OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Victa Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers My First Molasses Bath. (125 Engine Cowling)

While we are awaiting Mowerfreak's pics I thought I post the one of the engine shroud I did did today. About 5 hrs due to it being partially cloudy. Seems to works best when I have a current at 1.4 amps or greater. Now I just got to try washing soda when I get some in to see if it is any faster.

Before pics:





My after pic before painting:

HI AVB,

The top two photos certainly don't show it in the best light as it still looks well rusted, especially the underside. The third shot looks good though.

I've found using a fairly concentrated solution using Washing Soda (stronger Caustic) removes all the rust very well and it will then require a good rub over using Scotch Brite to mechanically remove all the left overs on the surface. After that it's clean as.

Cheers,
BB.

BB the top two where before I did anything other than pull it out the recycle pile. The last pic was after I pull it out the 5 hour bath and cleaned with water and only light rubbing by my bare hand the last bits that the normal water hose pressure didn't get off easily. If I had set up the pressure washer (just being lazy on my day off) it would have took care of it without me rubbing the surface. No Scotch Brite pad was needed or used. Now I know would there might some that are more rusted might need a little scrubbing or longer bath.

The underside was just as clean as the outside. Now my steel electrode did turn quite black but it also came out the recycle pile of used bar blades. Almost as black as the spray paint I use to paint the shroud just not high gloss. So the only cost was the 3 gallons of vinegar.

Overall I was very pleased with the results on that '98 shroud using the 5% white vinegar as the electrolyte and my 60w solar panel.

Just don't like using them on the wrong engine without changing the stamp model and type numbers. This process however will help on the restores and the used parts recovery especially the tins so I have a new use for my solar panel other than charging batteries.

As for the washing soda this is where the info is lacking as what the concentration that is being used. Other words what percentage (mix ratio) that is being used? Like one cup to a gallon or one cup to a liter. That would take the guessing out. Just for example the molasses bath I don't see where any mix ratio is posted.

Regarding molasses bath, I read somewhere here that the minimum is 1 part molasses to 9 parts water but can be up to 1/4 molasses. The richer the mix, the less time to wait.
I used close to the minimum as I'm happy to wait and I only have a litre of Molasses left. I used 1 litre of Molasses to 8.5 litres of water.
Thanks for the before and after pics AVB. They are always satisfying. Can we see the inner part? That would be interesting.
My Victa 125 two stroke cover was more scaly on the outer part than yours.
Any chance of seeing piccies of your electrolysis setup?

Sorry I was losing daylight fast yesterday but I can verify that it was just as clean inside as it was out but I have already repainted it to prevent flash rusting so I can't post an image of the inside now.

As for my setup it was very simple. A 5 gallon bucket with the negative lead attached to the shroud and the positive lead attach to an old 5/8" x 6" forcing bolt (that I mangled during a pull) from one of my pullers suspended in the center of bucket not touching the shroud and I had filled the bucket with 3 gallons of the vinegar; just enough to cover things. I actually use a 1 x 2 board across the top of bucket to suspense my bolt anode. My solar panel has about a 8 foot twin lead terminated with two small battery clips like on small chargers.

I am going to see if I can use different plastic container that has more room and look nicer, just got to look around the next time I out but the reclaimed oil bucket work fine.

I am kinda embarrassed to show my redneck setup but it is just temporary setup until I can made a more professional setup. It was good enough for initial test just prove to myself I understood the principal involved so I just used improvised items that were handy. What you on the left the setup for the anode bolt and on the right is the suspended belt pulley. I would like better hangers for the anode and object being clean but as I said it is just a test setup.

Haha very redneck as you call it. I don't care. There end result is all that matters.
HELP!! Thick tufts of mould are growing on the surface of my brew. How do I remove it?

Well I using it to clean up some rusted spindle pulleys this week. I going see how well it does on the double stack later today. Sure saves having to buy over $100 in pulleys for the '94 mower deck. Kinda hoping I can get the engine pulley off but I don't think the last guy used any anti-seize when he installed it. I may be only able to clean it with a wire brush. Everything so rusted up from sitting unused several years,

Now you are not suppose to be growing your own antibiotics. I would think you just use a skimmer to remove the mold but the real question is how do you prevent it in the first place. That going to hard I would think as it got to be sterile environment so it need to sealed once sterilized.

Maybe those that has worked with the molasses bath before has some ideas on the mold prevention.

On side note I just found that I need a prescription just to get my antibiotic terramycin for my honeybees. What a bummer. I have been using it for 20 yrs and it was an over the counter medicine. Also I can only get it a 20+ oz package instead the smaller 6.4 oz package. The stuff goes bad quickly if not not vacuum sealed. Just more government control making things harder to do what is routine necessary treatment. Just wondering when they going make all the over meds prescription only so doctors charge for office visits get to headache meds which what doctors are pushing for here.

Alrighty, here is the result. Most of the rust was removed from the engine shroud, bar a couple of small spots with paint. Most of the old paint peeled off easily but I used the pressure washer to remove most of the rest. Then used steel wool.
As it air dried, the iron oxide rapidly reappeared, so I used CLR and a blue scouring pad to wipe it off before rinsing and quickly drying it with a clean rag, before using a hairdryer for a few minutes. Then out with the can of black zinc paint.
The paint revealed some pitting in the finish from years of rust, but that will be mostly hidden by the plastic dress cowl.
Metal is hard work to clean up and repaint. Wow.

Then you can sand it back with wet or dry, repaint, sand it back and continue the process till you get a mirror finish on it, then give it a coat of 2 pak clear

I have a lot ahead. Finish is lacklustre but it's still an improvement to before.
I'm a bit rusty on the sandpaper to use. 300 -400 grit from memory.
How long to cure before rubbing down again?

I would use 600 and do it with plenty of water to keep the grit clear. Depends on how thick the paint is but usually you can sand it back the next day, just go steady, couple of times should get all the imperfections out

Hi all,

I've just made up a new bath today for doing a terrible powder coated model 45 reel and as I have a fair strong power supply it was done in about 5 hours and now it's squeaky clean and ready to paint in the morning.

Cheers,
BB.

Hi BB, after all the mess and time taken with the molasses solution, I shall try a simple electrolysis set up. It has been very interesting starting this discussion.
I will retrieve the fasteners next and apply clear asap.
Good advice NK, a less agressive grit is a good idea. My best work has been with wet sanding. It's much smoother and faster, but I've always been concerned about moisture getting to the metal that way and not drying properly before applying paint.

MF at this time of the year sitting in the sun for an hour is more than enough for any water to be removed

or a hair dryer for five minutes or so.