Electrode effects are known for more than 150 years. These effects, with undesirable consequences in industrial aluminium electrolysis, can be used to micro-machine glass with Spark Assisted Chemical Engraving (SACE). In this paper, a novel approach for theoretical analysis of the phenomenon is proposed by considering the bubble growth and bubble departure from electrodes as a stochastic process. The critical conditions (critical voltage and current density) are predicted in function of electrode geometry and electrolyte concentration as well as the static mean current-voltage characteristics prior to the onset of the effects. The different regions of the current-voltage characteristics, as identified by previous authors, are described and explained. It is shown that all relevant processes for the onset of the electrodes effects happen in the adherence region of the bubble layer. The model is applied for vertical cylindrical electrodes and compared with experimental data. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.