Thread: Hydrogen Embrittlement during Rust Removal

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Depends a lot on what steel the parts are made out of. Quenched and tempered steels (chrome moly) are fairly susceptable especially at hardnesses over 30 HRc while mild alloy steels are not. Most suspension parts are probably not that hard and even in chrome moly would not be that susceptable.

I believe the baking must be performed within 4 hours of metal exposure to hydrogen.

Kitz

Thanks for your response, Kitz.

From what I read, it is necessary to heat the part to approx. 400F to remove the hydrogen, but I can find no indication of how long the "bake" should last. Is it only necessary to raise the temp of the item to that level or does it have to be kept at that temperature for a specific period?

One of the links I attached to the other thread essentially said, the longer the better for bake time. There are probably practical considerations such as size of plated piece, density of material, thickness of plating, and so on.

Ok, looks like it's a judgment call. I think I will bake any item that I have removed the rust from by electrolysis just as a precaution if there is any chance of it being stressed and certainly any suspension part.
Thanks again.