Use Electrolysis to clean your motorcycle gas tank

[keglimp]

can't you just place bicarb on a tray in oven and cook the shit out of it to get sodium carbonate?

[mrmaxstorey]

@keglimp I dont know, can you?

[keglimp]

@mrmaxstorey (stolen from wiki) sodium bicarbonate was then converted to sodium carbonate by heating it, releasing water and carbon dioxide:

2 NaHCO3 → Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2. so yes. but this is apparently unnecessary as sodium carbonate is readily available in supermarkets anyways. no need to go to a pool supply shop even. but for those too broke to buy one or the other they can CONVERT them.

[mrmaxstorey]

@keglimp Cool thanks

[MuzzleMike]

I will try this next time I need to do a tank ! I used Whit Vinegar in my KZ750 tank and let it sit for 2 weeks and got most of the rust out .

[mrmaxstorey]

@MuzzleMike Right on, Ive done that before it works pretty good

[anotherveryboredguy]

Remember guys after you do this youre leaving a nice clean surface to re-rust. Dry it then get some gas in it!

[mormonmikeable]

I tried this, used about half the bottle of sodium carbonate for my 3 gallon tank and it works well. it had about 6 amps running through the solution using a 12 amp charger. is it safe to dump the rusty solution down the drain?

[mrmaxstorey]

@mormonmikeable Well... I think its one of those borderline areas... probably safer than a lot of other things that go down the drain, but I took my waste water to the local junkyard and just dumped it in the old gasoline collection tank.

[isai926]

if i try to clean the tank do i have to remove the gas pump

[mrmaxstorey]

@isai926 That's probably for the best, a pump can be cleaned by hand anyways

[formegolf]

This is like science dude. Good job!

[Michiganborn1969]

Wow. That was totally cool! Gives an idea of removing rust from other metal parts. Great video Max.

[mrmaxstorey]

@Michiganborn1969 O yeah you can use the same process with rusty parts in a bucket

[danielainge]

Gotta get a real power supply....

[mrmaxstorey]

@danielainge Do the best you can with the materials on hand

[Danetrain17]

I just wanted to say, I was about to give up on my own bike, then I started watching your videos and see that there are cheap ways to maintain and repair old bikes. I happen to be a 82 KZ750 owner with some trouble with 2 of my 4 carbs. But your videos, especially the ones with cleaning carbs, have given me more hope. Thanks a bunch. I'm watching them all now and will continue to watch them all.

[mrmaxstorey]

@Danetrain17 Thats what Im here for man, to help keep worthy bikes on the road

[lampyman101]

That is rather neat.

[mrmaxstorey]

@lampyman101 It is, isn't it?

[Serostern]

The whole tank IS energized, but the placement of the sacrificial metal is important. If it is close to one side the electricity will flow via the shortest path, and that is why it doesnt take all the tank sometimes. Make sure to center it good or do it in two takes =)

Creating a dead short is never good for a charger =P

Add more sodium carbonate to the water, then you can get more current flowing.

[mrmaxstorey]

@Serostern OK thats what I thought, makes sense that the whole thing was energized. I didn't want to add too much sodium carbonate because I was worried of making the solution too acidic and damaging the good metal. Guys I know only put in half a cup, I put in 3 times that and got decent results

[revitup1965]

 So, it only takes a few hours? Great videos, keep em coming!

[mrmaxstorey]

@revitup1965 No it takes a couple days minimum, the first time I pulled the anode out was after a few hours just to show the rust accumulation, the second time I dumped the water out after 2 days

[Serostern]

@mrmaxstorey Depends on the power you give it.

The voltage doesnt change anything really after you hit 12volts, but the current DOES.

[mrmaxstorey]

@Serostern Yeah I briefly discussed in the video how my 6A charger will take a couple days, while a larger one might get the job done faster. The water/sodium carbonate solution could not conduct much of a current in this experiment, just a fraction of an amp according to my charger

[Serostern]

@mrmaxstorey The problem is that you only use about 0.1 of the available 6 amps, You need less resistance (more sodium carbonate) =P

[mrmaxstorey]

@Serostern Maybe I'll experiment with that next time with a junk tank. I didn't want to eat away this tank, and Im pretty pleased with the results of me being sparing with the sodium carb, even if it did take a few days.

[Serostern]

@mrmaxstorey Sounds good great =)

And yeah, better safe than sorry, eh?

[mrmaxstorey]

@Serostern You got it, friend