Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Cleaning Electrolyte off of Aluminum

DFliyerz - 22-12-2014 at 15:50

Out of boredom (and because they were taking up too much space) I started dissassembling some of my larger capacitors I had lying around to remove the aluminum foil from it. However, it's coated in this gross electrolyte, which smells really bad. How would I go about removing the electrolyte in from large amounts of aluminum at a time, and cleaning it up?

HgDinis25 - 22-12-2014 at 16:11

Really? Just don't do it and give them away to someone who can enjoy the wonders of electronics... And if you need Aluminium foil, go to a supermarket.

Anyway, put the Al foil in a pan filled with boiling water, let it sit for a few minutes and remove. Repeat as needed until you have nice shiny Aluminium. For a better, faster way, pour it in some Nitric Acid (only if you even know the why of putting it in Nitric Acid).