Petrol Tank Welding Advice

[rusty69bus]

how about some pic's of it

 

[promusician]

how about some pic's of it

Yes, no problem. I am at present constructing a site with photos giving detailed work as I progress with the project (no its not a forum). I've only started the site the other day so may take me a few more days to get it fixed out and round the right way for proper viewing. But I will post on here too with photos.

 

[aametalmaster]

Don't do it yourself and if you do don't tell anyone. I work in a refinery and every tank and pipe is different. Unless you have an LEL explosion meter and the proper means to clean it i would not touch it. Have someone bend you up one from sheetmetal if you can't find a replacement. Just my .02...Bob

 

[promusician]

Don't do it yourself and if you do don't tell anyone. I work in a refinery and every tank and pipe is different. Unless you have an LEL explosion meter and the proper means to clean it i would not touch it. Have someone bend you up one from sheetmetal if you can't find a replacement. Just my .02...Bob

Thanks for the advice. I have decided not to go down the road of welding the tank.

Cheers

 

[piman]

Hello all,

I have successfully welded petrol tanks with oxy\acetylene.

Simply fill the tank to the brim with water, with the repair uppermost, of course. No air space = no explosion.

Alec

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

I've repaired small patches on a petrol tank with an electric soldering iron...

the metal gets hot but there's no 'flame' as such.

A soldered patch will be more than strong enough and it'll never get hot enough to weaken the solder.

Regards
Peter

 

[bill_gj]

Electric soldering is about your only practical option.

My workplace deals with fuel tanks quite a bit and when they give a problem they're generall disposed of. First they get an internal water jet wash then an internal steam cleam, then they're stored away from civilisation until the appropriately qualified scrapper comes around to collect them.

Should you decide to have a go with a welding process, you will join an elite club of people such as: the Mayor of Hiroshima, Rudolf Giuliano, the pilot of that Concorde that crashed in France, the Captain of HMS Hood.
The one thing they all had in common was the utterance of the phrase "What the f#ck was that?"

 

[Wozzaaah]

The one thing they all had in common was the utterance of the phrase "What the f#ck was that?"

I thought it was "hey, i can see my house from up here"

 

[aametalmaster]

Here is my feel on tanks filled with water to the brim and this happened last week to me.
My neighbor brings me over a small 5 gal tank from a machine with a pin hole in the seam. I cleaned the tank plugged the lines and filled it with water. I struck an arc on the tank it sizzled and grew in size right now. The tank now holds 6 gal of water as it puffed out like a pillow. Now i know the tank was clean because i checked it. It was the water that caused the little poof. The water turned to steam at the instant i started welding and expanded enough to blow the sides out. Water will expand 1,600 times when it turns to steam. So for what little water expanded where i was welding was enough to do the damage. I got the hole fixed and the neighbor is happier because his machine now holds 6 gals. So water isn't the fix all either. Just my thought...Bob

 

[rtbcomp]

Also when steam hits red hot iron or steel it produces hydrogen; hydrogen, air and spark produces an explosion.

 

[bill_gj]

aametalmaster --- was the little poof injured at all? I hope you had a first aid kit handy.

 

[promusician]

Hi guys, I cleaned off some layers of paint from around the suspect area, filled the tank with Caustic Soda Solution. Result was, the old fibreglass repair that a previous owner had done was dry (no leak there then). However, on the other side a nice wee hole appeared so I'm pleased in a funny sort of way...not pleased that I've got a hole in my tank but pleased that it can be repaired.
Now I like the idea of the soldering repair, sounds like I may go down that road....I'll keep the Mig under lock and key on this ocassion.

Wozz, liked your earlier post "Fly me to the Moon" nice one

 

[promusician]

Well I'll try and fix it when I stop laughing at some of the great posts on here. Maybe I should just fibreglass it.

 

[shenion]

I would not fiberglass it.

There are gas tank epoxies designed for this application.

I would MIG it though

 

[promusician]

I would not fiberglass it.

There are gas tank epoxies designed for this application.

I would MIG it though

cheers

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

if it's a small hole (pinhole?) then you may be able to just run some solder in without a plate.

I had this on a Viva tank, about 20 very small holes between 1/16" & 1/8".

Regards
Peter

 

[promusician]

Hi,

if it's a small hole (pinhole?) then you may be able to just run some solder in without a plate.

I had this on a Viva tank, about 20 very small holes between 1/16" & 1/8".

Regards
Peter

Cheers Peter

 

[promusician]

Thanks everyone for their suggestions. I cleaned up the area and found another couple of small holes. I took the option of using a repair metal paste filler that the makers claim is a permanent repairer, water, oil and petrol resistant. I have cleaned the inside of the tank refilled with petrol and all seem dry (after 24hrs). I intend to empty the tank again and paint it...then retest it before refitting back in the car.

Once again, thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[oddball90]

Recomend that you use Frosts tank repair sealant as a back up. dosen't matter if tank still rusts as it puts a liner inside of the tank. The bonus is that condensation dosen't form inside of the tank.

 

[promusician]

Recomend that you use Frosts tank repair sealant as a back up. dosen't matter if tank still rusts as it puts a liner inside of the tank. The bonus is that condensation dosen't form inside of the tank.

Cheers, I have a tin on order.