Author Topic: Green goo on pan in electro tank (Read 13099 times)

Tommy Harris · « **Reply #20 on:** August 23, 2016, 09:26:33 PM »

Alright, I picked up a plastic 55 gallon drum with removable lid. I transferred my plates to the drum, filled it with about 50 gallons, and added about 3.5 cups of washing soda. I got an old broken vice clamp from work and hooked it up to my griddle. Hooked er up to the charger and...... about 2 amps (per the gauge on the charger. The red was hooked to the plate. The black was hooked to the clamp that was clamped tight on the griddle. What am I doing wrong? Do I need more soda? Thanks in advance. :)

Jeff Friend · « **Reply #21 on:** August 24, 2016, 10:44:19 AM »

Tommy,

Make sure all of the washing soda is dissolved in the water. If the washing soda is sitting on the bottom of the drum, you won't get the current to flow.

Are you getting much in the way of bubbles coming up from the plates? A good bit of hydrogen from the griddle and oxygen from the anode is an indication that it is working and that your charger's ammeter is not.

Jeff

Duke Gilleland · « **Reply #22 on:** August 24, 2016, 12:43:58 PM »

Quote

Tommy,

Make sure all of the washing soda is dissolved in the water. If the washing soda is sitting on the bottom of the drum, you won't get the current to flow.

Are you getting much in the way of bubbles coming up from the plates? A good bit of hydrogen from the griddle and oxygen from the anode is an indication that it is working and that your charger's ammeter is not.
Jeff

Found that stirring the "soup" between pieces helps get the soda/current working more efficient.

Tommy Harris · « **Reply #23 on:** August 24, 2016, 12:55:05 PM »

Oh man, I bet that's it. Now I can't wait to get home tonight and check. I didn't notice very much bubbling at all. I added the soda as the barrel was filling. I ASSumed it would mix as it filled. I bet it didn't.

Now another question. Once I have it running correctly, will adding more soda raise the amperage? Higher amperage means more effective, right? Is there a point of diminishing returns?

Tommy Harris · « **Reply #24 on:** August 24, 2016, 06:28:17 PM »

Jeff is correct. The soda appears to be mostly at the bottom of the tank. Some is stuck to the side. Now if I could just get these storms and tornados to pass through so I can stir it up and test drive it.

Jeff Friend · « **Reply #25 on:** August 24, 2016, 09:03:01 PM »

Once I have it running correctly, will adding more soda raise the amperage? Yes. Adding more increases the conductivity, so more current will flow. It isn't linear, though. The conductivity depends on several things, but yes, adding more washing soda will increase the current flow.

Higher amperage means more effective, right? The simple answer is yes. You need current flow to reduce the red rust to a form that is easily removed from the piece you are cleaning.

Is there a point of diminishing returns? In my opinion, yes. Power dissipated in the system will just heat the water. Power (and heating) increases with the square of the current (maybe you remember pee equals eye squared times are ;D ). So, if you double the current from, say, 20 to 40 amps, you are going to quadruple the power that is dissipated. And that power isn't doing anything to clean you griddle. That is why I run at about 20 amps, more or less depending on the size of the piece I am cleaning.

Tommy Harris · « **Reply #26 on:** August 24, 2016, 09:17:52 PM »

Thank you so much. So, all the reading I did on electrolysis, the recommended amount of washing soda was 1Tbsp to 1 Gallon of water. What do you recommend going with?

Jeff Friend · « **Reply #27 on:** August 24, 2016, 10:20:43 PM »

I would start with that amount. You can add a little more if you aren't getting the current flow you want. I'd say 20 amps for a 9 or 10 skillet is enough.

Tommy Harris · « **Reply #28 on:** August 28, 2016, 05:59:58 PM »

I finally got a break in the weather and got back out to the tank.
Refresher:
50ish gallons of water
~3.5 cups of washing soda
I stirred it all up really well and dropped a pan in and fired it up. Went right up to 5-6A.
Tonight I added another 1.5 cups of washing soda. I hooked up my griddle again and it jumped to 10-11A. I think we have success. I need to pick up a but more washing soda and add another couple cups to bring it up closer to that 20 mark. Thanks guys for all the help.

Roger Barfield · « **Reply #29 on:** August 28, 2016, 10:36:33 PM »

Tommy I finally just set up my tank again this year. I fill the tank with water and hang two large skillets in it. Then I turn on the charger and slowly add the sodium carbonate until the amp meter on the charger hits 20 amps. I just add a little at a time and allow it to dissolve. I've done this for over 10 years now and not had any issues. Hope it helps. Keep us posted.

Tommy Harris · « **Reply #30 on:** August 30, 2016, 08:30:44 PM »

Thanks. I added about a cup and a half more last night and cranked it up. Stayed at about 12A. I left the no 11 breakfast griddle in there for about 24 hours. It came out like this. Covered in white film. Is this normal? It washed right off with Dawn, a little wire brush, and a sponge.

Tommy Harris · « **Reply #31 on:** August 30, 2016, 08:33:06 PM »

The bright white spot on the second pic is from where the green goo was on the pan previously. It's a user, so I'm not too terribly worried about it, but it does suck. I hope to one day resolve the green goo thing. These pics are from after washing and rinsing really well.

Tommy Harris · « **Reply #32 on:** August 30, 2016, 08:55:06 PM »

And I just put it in the oven at 400degrees for about 30 minutes to make sure it was dry before oiling it up. It came out with more white splotches on it. It is cooling down now. Do I just need to wash it again? Just a little more thoroughly? Is my electro tank not working?

Jeff Friend · « **Reply #33 on:** August 30, 2016, 09:20:13 PM »

Tommy,

Are those pics with the pan still wet, or after the water dried off? You have a lot of dissolved material in the water now. When you pull out a pan and the water evaporates, traces of the washing soda will leave a residue. If the residue didn't rinse off with just water and required some scrubbing, you have something that precipitated on the pan. If your water is hard, the addition of sodium carbonate will cause the calcium and magnesium to precipitate as hydroxides. For example, sodium carbonate will cause the calcium in calcium sulfate to precipitate as calcium carbonate.

Jeff

Tommy Harris · « **Reply #34 on:** August 30, 2016, 09:25:28 PM »

1st set is still wet right out of the tank
2nd set is still wet after washing and scrubbing
3rd set is dry after 30 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees

Our water is very hard. What are my options here?

Jeff Friend · « **Reply #35 on:** August 30, 2016, 09:26:11 PM »

Looks like you posted while I was typing.

See if a little lemon juice or distilled vinegar will dissolve the white spots.

And send me a couple of those cupcakes while you're at it. ;D

Tommy Harris · « **Reply #36 on:** August 30, 2016, 09:29:11 PM »

Good deal. So basically just, re wash with lemon juice? Then I assume rinse really well, dry and season? Thanks. And the cupcakes were pretty good. German chocolate with cream cheese icing. Mmmm....

Jeff Friend · « **Reply #37 on:** August 30, 2016, 09:34:28 PM »

Yes, try washing the spots with vinegar or lemon juice to see if the acid will dissolve the precipitated material. You can rinse the pan with water in the bath to neutralize the acid, but that isn't necessary if you do a good job washing the acid off.

If it is a hardness issue, I would think that in time, most of the calcium will end up at the bottom of your tank and not cause problems. Time will tell if it continues to make white spots on what you are cleaning.

Tommy Harris · « **Reply #38 on:** August 30, 2016, 09:50:29 PM »

I will give it a go tomorrow evening and report back. I will also be putting a new piece in the electro to see how it does as well. Thanks for all the help. :)

Tommy Harris · « **Reply #39 on:** September 02, 2016, 08:37:37 AM »

It appears that another scrubbing with lemon juice helped the breakfast griddle. I also did the lid of a Lodge #12 for 24 hours. It had no white residue on it. I then threw in a Lodge #12 skillet. Current went up to about 16ish Amps and I pulled it in about 20 minutes, scrubbed it out with a ss choreboy, rinsed it off and it was done. I couldn't believe how quickly it worked. I seasoned all 3 pieces with a coating of crisco last night. They look much better now.

This weekend, I am going to make a few adjustments, add a bit more washing soda, and see if I can get er closer to 20A with "normal" size pieces. Once again, Thank you for all the help. I will keep updating as I figure stuff out and learn more. 8-)

News:

Author Topic: Green goo on pan in electro tank (Read 13099 times)