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Originally Posted by cameraman
What would be the temperature differential between lead cathodes and aluminum cathodes - 1°, 5°, 10°?
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Due to lead having a greater electrical resistance than aluminum, higher voltages are required thus generating more heat in the tank. What the temperature difference would be in your case I have no way of knowing. There may be a mathematical answer to your question but I do not know what it is...
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Originally Posted by cameraman
It's not waste until you're finished with it and trying to get rid of it, which isn't going to happen until you've anodized several hundred square feet. I considered my tank "hazardous waste" the moment I poured sulfuric acid into it - even if I neutralized it I wouldn't pour it down the sink or toss it in the alley.
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You made three points in the above paragraph and I'm sorry to inform you that all three are incorrect. Atleast from my standpoint.
1. "It's not waste until you're finished with it and trying to get rid of it..." Perhaps one should consider the possibility of leakage due to tank rupture, accidental spillage, dragout into the rinse water which then becomes contaminated with lead. The various methods of lead being introduced into the environment are endless if not monitored very carefully and religiously. Lead is bad for the environment, m'kay.
2. "...isn't going to happen until you've anodized several hundred square feet." Lead leeches into the solution whether you've anodized 1 square inch of surface area or 1000 square feet. Lead is a very carefully monitored substance in my part of the world...Infact waste waters or pickling solutions containing lead (or any heavy metals) are monitored on a government level - they are hazardous waste! I'm not comfortable dumping any amount of hazardous waste in anyone's backyard. I'm also not comfortable to hear of other people doing it. Please be responsible.
3. "I consider my tank "hazardous waste" the moment I poured sulfuric acid into it - even if I neutralized it I wouldn't pour it down the sink or toss it in the alley." Well tossing it the alley might get the neighbours to look at you funny, however, if it were properly neutralized it's not much more dangerous than water. As my anodizing line is of a large enough scale that I have to keep tabs with the city, I learned that as long as the pH levels of ANY of my anodizing baths is in the 6.8-7.2 pH range (I'd have to go back into my records to double check those exact levels) that I can pour it directly into the sewer system - unless I exceed 40,000 gals per year in which case I would have to send it to a treatment plant for processing.
In my opinion, for the most part people who experiment with anodizing and electroplating in their backyards are responsible people. Having said that, there seems to be a select few who feel that dumping their pickling baths in their backyard or down the drain is an acceptable practice. Perhaps this stems from a lack of understanding of just what it is that they are "playing" with. I personally feel that the first thing one should research is the environmental issues that your latest interest may hold. Not only would the individual better learn how to protect his backyard but his/her own health.
I don't mean to say that you seem like one of these people who goes around dumping your pickling solutions in the yard...Don't get me wrong. I'm simply trying to argue the point of how wrong it is...On so many levels.
Just my $0.02. Stepping off my soap box now...
- Dan