DC Power Supply Adjustable (30V 5/10A), Eventek Variable Switching Regulated Digital Power Supply with Alligator Leads US Power Cord (30V 10A) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TW8H2S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_gujdGbRJF0J88?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I use this one.
The rule with the anodes is that you want as much surface area as possible. I use two stainless steel sheets I got from a friend that works in a machine shop. If you take a wire brush and scrape off some of the rust that accumulates on the anodes you will see a markedly better performance during electrolysis. Leaving the gunk and rust to build up will slowly decrease the efficiency.
I have this one.
It works just fine for spewing random power into things. I'm doing anything particularly sensitive that'll care about the things that you want a higher quality power supply for, and it sounds like you're not either.
So, probably fine?
That's not a good choice of fan anyways, you should use a squirrel cage fan or bilge blower which you can get on Amazon for cheap. Exhaust gases should be exhausted by proper explosion proof fans. Which that one is not.
Regardless, you should not just connect that to 120v, you should have something to regular power and voltage so you can adjust fan speed.
I use a bench top power supply like the below: DC Power Supply Adjustable (30V 10A), Eventek Variable Switching Regulated Digital Power Supply with Alligator Leads US Power Cord (30V 10A) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TW8H2S/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_RR0ZACWJHP08C4Z1T809
You can just cut the stuff off on the end of the wires and connect the leads directly to the screw down terminals on the power supply. I do this because it's convenient for me because I already have the psu there for other stuff, but you can purchase a conventional power supply once you know the working specifications.
I got a DC power supply to make all of my battery-powered toys into plug-in toys, with infinitely variable speed between 0-30V and 0-10A. 300W is way more than any sex toy would use. Some basic understanding of electricity is required, and sometimes soldering. Most battery powered toys are designed to run at 1.5V-6V maximum, and would actually be damaged (possibly causing injury) if given too much power, so this is a use-at-your-own-risk solution.
I just realized how appropriate it would be to make artwork of a trans woman hacking her sex toys for better performance. I'm not an artist, unfortunately. I first did this in my egg phase, and didn't really think of it as a sign of things to come.
Yes that’s a older article but as people more frequently used that method more evidence arose from users reporting damage to their property.
DC Power Supply Adjustable (0-30 V 0-10 A), Eventek KPS3010D Variable Switching Regulated Digital Power Supply with Alligator Leads US Power Cord https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TW8H2S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_tSWlFbHPYEGHX
You are looking at it the correct way. You want to be pretty exact when it comes to the power supply. Some electronics have more or less tolerance to the power supply being exact than others, so you can’t 100% rule out that you just don’t have the right one. Depending on your budget there’s a couple different things you can do. 1) try to email peavy customer support and tell them the exact model you have and if they can sell a power supply to you or recommend one that would work from their existing parts supply. If you’re lucky, they should be able to send you a power supply for pretty cheap (maybe $10-40 shipped...? Just a guess tho).
2) if you can’t get it from peavy, look for that exact voltage and amperage power supply from any electronics supplier online. If the barrel plug doesn’t exactly fit, splice it onto one that does fit the peavy.
3) the slightly more expensive option, but as you were indicating, you want to know whether or not it’s a power supply issue first. Over the years of investing in electronics, I eventually got a bench tester. This one :bench tester
It allows you to finely dial in whatever voltage and amperage setting you need to properly power your dc circuit. This is a really helpful tool to have and will Allow you to provide power to any dc electronics that you’re troubleshooting or prototyping. Obviously if you’re trying to just stick to making work what you already have, it might be prohibitively expensive, but In the lifetime of working with electronics, this and a multimeter are invaluable
I may go with this one, it gets recommended over at cast iron and I think it will work for both projects. I just have to learn how to not make myself become a cartoon skeleton.
At some point in your electronics adventuring, you really should get a bench power supply as you then don't need to worry about issues like this (for the most part). You don't need to get the expensive one. Here is the one I use to power the breadboard computer: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TW8H2S/
Of course, if you ever want to move the breadboard computer away from your workbench, the bench power is a clumsy solution. Here is a 5V 6 amp power brick: https://www.amazon.com/JOVNO-Converter-Transformer-100-240V-5-5x2-5mm/dp/B08762BC1K/
First, check out the restoration and seasoning instructions in the FAQ. There are also nice electrolysis and seasoning articles on Cast Iron Collector, and one other electrolysis article from the Wagner and Griswold Society.
I also like this tutorial, and modeled my tank after his with some changes. I made my own mini jumper cables to connect each of the steel sheets *inside* my container (but above the water-line). I didn't like the idea of the electrical leads being outside the tank where someone might accidentally touch them while the system was powered on. Then I just connect the positive lead from the power supply to one of the steel plates with an alligator clip.
I don't have any plastic barriers between the cast iron pieces and the sheet metal either. I just make sure the cast iron is not touching any of the anodes.
I have a wooden 1x2 beam that lays across the top of my container with a wire with jumper cable clips on either end running down into the electrolyte liquid to connect to 2 cast iron items, so I can clean 2 things at once. I cut away a small section of the plastic shielding where the cable hangs over the wooden beam, and I attach the negative lead from the power supply there with another alligator clip.
I also have separate wires tied to the wooden beam that I hang the cast iron pieces from, so the negative lead clips don't have to take the weight of the cast iron. I did not want a clip failing and a pan accidentally detaching during electrolysis. I originally had the support wires holding the cast iron double as leads, but negative leads in the electrolyte liquid get trashed pretty quickly, so it was less work in the end to use jumper clips and dedicated holding wires.
Note that anything aluminum in your e-tank will disintegrate, so be careful about putting anything with aluminum parts in there. The jumper cable clips I bought from Amazon have aluminum hinge pins, but nowhere in the description did it say that, and I did not notice that they were aluminum before I started using them. The first one broke after a few days use, so I put on a new clip. After it broke, I pulled it apart and found the remains of the hinge pin were not attracted to a magnet. Ah ha! I put the broken clips back together with steel safety pins and they work OK, but eventually, I'll probably get some better clips.
Here is a photo album with notes from the last time I rebuilt my electrolysis tank, and here are some other tips:
A byproduct of electrolysis is hydrogen gas, so setup your tank in a well-ventilated area.
The more surface area you have on your anodes and the closer and more direct facing your cast iron pieces are to the anodes, the better the system will work. It takes longer to clean the inside walls of a Dutch oven or deep skillet for example because there is less direct line-of-site to the anodes.
I've still got one more set of new steel anodes to go through, but once those are used up, I plan on replacing them with sheets of graphite. They don't degrade, so they last indefinitely and the tank stays cleaner longer.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B073TW8H2S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I use at home and work. good buy 10A 0-30v
Thank you!
Appreciate the sentiment but I'm no instructor! I certainly aim to help where I can, it's a tough business. It took me years to get proficient enough to be comfortable with doing anything creative. Even then it was due to the pressure put on me by employers. But I suppose that's how you get better, by pushing yourself or being pushed.
I went to a Jewelry Repair class back in 1985, it was a week-long class where we spent about 10 hours a day for 5 days learning all the basics. If you're not lucky enough to have a mentor or boss to teach you, classes are the way to go.
As for equipment, these days there are knock-offs of virtually every item you need, and sometimes it's just an unbranded Chinese version, not necessarily a cheaply made product.
Babs Bead Warehouse is a great place for budget items, I've purchased many things from them. It's a husband and wife team running the business:
https://www.babsbeadwarehouse.com/
Rio Grande also is great, but a little more expensive and with proper business documentation you can get access to other things there like diamonds.
Stuller is the industry standard for parts, findings, melee etc etc but they are also now one of the most expensive, there's a growing trend now of smaller companies competing with them for specific items, so that's good for us, but it's a slow process diversifying all your accounts for each niche market (melee only companies, metals-solder-stock companies, color stone companies, etc etc) Stuller is also one of the hardest vendors to get an account with, they really tightened things up after the Patriot Act.
One of my favs for budget equipment is Harbor Freight. I use their rotary tumbler with metal shot I bought on Amazon. I have one of their vices as well. Also have some hammers from them, as well as a pancake air compressor, smaller air-brush style compressor, sandpaper and misc pliers. I get a lot of stuff there. Best thing with them is you can go in and actually see and hold the items you're buying!
Ebay is also a good place. That's where I got my electric melter. It came from China so it took a few weeks. Amazon works as well, I got my plating rectifier, and ultrasonic cleaner. I also go cheap on the solutions. I've found that Purple Power from Walmart is perfect for the ultrasonic, it's super cheap and virtually odorless.
Here's a bunch of links to things I've bought on the cheap over the last few years, and so far (knock on wood!) they are all functioning properly!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073TW8H2S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GPHWYXB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DJJYFRI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058ECVW8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.harborfreight.com/dual-drum-rotary-rock-tumbler-67632.html?_br_psugg_q=tumbler
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K1DWSQW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I've been using this power supply for years and it works well. Here is my tank setup as well as a few notes from when I recently rebuilt it if it helps.
I've been using this power supply for a couple years now with good results.
Does your charger have a manual mode? If not, you can work around your power charger's automatic power shutoff if you have an old car battery handy. Check out the instructions on this page.
For what it's worth, I know a little about cast iron and restoring it but I'm always learning something new. There are others here that know a lot more than me!
I have an e-tank set up (and a lye tank) but it seems that I often tweek it to improve performance. Like you said, finding a good power supply can be a challenge. u/castironkid recommended this one and I've been very happy with it. What kind of anodes are you using? Large anodes that provide a greater "line of sight" work much better than small anodes like rebar. I use a couple of stainless steel kick-plates for my anodes and get wide coverage on even large pans but I still usually rotate the piece being restored to ensure that all surfaces have been exposed to the anodes.
Regarding wire wheels, I don't use one. I do often use a hand-held stainless steel brush (about toothbrush-sized) to clean up tight areas (like on waffle irons or gem pans or around heat rings). That being said, not all wire wheels are the same. Differences in wire gauge and steel composition can lead to drastically different results. I've seen skillets that have been covered in scratches from an over-zealous application of a wire wheel. Those skillets have absolutely no "collectable" value but can still be good "usable" pans. It kind of hurts to see a pan that could be worth hundreds of dollars reduced to something only worth tens of dollars. I've also seen pans scarred by the use of a brass wheel where brass is rubbed onto the surface of the iron.
What you do is really up to you and what your goals are. I like collecting and restoring antique cast iron. I use restoration methods that won't harm the iron. Most of the pieces that I've restored are much older than me and will still be around for many years after I'm gone and I'd like to ensure that I "do no harm" in making them usable again.
I can't speak about the hand tool vs. power tool crowds. My dad was a very accomplished woodworker and cabinetmaker. He used both. I believe Tom Silva's philosophy is "use the right tool for the job."
Final thought - chain mail is useless for restoring cast iron. It can be pretty great for cleaning up after cooking without seriously damaging the seasoning I've worked so hard to build.
I was trying to ease you into the ~~obsession~~ club. 😉
Once you got the lye tank setup and stripping off the old gunk, you'd look around and think, "What can I do to take a little more work out of restoring all this cast iron"? By then you'd be acquiring a pile or two of sweet iron weekly, and so we'd all say, "Now is the time to add electrolysis to your restoration repertoire!". However, we now see you as a gung ho go-getter that can multi-task, so by all means, you should definitely setup both!
Seriously though, you could use an e-tank instead of a lye tank, but I and several (many?) others on this sub, do actually use both. It works out really well to remove all the heavy gunk with lye and then get the rust and anything the lye missed with electrolysis. It speeds up the process and keeps most of the gunk out of your e-tank.
I would not worry too much about a lye tank in the house, as it does not produce noxious fumes or anything. I would worry about kids/pets getting into it though, so make sure it has a good solid lid if you do set one up. It's nice to keep a spray bottle of 50/50 water/vinegar nearby to neutralize the lye incase you do get any on you, but you can just rinse it off with water too. The e-tank on the other hand, should be done outdoors or in a well-ventilated place, because it produces hydrogen as a byproduct.
I keep my lye tank under my porch, and my e-tank outside in a relatively protected corner next to our home.
Here is quite a bit more information about lye tanks and electrolysis to give you a better understanding. Someone else on this sub just posted a nice set of photos detailing their e-tank a day or two ago, but here's mine if you'd like a look too. The only things I've changed with mine since setting it up originally are, I've been using this power supply for a couple years now with good results, and I've since switched from using plain sheet metal to stainless steel sheets, as they last much longer and keep the tank much cleaner.
I use this power supply to power my e-tank.
I've been happy with this power supply I bought off Amazon. I looked around for a manual battery charger, but didn't find one.
I use this power supply to power my e-tank.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TW8H2S is what I have. Stainless wire wrapped through the handle with the alligator clip attached above the water line.
I use this power supply.