Hello all. Another report on trying to eliminate plate-out, inspired by a recent mailing to and from 'Ole Bob'. Some months ago I posted a speculation that wrapping a cathode in eg artificial chamois may dramatically reduce plate-out - because that would greatly reduce the amount of fresh fluid contacting the cathode surface. Since then Bob posted a comment about success using cotton bias tape wrapping - what is called 'bagging the electrode'. I have tried it using fairly thick cotton twill, wrapped twice around a stainless steel plate (40mm X 200mm section) and secured with small rubber bands. For everything else the same, current is reduced about 20% - from ~ 8.5mA to ~ 6.5mA owing to cotton wrap. The big improvement is a dramatic reduction in cathode plate-out, which is now just a thin, fairly adherent film that barely stains the cotton (only at the plate edges). No gunk fall out, no filtering, perfectly clear and sparkly free CS, with moderate levels of both tyndale and metallic taste.
NOTE: This is using demineralised water to which citric acid was added, which dramatically boosts conductivity. It means the majority of charge carriers reaching the cathode and reducing there will be H+ ions, not Ag+. Not sure how effective wrapping would be using the traditional LVDC method - ie relying on residual impurities in DW to start things yields nearly all the positive ions in solution as Ag+. regards, Kevin Nolan
