Acid

[machinist_1]

Would there be any problems with my anodizing if I was to mix my acid solution a little strong? Say, 1 gal to 1 gal. I bought my battery acid from Napa. It's a five Gal. container with Sp. GR. 1.265.


Thank you for any Info. machinist_1

[sswee]

Yes, you'll have dissolution problems.

[machinist_1]

I was afraid of that.

Thank You;

[sswee]

Just an idea. I found the cheap ($17.95) utility sink at Home Depot is made of HDPE. It is 20 gal and sturdy, will sit flat on table without the legs. All I had to do was put a 1-1/2" PVC cap on the drain. Is working good. About 21" square and 13" Dp.

[machinist_1]

Thanks For the info.

What I am using at this time is two 20 gal. water tanks from a Motor home ( RV). I use one for my Ano tank and the other is full of Acid mix also. I circulate the two together to help keep the temp down.

Another Question. What are the two pieces of wire that comes with the Ano. kit? There is resitor with the wire also.

[sswee]

Unless it's to hook up an ammeter, I don't know. They tell how to use a resistor in the manual.

Just some general info on acid concentration

Concentrated sulfuric acid; 100% by weight and volume.
Commercial battery acid; 35% by weight, and 19.2% by volume.
"Professional" electrolyte; 16.5% by weight, and 9.4% by volume.
Caswell's 1:2 electrolyte; 6.4% by volume.
LCD electrolyte; 4.8% by volume.

[machinist_1]

Thanks again for the Info.

[jaggy13]

Unless it's to hook up an ammeter, I don't know. They tell how to use a resistor in the manual.

Just some general info on acid concentration

Concentrated sulfuric acid; 100% by weight and volume.
Commercial battery acid; 35% by weight, and 19.2% by volume.
"Professional" electrolyte; 16.5% by weight, and 9.4% by volume.
Caswell's 1:2 electrolyte; 6.4% by volume.
LCD electrolyte; 4.8% by volume.

hmmmm, I am using concentrated sulfuric acid. (purchased at a chemical supplier) I was under the impression that I would need 2:1 ratio with that. but by looking at your statement above, I would think it would need to be much, much more diluted. Sorry for the newb question, just may be the start of the problems I am having. thanks in advance.

[sswee]

For LCD anodizing you need a 3:1 ratio by volume with battery electrolyte giving a 4.8% by volume. Using too high a concentration causes dissolution and other problems.

[jaggy13]

so I would need to dilute mine even more? like 20:1?

[sswee]

How much acid to how much water? Did you mix by weight?
Acording to my calculations:
You'll need 11.68oz per gal. for a 4.8% by volume.
I got this by figuring commercial battery acid at 35% by weight is 46.7201oz per gallon. Diluting down to 4.8% should give 11.68oz per gallon.
I welcome correction from anyone if I have miscalculated.

[jaggy13]

I started off with 20oz of acid and 40oz of distilled water. (2 parts water, 1 part acid)

I am running a fairly small tank for now, I am just testing things before i end up with 5 gallons of a lethal concoction...
the test pieces were only scrap pieces of stock that I cleaned up to play with. 1 ~ 2 sq inches roughly.

Also I should preface this with a little history, I found a post about "home anodizing" and thought I would give it a try, only after some issues, and some follow up research did I find this site and all this great information. So I am trying to "catch up" before I go any further.

So if my acid is 100% and I need it down just under 5% that means I am way rich on acid, but I am not sure if its just as simple as a straight ratio. Do I have 33% now? thanks for the help. I am reading as many posts as I can squeeze in between my real job.... and all the information I have found has been very enlightening. glad I finally found this forum.

[sswee]

Sorry, I was editing when you posted. I had a brain fart trying to convert between weight and volume. Your mix of 20oz/40oz in weight or volume?

[jaggy13]

volume. sorry. didn't think to say that.

[sswee]

I'm figuring for 20oz of acid, you'll need 416.66oz(3.25gal) of water for a 4.8% by volume. This is if I am thinking correctly. There are others in the forum that will chime in if they see something off.