The time in the round tank for the bottom was about 6-8 hours. That half went pretty quickly, since it all fit in the trash can with a little effort to get the can to flex. The cathodes were close to the metal of the tank (anode) so the ion travel distance was only 3-5 inches. The sheet metal cathode was new and clean for the top. The larger tank took over 24 hours. Same power supply and cathode more water larger distances. I scraped the cathodes to clean the plates but not being fresh it took longer due to the resistance of the deposits. This is not a fast process but it is cheap and if you are not in hurry its fine. There is a thin carbon deposit on the metal after the FeO4 is removed, comes off with a wire brush.
The process changes the rust into an ion and moves it to the positive plate. This causes allot of crud deposited on the plates, resistance goes up and it takes longer, For the filler tube I placed a steel wire, down the center with a wood plug to electrically insulate it. rust came off and stuck to the wire. The tank came out better than I expected, I could have sand blasted it faster but this is much easier on the metal and no stretching. Electrolysis finds the pin holes, and it gets in behind spot welds and it theory is as effective as any other chemical process I know of. The best part is it only effects the oxides not the good metal. Low voltages and low current, and unattended.
I can't say enough about how cool the EVERLAST welder is. The variable polarity, center voltage, wave forms, frequencies and arc stability are amazing. The computer geeks in Silicon Valley have learned how to weld. https://www.everlastgenerators.com/
Thanks for looking
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