gas tank cleaning?

[Guest]

i have some rust in my tank mostly surface on the hump but can't see the back end probley more i saw the thread on tanks will the phrosphoris acid hurt the petcock,filter or gasket? if so what should i plug the hole with? i was thinking maybe plummers putty not sure if it will hold up to the acid or acetone rinse, any sugestions?
thanks

[mro]

I made covers to replace the petcocks out of some 1/8th steel scrap I had laying around and used a piece of an inner tube for a gasket. Reused the petcock screws.

Rust in my 80G tank was not too bad so did not line the tank, but did install in-line fuel filters.


mro

[Guest]

tank

mro sounds good i only have surface rust and like you didn't want to line the tank and filters are going on to
thanks

[danteinien]

I just cleaned one out, it was real bad, after getting the chunks out(put some bolts in there and shook it around) I used some muriatic acid to get the heavy surface rust out. But because muriatic acid will leave surface rust right after you rinse it out, I went to autozone and got some Rust Remover stuff, dont recall the name but it was in a grey bottle and it is nontoxic. I let that sit over night and the next day the sucker was clean! Like brand new! The stuff claims it keeps rust at bay for up to two weeks, so after putting in some petrol it is just fine, worked great for me!

[Guest]

rust

thanks for the info i'll check it out

[Bud Manley]

Electrolisys

I saw this posted elsewhere and tried it out .
It's awesome!!!

Use the bucket method with the leftover mix for any rusty tools you have. I started throwing things in just to watch what happened.
I found the washing soda at Miejers for a few bucks.
Its all water based so no worry acid destroying paint etc...

[Guest]

rusty tank

hey scott wow! this method looks great and i'll give it a try since i couldn't find any phosphoric acid in town today what amps was your charger set at 2 or 10? still hard to find some things in the back woods of da u.p. eh! you need to post that on the tank cleaning thread
thanks for the info will let you know how it worked out
dick

[DiverRay]

I used some tablets for a hot tub!! Same stuff, and set the charger to 10 Amps. I DID put the tank into a tub that would hold it. and used a chunk of 1.5" angle for the iron. worked great on the large tank!

[Bud Manley]

Either. I think I had mine on 2amp 6 volt.
Was worried about stressing it out. What your looking for is that when you drop the anode in the tank will appear to boil. Thats the sodium carbonate doing its chemical thing to the rust.
Regardless of how rusty it gets whatever you drop in will be shiny and clean within a few days.
I used this method for cleaning my brake parts. I was really impressed.
I heard about it here but can't remember who posted that link.

[Guest]

washing soda

ray & scott once again thanks, on the washing soda whats the mix ratio one box to 5gal water?
dick

[Bud Manley]

I used two scoops.
1/4 box
bout 4 cups.
something like that.
The reeal answer I guess would be as much as you need.
your just looking for a milky solution. Not necessarily whole milk but more like skim milk.
Like coffee w/ cream without the coffee.

AS far as the voltage I think I started out on 6V. 2 amp because it makes less of a spark when you short it out. turn up the power when you feel comfortable doing so.

[egsols]

Has any tried taking a tank to a rad shop for a acid wash?

[jetmechmarty]

Has any tried taking a tank to a rad shop for a acid wash?

Why bother? The electrolysis works great and costs very little!

[DiverRay]

I have one tank that DID go to a rad shop. It HAS to be coated after the dip, so I don't like it as much as the electrolysis. It cost me almost $200 for the acid tank and coating, and it was only about $40 for the electrolysis!

[Guest]

tank

hey scott once again thank you