 20 amps Steven's way is the way to get it but a constant 14 amps with the ability to clean three (possibly more) at the same time isn't bad. With 14 amps it usually takes 12 hours to clean a crusty skillet. Hope this helps
This is only the 2nd of your videos I’ve seen. The first one helped me restore an old family heirloom I received. I watched this one out of curiosity. I’m commenting tonight because I was pleasantly surprised that you took a stand for the Lord and read from the Bible at the end of the video! Just wanted to say I appreciate that. I just knew you were a Christian from watching that first video. I recognized your kind and gentle demeanor as belonging to someone who is His. Blessings!
Awesome. I'm sticking with the lye and vinegar bath till I get some consistency in buying and selling cast iron. Did find out with disappointment 3 cracked pans, however tested 1 by low heat cooking in it and was a success. I'll do a video on them later. Keep up the good work.
I went thru that too, finally got my hands on a Iron MT. Griswold matching Chicken fryer and lid just to find the pot was cracked down the side after cleaning! I don't thing I'll trust it full of hot oil but thinking it will work for baking, lite duty things in the oven till I can get another pot.
I could not get over how much more cleaning action was going on once you hooked up the second box. That's very impressive. Now you just need to find two items that are almost equally rusted and do an experiment on how long and how well each way goes. Do the one box and then the two and compare your numbers. Once again I enjoyed your video and I have already hit the subscribe button but I made sure to hit the like button also.
Awesome video Brother, love the kids artwork, a very good witness to our spiritual reality! I was hoping to see the cornbread pan shining like the sun and a follow up seasoning session. I’ve got a small 10” cast iron to clean and season with walnut oil plus a 12’” to season, fun...
Is your tank stainless steel? I’ve read that you shouldn’t use stainless steel in electrolysis because the reaction will produce toxic chromate in the liquid.
Hey thanks this video really help, I live in Barbados and it was quit difficult to get manual charger. But I had a13.8v10-12 amp power supply, and its working like a dream cause I'm currently the process of cleaning my pot as I'm typing this message. So thanks very much again. Ill up date you as to how long the whole process took.
I purchased a DC power supply model MS 305 D 0-30v ,0-5 amps Through Amazon. Owners manual says : don’t connect any load to the power supply before its turned on. Likewise be sure to disconnect the load before turning off the power supply.
I need to clean up my cast iron and reseason them. I was wondering if I put my cast iron in a very hot oven, would that like burn off the grease and whatever on the outsides is my skillets?? I just want also to say thank you for sharing this video and thank you for sharing God's word also. God bless you sir and your family and your channel!!
Cast Iron Cookware never heard that and I’ve actually done it a couple of times. , So, what about putting the skillet in an outdoor fire to burn off stuff?
@@IMOO1896 Temperature control and on evenness of temperature is the biggest problem. Those are the 2 factors that can cause warping and cracks. Of course having too high of a temperature can cause heat damage. I would just rather not take the risk.
Yes, I did and am planning on working on a higher amp video in the future. I have a wire inside my old charger that has burned into but do plan to repair it.
Very interesting. Thanks again Steve for doing such a great job on making these videos. My question: any idea why when you used one PS it registered about 10 amps and 10 volts. But when you used 2, each jumped up to 10 amps and 18 volts?
The voltmeters are both seeing the same/entire voltage drop across the two points (the tank, the subject iron) ... so 2x9volts = 18 volts but since there are 2 circuits, the ammeters are only seeing their individual circuit's amperage ... but rest assured, the subject iron/solution is seeing total 20 amps running through it.
@@castIroncookware That is what I'm doing now, I see how well yours works though I don't get that kind of action on my cast iron. Thank you so much for your reply.
I think the case here is that the current the power supplies are drawing is less than their 20 A output. If he was really drawing 20A, that's actually 2400 W at 120 v. Most residential devices (and breakers) are rated at 1875 W, which is 120 v @ 15 A. But then, I just got a bucket heater that manufacturer claims does 2000 W, and it runs fine so far on my 15 A breaker.
I let it run all night just to make sure that there were no over heating issues. The cleaning time for the cornstick pan was about 6 hours, give or take.
Need help! Have new dc supply, 30v 10a, my electrolysis tank is show 30.00v but my amp is only showing 2.2A any thoughts why? The plastic tank w 4 rebar one in each corner, they are connected to each other
There are a lot of things that come in to play. How clean the anodes are, how good the connections and and how far away they are from the piece. Without looking at the readouts, how are the pieces turning out? It may take longer but you will still have they'll have success.
Like ur thinking Where do u plug in the neg pod leads to? Does it got a fan ?does it get worm? Food u build any housing for it to protect it from any water slashing to it Thickness of leads u used ? Haha so many questions. Thank you again in advance
Electrical nerd here - "Amps" on the input doesn't necessarily mean amps on the output. What we have to look at here is actual power. 10 amps at 18 volts = 180 Watts, and 180 Watts at 120 volt input is about 1-1/2 amps. What that means is, disregarding efficiency losses of the power supply, while you are putting out close to 20 amps at 18 volts output of the power supply, you are only using about three amps of 120V from the panel. Stack a few more of'em in there if you want to, and you should be OK. If you're using properly sized wire for the current load that you're dealing with, and that wire doesn't get very hot, then you should be fine. But, it you really want to know what load you are putting on your breaker, then get a ~$40 amp clamp meter from Lowe's Depot or wherev, and get some eyes on what is really going on. Hypothetically, you could parallel up to six or seven DC power supplies on a 20 amp 120V breaker and be absolutely fine at 18VDC 10 amp output - Again, depending on the efficiency of the power supplies.
@@castIroncookware If you want to stack power supplies, or even get some higher power power supplies that don't really need stacking, I will make a couple suggestions. 1) Look up Marlin P Jones as a source. They sell surplus electronics stuff, and you always get more than you pay for. Very good prices for pretty good stuff. 2) Learn Ohm's Law as it applies to this. It's not hard to understand, really simple, and very intuitive. With a 15 amp circuit at 120 volts, you are looking at about 1800 watts - or up to about a maximum theoretical 100 amps at 18 volts. Again, it depends on how your power supplies work and stuff, but that's just how the maths work out. The worst you could do is trip a breaker if you push it a bit too much, but if your wiring is sound and you don't do stupid stuff (like ignite any hydrogen gas that may be put off), there should be no real danger to worry about. Good luck and be safe, dude!
Good idea on the amp clamp meter. When I built mine, my Dad let me use his to see what I was pulling. Interestingly enough, the gauge on the charger was accurate.
@@scotmaciver The precision of meters and gauges these days are pretty tight for real world applications. There are chips and circuits that are specifically designed for damn near everything you could want to do, and it's really satisfying to see how well they work and how accurate they are. We live in a great time to be alive whilst we clean pans with electricity. A little understanding and foresight means we can ramp stuff up in a safe way, while nobody dies or gets hurt - at worst, we might trip a breaker, then we just back it off a notch.
I’ve been using electrolysis for years for antique car parts, and the manual battery chargers are getting harder to find, never would have I thought to use a DC Supply (other then a rigged up electrical cord with a dimmer ) and didn’t expect such amazing results. I found this channel searching for alternatives, although not cleaning cast irons, I found the info very helpful
I’m new at this and having a lot of fun. Love all the information that you share.It’s extremely helpful! Thank you & God bless
If you found yourself here I assume you're looking for a power supply, I was too. I wanted to share my findings on chargers. These power supplies were no longer available on Amazon so I decided to try a 40 amp charger. I started with a Schumacher 1565 200 amp charger from Walmart $114. I thought a manual charger would putout 40 amps if that's what it's set on but it doesn't, it puts out 14 amps while set on 20 amps. In that case two must put out 30 amps, wrong again. They cut back to 14 amps combined so I tried a Schumacher 1445. 250 amp charger for $200 but it only put out 14 amps set on 25 amps. It is a better charger with heavier leads and a built in fan. I decided to keep one of the 1565 chargers and let a fan blow on it. I can clean 3 skillets at one time with it, if my tank were larger it would do more. The amperage goes up as you increase the load until you reach 40 amps. You get a constant 14 amps. If you want 20 amps Steven's way is the way to get it but a constant 14 amps with the ability to clean three (possibly more) at the same time isn't bad. With 14 amps it usually takes 12 hours to clean a crusty skillet. Hope this helps
I have been seeing quite a few manual chargers available lately. That is really exciting for the cast on restoration community.
I too have the sidewalk chalk remnants on our brick out back from when our grandkids were young! Lol! Yes they grow up in a flash! Good video & info!
I’m glad that you’re comfortable doing this, cause it gives me the willies. I don’t do electricity (outside home power).
This is only the 2nd of your videos I’ve seen. The first one helped me restore an old family heirloom I received. I watched this one out of curiosity. I’m commenting tonight because I was pleasantly surprised that you took a stand for the Lord and read from the Bible at the end of the video! Just wanted to say I appreciate that. I just knew you were a Christian from watching that first video. I recognized your kind and gentle demeanor as belonging to someone who is His. Blessings!
Awesome. I'm sticking with the lye and vinegar bath till I get some consistency in buying and selling cast iron. Did find out with disappointment 3 cracked pans, however tested 1 by low heat cooking in it and was a success. I'll do a video on them later. Keep up the good work.
I went thru that too, finally got my hands on a Iron MT. Griswold matching Chicken fryer and lid just to find the pot was cracked down the side after cleaning! I don't thing I'll trust it full of hot oil but thinking it will work for baking, lite duty things in the oven till I can get another pot.
I could not get over how much more cleaning action was going on once you hooked up the second box. That's very impressive. Now you just need to find two items that are almost equally rusted and do an experiment on how long and how well each way goes. Do the one box and then the two and compare your numbers.
Once again I enjoyed your video and I have already hit the subscribe button but I made sure to hit the like button also.
Thanks for showing and explaining. It helped me alot
Awesome video Brother, love the kids artwork, a very good witness to our spiritual reality! I was hoping to see the cornbread pan shining like the sun and a follow up seasoning session. I’ve got a small 10” cast iron to clean and season with walnut oil plus a 12’” to season, fun...
FB.It is so good to see it.I like it.
Got a Power Supply in today, (10 amp), lots of bubbles! going to get a 30amp one next and that should really get the work done quick!
It will speed thing along.
Is your tank stainless steel? I’ve read that you shouldn’t use stainless steel in electrolysis because the reaction will produce toxic chromate in the liquid.
I would be too scared to try this, even though you make it look very easy and your tutorials are informative.
Good info again
Hey thanks this video really help, I live in Barbados and it was quit difficult to get manual charger. But I had a13.8v10-12 amp power supply, and its working like a dream cause I'm currently the process of cleaning my pot as I'm typing this message. So thanks very much again. Ill up date you as to how long the whole process took.
I purchased a DC power supply model MS 305 D 0-30v ,0-5 amps
Through Amazon.
Owners manual says : don’t connect any load to the power supply before its turned on. Likewise be sure to disconnect the load before turning off the power supply.
I need to clean up my cast iron and reseason them. I was wondering if I put my cast iron in a very hot oven, would that like burn off the grease and whatever on the outsides is my skillets?? I just want also to say thank you for sharing this video and thank you for sharing God's word also. God bless you sir and your family and your channel!!
Connie Barber many people recommend putting your iron skillets in an oven during the high heat cleaning cycle.
There is a risk of damaging the cast iron when using the oven cleaning cycle.
Cast Iron Cookware never heard that and I’ve actually done it a couple of times. , So, what about putting the skillet in an outdoor fire to burn off stuff?
@@IMOO1896 Temperature control and on evenness of temperature is the biggest problem. Those are the 2 factors that can cause warping and cracks. Of course having too high of a temperature can cause heat damage. I would just rather not take the risk.
Can I use kitchen spoon, circular saw, bed railing (somewhat powered paint) as my sacrificial anode in electrolysis? Thanks
Cool. Did you look into Zapata’s comments on a 35 amp unit? Did your old manual charger bite the dust?
Yes, I did and am planning on working on a higher amp video in the future. I have a wire inside my old charger that has burned into but do plan to repair it.
Very interesting. Thanks again Steve for doing such a great job on making these videos. My question: any idea why when you used one PS it registered about 10 amps and 10 volts. But when you used 2, each jumped up to 10 amps and 18 volts?
I did not notice that until the video was posted. Not really sure why that was happening.
@@castIroncookware Well, the answer to that is physics ... and Ohm's Law.
The voltmeters are both seeing the same/entire voltage drop across the two points (the tank, the subject iron) ... so 2x9volts = 18 volts but since there are 2 circuits, the ammeters are only seeing their individual circuit's amperage ... but rest assured, the subject iron/solution is seeing total 20 amps running through it.
Great video been looking for a DC source May I ask where you found your stainless steel pot
I ran across it by chance while picking through a storage unit that was being sold out.
I ordered one but I have to ask where did you get your pot? I have looked at a few but I haven't found one I could afford!
You also can use a plastic container and insert sacrificial anodes on the inside fairly inexpensively.
@@castIroncookware That is what I'm doing now, I see how well yours works though I don't get that kind of action on my cast iron. Thank you so much for your reply.
The outlet is not a problem. 110v*30a=1650 watts. 18v*20a=360 watts. You are a very long way from maxing out your breaker.
I think the case here is that the current the power supplies are drawing is less than their 20 A output. If he was really drawing 20A, that's actually 2400 W at 120 v. Most residential devices (and breakers) are rated at 1875 W, which is 120 v @ 15 A. But then, I just got a bucket heater that manufacturer claims does 2000 W, and it runs fine so far on my 15 A breaker.
Pretty neat... what was the end result time it actually took? (Thanks, nice demo)
I let it run all night just to make sure that there were no over heating issues. The cleaning time for the cornstick pan was about 6 hours, give or take.
@@castIroncookware Nice... Thank you.
How do you keep your water so clean in the e tank mine is considerably dirtier do you change it or filter it or does it matter if it’s dirty
After a little time, most of the partials sink to the bottom but when it is used regular, it gets really bad.
Living on the edge 😂. Love the artwork and scripture.
Need help! Have new dc supply, 30v 10a, my electrolysis tank is show 30.00v but my amp is only showing 2.2A any thoughts why? The plastic tank w 4 rebar one in each corner, they are connected to each other
There are a lot of things that come in to play. How clean the anodes are, how good the connections and and how far away they are from the piece. Without looking at the readouts, how are the pieces turning out? It may take longer but you will still have they'll have success.
Where can I find a tank like that and what's it called? Thank you!
I got lucky and found the the stainless steel tank at a storage unit sale.
look at the HP DPS-600PB 12V 47A Power Supply
compact and powerful
i use for electrolysis.
Where did you buy it?
@@castironkev ebay
Like ur thinking
Where do u plug in the neg pod leads to?
Does it got a fan ?does it get worm?
Food u build any housing for it to protect it from any water slashing to it
Thickness of leads u used ?
Haha so many questions.
Thank you again in advance
Electrical nerd here - "Amps" on the input doesn't necessarily mean amps on the output.
What we have to look at here is actual power.
10 amps at 18 volts = 180 Watts, and 180 Watts at 120 volt input is about 1-1/2 amps.
What that means is, disregarding efficiency losses of the power supply, while you are putting out close to 20 amps at 18 volts output of the power supply, you are only using about three amps of 120V from the panel.
Stack a few more of'em in there if you want to, and you should be OK.
If you're using properly sized wire for the current load that you're dealing with, and that wire doesn't get very hot, then you should be fine.
But, it you really want to know what load you are putting on your breaker, then get a ~$40 amp clamp meter from Lowe's Depot or wherev, and get some eyes on what is really going on.
Hypothetically, you could parallel up to six or seven DC power supplies on a 20 amp 120V breaker and be absolutely fine at 18VDC 10 amp output - Again, depending on the efficiency of the power supplies.
Great information. Thank you for sharing.
@@castIroncookware If you want to stack power supplies, or even get some higher power power supplies that don't really need stacking, I will make a couple suggestions.
1) Look up Marlin P Jones as a source. They sell surplus electronics stuff, and you always get more than you pay for.
Very good prices for pretty good stuff.
2) Learn Ohm's Law as it applies to this. It's not hard to understand, really simple, and very intuitive.
With a 15 amp circuit at 120 volts, you are looking at about 1800 watts - or up to about a maximum theoretical 100 amps at 18 volts.
Again, it depends on how your power supplies work and stuff, but that's just how the maths work out.
The worst you could do is trip a breaker if you push it a bit too much, but if your wiring is sound and you don't do stupid stuff (like ignite any hydrogen gas that may be put off), there should be no real danger to worry about.
Good luck and be safe, dude!
@@jdgower1 Thankyou for the information.
Good idea on the amp clamp meter. When I built mine, my Dad let me use his to see what I was pulling. Interestingly enough, the gauge on the charger was accurate.
@@scotmaciver The precision of meters and gauges these days are pretty tight for real world applications.
There are chips and circuits that are specifically designed for damn near everything you could want to do, and it's really satisfying to see how well they work and how accurate they are.
We live in a great time to be alive whilst we clean pans with electricity.
A little understanding and foresight means we can ramp stuff up in a safe way, while nobody dies or gets hurt - at worst, we might trip a breaker, then we just back it off a notch.
Where can I get a tank like that
I just ran across that one from a guy selling odds and ends out of a storage unit.
Ok thanks
I could not find below your video where to buy the heavy duty leads, thank you in n advance, Blair Getz
@@blairgetz5020 AST Labs Test Lead Banana Plug Stackable to Alligator Clip Heavy Duty 39"
amzn.to/3222GV9 *Amazon Affiliate
@@castIroncookware thanks
Awesome that your kids have Jesus on their minds!
Not into blood and gore? having Christ crucified on the cross is about as glory and bloody as you could get. or am I missing something?