Make mild steel eberspacher tank with MIG?

[visor_down]

Hi all

I am mulling over doing a camper conversion and at the moment costing things up to see if it is feasible with the funds available.

One of the items is a diesel tank for the eberspacher heater, of the ones I have seen they are usually ali and tig welded. They are about the size of 2 shoe boxes but seem to cost an arm and a leg.
I don't have a TIG welder, nor can I use TIG, but I do have a MIG so.....

1. Does anyone know if a mig welded mild steel tank would be safe/suitable?
2. If so what product could I use to prevent corrosion of the inside?
3. Is there a tank sealer type product to ensure its 100% fluid tight? I am happy with my welds, but in the back of my mind I am thinking that even the finest pinhole could cause trouble.
4. What is the usual set up for venting these tanks? Or is there some sort of venting in the caps?

Any outside the box ideas welcome also, thought of finding a scrap tank but not sure what would have the right kind of sized diesel tank?
Cheers

 

[jonjoe]

galvanising would stop it rusting and fill any small holes

 

[madkayaker]

I've currently got a leaking petrol tank on Landy as the correct tank is £169 and I have auto gas ice made up a bracket and use an out board engine abs tank. That might be a good place to start and cheep as

 

[chris-law]

Just save yourself a whole load of hassle and plumb it into the fuel tank .
These heaters are very sensitive to contaminated fuel and iv found when you need it the most is when it decides to play up , i ran mine on red for quite a while as i could get small amounts from work ... There were several times where the heater kept stopping due to small amounts of water in the fuel , in the end i gave up with the red and plumbed itdirect to the tank .
No more fuel problems since , electrical problems yes , if there is not a perfect contact on any of the cable joints the heater thinks the voltage is low and will not start as to protect your starter battery , i messed around loads of times to try and sort it , even to the expence of buying 2 new lucas 85 amp batteries , that cured it fo a while until it started playing up again .
Tried new earth .. Thicker live cable , in the end i took the plate type fuse out of its holder to find it had a very thin coat of carbon on which was causing a poor conection , replaced that and it was good to go

 

[Shox Dr]

As chris says, they use such a small amount of fuel. If you don't want to do that, i'd use a small jerry can.

 

[johnny max]

There is a tank sealer that you use on the vintage bikes
I.m sure it will be ok for what you want.

 

[hotrodder]

You can buy new 10L ones (look to be plastic and designed for bulkhead fittings) for £72 delivered. I've made them to measure in ally for several people that wanted a specific shape/size/something shiney 'cause they're part magpie, reckon on at least double that unless it's a very simple design. Costing an arm and leg is kinda relative so don't know how the first example compares- expensive for a small plastic box but easier to mount neatly out of the way than a modified jerry can due to their shape

 

[CRB]

Just save yourself a whole load of hassle and plumb it into the fuel tank .

I still have not done mine yet but it is the only sensible way.

 

[TechnicAl]

At the back of my mind there is something about diesel and mild steel being incompatible and galvanised is worse

Google it.....it will probably say the opposite

 

[TechnicAl]

PS Ive been on the Moonshine

Its a very very nice local beer

 

[TechnicAl]

http://www.abbeydalebrewery.co.uk/beers/moonshine

dont really know why Ive posted this but.....la la la

 

[arthur]

Never had a problem with mild steel tanks and derv, after all it's heavy oil so if anything it's well to do... like the others say just plumb it in its easy with the hard thin feed pipe..

 

[normspanners]

I fitted one for a customer in his camper and used a 10 ltr plastic boat tank cost was about £20 with the dry break quick release fuel line coupler, he just disconnects it takes it to the pump fills it (with Kero which is cheaper and burns cleaner ) coz of the dry break no need to bleed it, it is that cheap to run he leaves it running all night on low, even when not using the camper to keep it aired n frost protected !!

 

[TechnicAl]

Just had a quick google........it seems diesel and galv is a no no

not sure about MS........think its ok

i should look

 

[normspanners]

PS his mates both had 'plumbed in' systems in their VW's when they went skiing to Andora both suffered waxing in the 'spacher' fuel lines and had to abandon their campers in favour of a hotel (wusses). This didnt turn out to be a cheap holiday for them!!, His in his master (twice the inside area btw), just kept working, he is going to upgrade to a long wheel base renault Master and wants the exact same system

 

[arthur]

Such a good heater it's untrue! You can run them on petrol at -30! Used in Antarctic snow cats and all sorts, must have life saver! Just can't get across how good they are too some people and VERY low power and fuel use, lasts for years too.

 

[Robotstar5]

Such a good heater it's untrue! You can run them on petrol at -30! Used in Antarctic snow cats and all sorts, must have life saver! Just can't get across how good they are too some people and VERY low power and fuel use, lasts for years too.

We had one on the Rescue ambulance, even had a timeclock on the dash so you could set it to turn on an hour or so before we needed it, great for winter use!

 

[normspanners]

PPs just a thought the only problem he found was the constant roar from the exhaust so I found a little plug in silencer made for the spacher's 22mm exhaust it was a little dear £35ish i think, but he recons well worth it to keep the van warm all night and not hurt his delicate ears. HA

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

Hi all

I am mulling over doing a camper conversion and at the moment costing things up to see if it is feasible with the funds available.

One of the items is a diesel tank for the eberspacher heater, of the ones I have seen they are usually ali and tig welded. They are about the size of 2 shoe boxes but seem to cost an arm and a leg.
I don't have a TIG welder, nor can I use TIG, but I do have a MIG so.....

1. Does anyone know if a mig welded mild steel tank would be safe/suitable?
2. If so what product could I use to prevent corrosion of the inside?
3. Is there a tank sealer type product to ensure its 100% fluid tight? I am happy with my welds, but in the back of my mind I am thinking that even the finest pinhole could cause trouble.
4. What is the usual set up for venting these tanks? Or is there some sort of venting in the caps?

Any outside the box ideas welcome also, thought of finding a scrap tank but not sure what would have the right kind of sized diesel tank?
Cheers

For £22 you can buy a readymade steel 12 litre half height of a standard military jerry can sprayed in alumium silver ( I got mine form a local motor factors place three weeks befor christmas ..had to order it though )
It would be easy to modify the cap to take a detachable fuel line using a BBQ gas push male /female fitting coupling oor one of the speed boat dry break fittings and make a home made cap to take it and the draw tube or plumb it in the base of the can .

 

[normspanners]

Spachers have to have a dry break coz they are b--------s to bleed any air and they cut out and take 20mins or so to even try to restart plus it advisible to put a filter in line but make sure it is vertical to make sure the air passes out of the outlet and doesnt 'hide' in the filter to glug out when you least expect it. The burner is controlled by the amount the pump pulses fuel, it is a tiny amount each pulse. so it can take 10 mins of constant pumping to go the length of an average van,which is fun when if it does not properly 'fire' and stay fired it shuts off after 1-2 mins then stays off for 20mins. I have 'hot wired' the pump before now and disconnected the pipe at the heater to force the air out and the fuel through.