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Originally Posted by andrewjb
i drilled a hole in it and put a piece of wire through the hole and folded the wire up so it was crushing the sheet.
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errr, I don't think you're getting a secure enough connection doing that. Could you get hold of a nylon bolt and nut, or an aluminum bolt and nut to bolt the wire to the sheet?
If not, how about jamming a wooden toothpick alongside the wire into the hole?
16swg should be plenty thick enough for the current you're using - you can probably push 3 amps through it without any problem.
Just to clarify, you're using aluminum wire for the positive, and you're using copper wire for the plates but it doesn't get into the solution, and [hopefully] it's not even over the tank in the air? Since your voltage starts low and goes high that indicates to me that it's a problem with the positive connection, not the plates. If the copper is in the air but 'in the tank' it will eventually have problems from vapor/fumes but that shouldn't be an issue yet.
I had calculated something like 32 sq in for your rings, so the 36 you were using was close enough.
My tank has never hissed at me, and I've put 10 amps into 6 total gallons of 3:1 solution to anodize 400 sq in. I've seen enough 'bubble action' that I couldn't see to the bottom of the tank.