Treating rust in a tank.

blab

blab

Hero member
Location
Adelaide South Australia
I have found some light rust in my tank, looking for experiences of others who have cured this.
I have tried POR 15 on another tank with limited success.
The tank is painted and I dont want to damage the existing paint job.
What have you used successfully ?
 
just thinking out loud - is some sort of electrolysis possible to get it nice a clean?  I've been using it one rusted lathe parts and it works great.
 
Blank fuel tap holes, put methylated spirits in with stainless steel self tapping screws, close lid then shake and shake and shake.

The theory is that the meth's absorbs moisture, the screws give a lovely matt finish.
 
Get some oxalic acid powder off ebay.

Its cheap and it's fairly benign .

Make a solution as per instructions and tip it in the tank.

Some loose nuts and bolts help when swishing it around in there.

Rinse with water.

Tip in half a cup of Kurust liquid ( got mine from Halfords ) to cure and rust proof.

Rinse with water

Rinse with methylated spirits to pull out any moisture.

Sacrifice half a litre of fuel to wash it around,

Fill up and carry on.


I did this with a corroded BMW tank and have since ridden it to Portugal and France and Ireland,,..and it doesn't damage paint or skin..Obviously wash it off with water if contaminated...

Joe
 
Good stuff, Joe. I had found a link about using rust converter and did it. The tank is now half full with "test" fuel to see if it handles it. No sign of trouble after 2 mths so reckon it is safe to use.
 
Blab do your self a favour POR 15 if you are careful and wrap the outside in plastic then you will be good and never have a problem this stuff not only cleans the rust but then coats the inside and it sticks like the proverbial to a blanket... got some on my trackies a couple of years ago and it aint never came off

http://www.por15.com/POR-15-Fuel-Tank-Sealer_p_64.html
 
I'd suggest the tumbling trick with the screws to loosen and liberate all flake rust. Then sluice with orthophosphoric acid (probably the active ingredient in KurRust) for a few hours to reduce the remaining ferric oxide (rust) to ferrous oxide (non soluble oxide). Rinse with dilute hydrochloric acid (brick and tile cleaner will do) for an hour or so to etch out any non reduced ferric material: rinse 2-3x with tap water and then final rinse with meths.. Once dry then apply your POR 15...
 
Have heard lots of positive feedback with Caswells epoxy coating. Not a fan of lining but Caswells is what I'd use. Being epoxy it aln't going to delaminate if prepped correctly.
 
+1 for Caswells. It is what I used in my 3CL tank which had quite extensive rust and a lot of small pinholes. Worked an absolute treat.

http://www.caswellplating.com/epoxy-gas-tank-sealer.html
 
motoddrob said:
Have heard lots of positive feedback with Caswells epoxy coating. Not a fan of lining but Caswells is what I'd use. Being epoxy it aln't going to delaminate if prepped correctly.
Click to expand...

I've used aircraft fuel tank sealants ...... also epoxy and superb results. I know of one tank I did about 35 years ago and it is still going strong.

I shop here https://www.aircraftspruce.ca/menus/cs/fueltanksealants.html?pageno=1

I haven't used this one but it sounds good ....... https://www.aircraftspruce.ca/pages/cs/fueltanksealants/gastanksealer.php

This is what I have used ..... I get a jar from my aviation connections. Requires pretty much all the same techniques as the Caswell product requires for prepping. Works very, very well.
https://www.aircraftspruce.ca/pages/cs/fueltanksealants/bunan.php
 
Some great tips here - thanks guys. Can I assume the epoxies will seal very small pin holes? My custom stainless 'lobster back' tank (goes under an RGS dummy cover) has a porous weld in one spot - and there may be more. If this works it's a simple solution.
 
Piranha Brother 2 said:
Some great tips here - thanks guys. Can I assume the epoxies will seal very small pin holes? My custom stainless 'lobster back' tank (goes under an RGS dummy cover) has a porous weld in one spot - and there may be more. If this works it's a simple solution.
Click to expand...

Epoxy type sealers will definitely fix pinhole leaks.
 
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