System for electrolytic cleaning of metal wire in loop form

A system for electrolytically cleaning metal wire, said system comprising:

• a container for holding an electrolyte, means for conveying the wire through the electrolyte on a generally horizontal passline,
• the wire being arranged in overlapped, non-concentric loops of about the same diameter lying flat in the passline direction,
• a plurality of elongated electrodes mounted in the container so as to extend lengthwise in generally transverse relation with respect to the passline, said electrodes being arranged in tandem in the passline direction and being adapted to be connected to a supply of electric current such that adjacent ones thereof are of opposite polarity, and
• a plurality of non-conductive barriers for electrically separating each adjacent pair of said electrodes,
• said electrodes including a planar first portion extending lengthwise fully across said loops on one side thereof and a pair of wrap-around second portions joined to each of the opposed narrow ends of the first portion, said wrap-around second portions each including at least a generally vertical leg extending along the outer edges of the wire loops, said second portions each providing an additional electrode area, within the outer one-sixth (1/6) of the loops as measured in a transverse direction normal to the passline, of from 5 to 35 percent of the area of said first electrode portion,
• the first and second electrode portions providing an electrode-to-wire spacing within the range of about 0.5 to about 2.0 inches,
• whereby, the wire loops are more effectively cleaned at the outer edges thereof.