NEMO-Chemistry
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Best way to clean battery graphite rods?
What is the best way to clean up battery graphite rods from used batteries? I would like to do some elctro chemistry at some point. I was thinking
maybe a soak in HCl then distilled water?
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hissingnoise
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Fucking around with battery rods rarely ends well since they're small and usually consist of compressed carbon!
Graphite rods!
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Daffodile
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Use acetone and scrubbing, there's an adhesive of some sort, or wax.
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Sulaiman
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I recovered four carbon rods from a lantern battery together with the zinc pots and MnO2/carbon paste.
I heated the rods to red heat to burn-off the unknown stuff.
don't do it over a domestic cooker as it may get messy ... dripping wax etc.
a bbq or similar is ok.
Unfortunately this technique ruins the nice press-fit metal caps.
EDIT: after recovering the carbon rods I bought graphite rods for the length - just easier / I'm lazy.
[Edited on 16-6-2016 by Sulaiman]
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OneEyedPyro
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HCl should do a pretty good job getting rid of MnO2.
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Xenoid
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NO!!! - Don't use solvents or heating to remove the wax sealant!
It's there for a purpose, to help prevent electrolyte penetration, and the eventual disintegration of the rod, this is especially important if the rod
is to be used in chlorate cells.
I would recommend just brushing with a toothbrush and warm soapy water.
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NEMO-Chemistry
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Ok cheers, seems worth a go. I might buy some longer ones at some point, postage has got silly price in the UK so i wait until i have a decent order
and asked for a discount and combined postage when i can  .
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DFliyerz
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I usually just scrape it off with a knife
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NEMO-Chemistry
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The lantern type of cells (4 cells in bigger battery) worked ok, but the ones i tried from single cells were rubbish and just crumbled, a little HCl
and a wipe with a damp cloth seemed to work fine.
Thanks i can give electrolysis a go. I got a small 12V (i think!) solar panel from a caravan off ebay, its used but seems to be working ok, not very
big and not much current but FREEEEE electric for some electrolysis.
I will look on google and get a circuit to drop the voltage a bit. Thanks everyone
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