This is something I wanted to tinker with not long after getting into detecting, and today was the day. For anyone else wanting to try it, it's pretty easy and cheap.
Since all I'm cleaning is small bits for now, I went to the hardware store and picked up 1 quart and 2.5 quart clear paint mixing containers, a couple alligator clips, handful of bare nails as anodes, gallon of distilled water, and already had picked up a box of Arm & Hammer washing soda (it's the electrolyte for the solution, sodium carbonate) last week.
A 12v power supply from my spare Linksys router is what I'm using for juice. It's rated for 1 amp. 12 volts is fine for cleaning iron farm crunk, but lower voltages are recommended for washing your delicates.
Clipped the plug off the power supply, and soldered on alligator clips, observing polarity.
I added a couple cups of water to the container, and dissolved maybe 2/3 to 3/4 tsp of the washing soda in it. Attached the positive clip to the top of my nail/anode, and taped the wire to the cup, making sure the clip stays above the solution or else it'll get eaten.
Negative clip goes to the piece being cleaned. I'm using a nice straight square nail I dug this summer. I suspended that on the other side of the cup with some tape as well. You have to sink the alligator clip, but that's fine as it's won't erode. Make sure your anode and piece to be cleaned never touch! Short circuit!
Plugged in the transformer, and was seeing bubbles on the anode and negative clip, but not my nail. The crust on the nail was too much resistance. Unplugged, pulled the nail, and carefully filed a bare spot along a flat side of the nail. Also filed down the teeth a bit on the alligator clips for more contact area.
Sunk everything again, plugged in, and voila, bubbles seeping out along the nail. Cool! After a while, rust colored foam started forming around the nail.
Let it go for half an hour, and unplugged for a peek. Could see results already. The nail I'm using for an anode had built up black oxidation(?), so I unclipped it, rinsed off the black stuff, and gave it a quick clean with my file. Back in the solution, plug in, and it was bubbling real good again. That oxidation seems to knock down the current after a while. Carbon anodes are much better than iron ones as they don't react like iron does, so I may have to get one from fleabay or Amazon maybe.
And warning! You're creating hydrogen during this process! A little rig like this isn't an issue indoors, a small fan blowing across the area is more than sufficient. Just don't play with sparklers around it. Something to do while the snow flies. And when you're done, the solution looks like hot chocolate. Add a peppermint candy cane and top with marshmallow. Tasty!Thanks for reading, and I'll get a pic of the nail up when it's done.
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