I had built a Electrolysis tub that I outlined here: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/520550-oxalic-acid-please-na2co3-where.html

This is the first bike that I did a full clean up of with my little effort saver. Its not really a time saver as stuff has to soak for 1-2 hours BUT actually labor is maybe 15 minutes for a lager piece with just a little going over with a tooth brush to get the remaining Iron oxide off. We have been getting a bunch of rain and I managed to get the after shots between showers. My camera lens was fogging as was the Chrome on the bike so not as sharp as they could be.

As I pointed out in the other post this is really good for bare steel and chrome parts. You can get away with a short burst on Aluminum but some aluminum grades will get a black tint to it but it is easily removed with metal polish.

The spokes had some rust up where it when into the hub. I dunked the whole wheel to get that rust off then came back with the metal polish to get the tint off the aluminium. Just keep a VERY close eye on it and only let it soak long enough to get the job done.

The Aluminum brake handles I had no issue with so I dunked the complete bars with the bar tape on. I wanted to try to save the tape since it was in really good shape for its age and was the matching "Chestnut" color of the bike. I just came back at them with a light buff with a scotch bright pad and they cleaned up really nice.

I did the chain and derailleurs as well. They cleaned up fairly well.

As pointed out in the other post this is not good for paint so the frame was not cleaned with Electrolysis.

Great job outa you on that varsity. The best part is you can use it on parts that have a mix of cad-plated pieces on it. OA reacts terribly to zinc platings.

Very impressive! Thanks for the pictures and story. Looks sharp!

How long did that take? I tried a setup but it was real slow.

Almost makes me wish I hadn't trashed my daughter's old cheap bikes - almost

But that does great work. But one question is unanswered. How well does everything work afterwards? Do shifters shift smoothly, chains flex properly, and so on? Or do leftover pits affect movement?

Actual labor time is great. All I did was a quick once over with a tooth brush about half way though and then a brush and rinse. Maybe 10-15 minutes of actual labor in a wheel including a quick rub down with metal polish.

Actual tub time is long but hands off. I built the tub big enough to take half a wheel. Parts were very crusty as you can see in the before pictures. A wheel takes about 4 hours since you can only do half at a time but it is hands off so you can do other things.
Cranks took about 2.5 hours. That was 2 hours soaking and then I disassembled them hit them real quick with the metal polish and reassembled.

So yes you can turn parts around a lot faster with physical labor and brillo pad or agitating OA with a brush. Electrolysis is saving the physical labor. Just stick it in and forget about it for a couple hours.


They were gummed up and tight when I started. After getting all the corrosion off them with the electrolisis then lubing when done they work fine. The process loosened up all the dried grease and oil. The rear derailleur I did disassemble the cage and serviced the jokey wheels.

Chain was the best part. Took all the rust off and got the 30 years of gunk loosened up if not completely gone. Blew it dry with the air hose and most of the remaining crud blew off in the process. Took very little work to get the chain done.

Great job, it looks really nice.
A question about your setup, from the pictures in the other thread it looks like you used one piece of pipe as the anode, did you have to flip the wheel over so the side that was not facing the anode got done or did it clean it anyway? I thought the anode had to have a "line of sight" to the rust on the job being done.

You might want to install a nut on the stem bar clamp bolt, or else the first time you hit the brakes is liable to get exciting.

I have anodes on each side of the tank.
Took me a minute to figure out what you meant. The Stem is threaded.

It looks great now, but what will it look like in a year's time? Without some sort of protection, it's just going to come back.

Thats why you wax.

Bikes get to that condition from where they are stored and lack of use. Hopefully this will become a cherished object and stored somewhere dry from now on.