My stainless is gone.

[C. Perry Rapier]

The SS I'm using is 18ga. about 1/32" thick. Maybe that is too thin? I like to have it line the barrel so I have th most room. It's not that easy to bend. I have seen much thinner

Chuck, I don't know how big of a barrel you use, but I use a plastic 55 gallon one, and I use two sheets in it, and they oppose each other and then I have a jump wire connecting them, and I can adjust the SS pieces in and out as I want, depending on what I am cleaning, ANYWAY, I can put a very big piece in there, the only time I had to take one piece of SS out so to make more room, and thus only clean one side at a time, was when I cleaned a number 13 camp oven, and you/me/I ain't gonna clean too many of them, cause I ain't gonna have that many to clean, now I wish I had more of them to clean like that, but just don't.  ;)

[Sam Roberts]

No ideal what happened to it but you can bet I'll be checking mine later on today.

Well it's later on today about 4 days later but I finally got around to checking mine and it seems as sound as the day I put it in there. Of course I didn't drain the liquid off to check it, but when poked with a stick it gave me that solid feeling. I also had to add about 9-10 gals because of the evap and the part that was exposed was still in fine shape. You use more amps and more of the Super Soda than I do, but don't think that would make that much difference. I tend to agree with you Chuck, I think maybe it the grade of Stanless. This is what mine looked like when it was new.

[C. Perry Rapier]

Here is my electro setup. Its simple and it works. And I have spent about 10.00 on SS since I started cleaning with electro at least six years ago. Here is a plastic barrel. And I have two opposing sheets of SS hanging down in the water, and these sheets are just hanging on two rods that go across the barrel, and I have these two connected with a jump wire. And then I have a rod across the middle and hanging down from that is the piece to be cleaned. And as you can see I can very easily move the SS pieces back and forth as I want to and need to, depending on how big the item is. And if it really is a huge item. I just take one of the SS sheets out and clean one side at a time, but, how many number 9 oval roasters do you clean, most everything else, this works excellent for as you can get as much amps as you want by moving the SS closer to the piece to be cleaned.

Like I said, this is my setup. I know there are a gazillion more out there, bigger, stronger, faster, smaller, fancier, simpler, more complicated, but, as I have said, when you are using electro, either it works or it don't, get it working to start with and then you can always find ways to tweak it. I started out using number 10 cans flattened out, getting them from a friend of mine who owned a restaurant, and they worked just fine, but just did not last long. Well, here it is.

[Ray Emerson]

Really enjoyable discussion.  I have read the whole thing and am posting so it will be easily accessible to read again.

Thanks for the thoughts and knowledge everyone.  I really appreciate it!!

Ray

[Greg Stahl]

Harold,
You can add this to your "Favorites" but clickin gon the "Add to favorites" link and it saves it for you for future access.

I have several threads that I've saved.

[Chuck Rogers]

Well, I just replaced my second piece of SS. I got it from the same place, from the same pile, so I don't expect it will last either. I have to find a different source. I like the idea of a lined tank, and will be looking for ss heets again. I do have a ss supplier near me, but I will have to buck up for the good stuff. Or maybe try a different scrap yard. I have evough to put in one more lining, so when that is gone, I better have something ready to go. If I do get it at the ss supplier, He will cut it, and I think I can have it rolled into a tube so that all I need to do is drop it in, and hook it up. I can use a heavier guage at that point because I won't have to do the shaping myself. Of course, all of this will add to the cost.

[Lee Sumner]

Go ahead Chuck and buck up to a better piece of SS with all the money you're making on E-pay I'm sure it won't dent your wallet to much ;D

[Chuck Rogers]

I was thinking that if you add up what I spent on this "not so good" ss, I could buy a real piece, and not replace it for years.

Lee, there is a black hole in my wallet, and when I put cash in there, it disappears, and I can't get it back.  ;D ;D

[Jeff Seago]

Chuck you might not get the money back but from the looks of it you get at least 100 pieces of cast iron every time there is money in your wallet!!   ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Jeff Friend]

I experienced the gradual erosion of the anode in my electro tank a couple of years ago.  When I installed it, I was sure that the big sheet of stainless steel (unknown alloy) would last a long time, but it only took around 6 months and it was looking just like Chuck's.  So, I did some research into what is going on.

You may not realize it, but corrosion is complicated.  I still don't understand everything that is going on, but a few things I learned and have put into practice are these:

1.  Although the alloy makes a difference, the more common industrial alloys should work OK.  These are 304 and 316.  The "junk" stainless steels used for decorative items are the problem.  If I recall, 316 has better chloride resistance, but that shouldn't be an issue to us (see No. 2).

2.  Chlorides and stainless steels generally don't get along.  Chlorides build up in the electro solution from chlorinated water and as a naturally occurring ion in the water.  As the solution evaporates, the chlorides (and a lot of other crap) accumulate.  If you evaporate 100 gallons of water over the course of a year, you have 100 gallons worth of dissolved salts in your electro tank.  It is a good idea to purge this stuff every now and then.  I let my solution settle for several hours, then syphon all of the sludge off the bottom of the tank.  My tank holds 25 gallons and I usually purge 5 gallons twice a year.

3.  The pH has an effect on the rate of corrosion, especially pitting corrosion.  The reason ss is corrosion-resistant is that it forms a "passive" film - a thin surface coating that doesn't participate in the electron swapping that is the chemcal process of oxidation.  It would seem that pH has an effect on the how well this layer can resist attack.  I stopped using sodium carbonate as the electrolyte and started using sodium hydroxide to get the pH up a few points higher.  This has helped a good bit.  Although the anode still gets eroded, the loss of metal is nothing like it was when I used Na2CO3.  One more thing - I suspect that over time, the pH will drift down toward neutral and more sodium carbonate is needed to keep the pH up around 10.5.

Maintain that electrolyte solution help to keep your anode in good condition.

Check this web page for more info on corrosion  http://www.mcnallyinstitute.com/04-html/4-1.html

[Chuck Rogers]

Your right about that Jeff S. I have next week off, and plan on hitting alot of auctions. Or at least I'm going to try. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Jeff F.

    I think my ss lists in the "junk" section. It looks like it may have been used to line the walls in a large resturant kitchen. It has adhesive on the back of it from when it was glued to the wall. I keep the clean side towards the iron though. I haven't tried siphoning off anything from my tank until the ss was gone. Maybe I should give that a try. I did start using distilled water to see if that made a difference. The new ss has only been in about a month now, and is looking pretty good. We have a private well feeding the house, no public chlorinated water. The water here, is softened, nuetralized, sediment filtered, and passed through twin carbon filter tanks before it reaches the faucet. I was thinking the salt from the softener was affecting the ss, so we went with the distilled. I'm going to look into getting some quality ss from a local supplier. It will cost quite a bit more than the stuff from the scrap yard, but if it last longer, I think the cost would balance out, or possibly turn out cheaper in the long run. If I buy from the supplier, He can cut it, and roll it so all I need to do, is drop it in the tank, and bolt it in. No more wrestling with the sheet out in the yard to get it bent into shape.  ;D

[Chuck Rogers]

Here it is, all nice and clean. I just got done pumping it out, removing what was left of the ss, which by the way, folded up neatly into a 12" x 12" piece of trash. Not much left of it. This is what is left of the scrap yard ss that I picked up. After this, I'll be getting the good stuff. I know the new stuff in the pic looks stained, but it's not. It's just the lighting. I'll be looking for a second battery charger to get this one up and running along with the other one.