Yah, I understand a 10 amp battery charger will do the job.
STan
A 10A battery charger might be OK... if you're not in a hurry.
My experience has been that battery chargers don't put out enough voltage to push the current I'd like most of the time.
I find that a lot of times it takes 20-30 volts to get the current I want. (usually 10-20 Amps)
The required current depends mostly on the surface area of the part to be cleaned (actually, the surface area that's "visible" to the anode) and the amount of time you're willing to wait.
More current cleans faster. Larger objects take more current than small ones.For a 10" diameter cast iron pan I run about 15 amps @ around 20-25 volts. It's not rocket science, the process works over a very wide range of current, higher currents just take less time.
15 Amps will usually get a crusty cast iron pan clean in 12-24 hours with almost no elbow grease on my part. Rust is removed fairly quickly. Heavy layers of cooked on carbon take longer.
One of the joys of electrolytic cleaning is that it does a great job of removing carbon and rust from steel or iron WITHOUT damaging the metal or changing it's surface texture.
It's pretty much impossible to "over do it". You can leave parts hooked up and cleaning for weeks without damage to the iron.
Disadvantages/things to watch out for:
1) The process makes a lot of hydrogen and oxygen. Do it in an area with good ventilation and no source of ignition.
2) Don't let the part touch the anode. Obviously if that happens, it shorts out your power supply. It can also make a spark which ignites your hydrogen bubbles.
3) It uses quite a bit of electricity. Most stuff I've done eats up 300-500 watts for 12- 24 hours. That's up to 12 KWH.
4) Iron or steel parts only! Any brass, aluminum, or pot metal inserts or parts attached to the piece to be cleaned will probably be destroyed.
4) Get the polarity right. Negative to the "work piece", Positive to the sacrificial anode. Get it wrong and it will EAT UP YOUR PART!
5) Cleaning only takes place in "line of sight" to the anode, and cleaning is fastest where the anode is closest to the part. If you have a piece with deep crevices that need to be cleaned, you will need to make an anode that fits closely into the area to be cleaned but doesn't touch the work.
6) Watch out for trapped bubbles. Imagine cleaning inside a cast iron tea cup.(?) If you put the cup right side up in the solution with the anode on top, then all the bubbles rise up out of the cup and float to the surface. That's good.
If you placed the cup upside down, with the anode on the bottom, then the bubbles would rise up and fill the cup and displace the liquid from the inside of the cup and cleaning action would cease. That's bad. Try and arrange your parts to avoid trapping bubbles.
7) Don't use stainless steel for the sacrificial anode. The electrolytic action will pull chromium out of the stainless and deposit it in the water. Chromium is very toxic, and your water will become "toxic waste" that needs to be properly disposed of. Plain old steel or iron plate works just fine. Pretty much any old scraps will do.
That's about all I can think of now. I've cleaned/derusted a few automotive parts, a couple old screw jacks I found under the house, and over a dozen cast iron pans, waffle makers, etc. The process really does do a great job of removing carbon and rust from an iron surface. Good stuff!
Steve