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ChasesDragons
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- 105
Hi all,
Any idea if theres someone in the Lancashire/Manchester/Wigan area who can weld repair fuel tanks? I got three to do....at least that have been used for 26 years.
BTW - thanks for all the tireless advice from all you guys, I repaired a rusty hole in a Land Rover Lightweight's door and it came out VERY well - for me anyways.
Thanks for explaining techniques and thanks for recommending a superb machine (Portamig 211).
Udhi
Any idea if theres someone in the Lancashire/Manchester/Wigan area who can weld repair fuel tanks? I got three to do....at least that have been used for 26 years.
BTW - thanks for all the tireless advice from all you guys, I repaired a rusty hole in a Land Rover Lightweight's door and it came out VERY well - for me anyways.
Thanks for explaining techniques and thanks for recommending a superb machine (Portamig 211).
Udhi
Hot Road Choppers
New Member
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- 1
reduce the explosive dangers of welding a fueltank
Hi there,
here is a tip to reduce the explosive dangers of welding a used gas tank (fuel tank):
first drain all the gas off the tank
allow it to breath for a day or two in a well vented area
(sorry about my english, hope you understand me)
get all caps and petcock away from it
put the gas tank in the garden (or other outside spot)
carrefully bring an open flame closer from any open spot on the gastank
after first blow, redo it couple of time.
Then it will be safe to weld on it
Take care
Seb
Hot Road Choppers
Hi there,
here is a tip to reduce the explosive dangers of welding a used gas tank (fuel tank):
first drain all the gas off the tank
allow it to breath for a day or two in a well vented area
(sorry about my english, hope you understand me)
get all caps and petcock away from it
put the gas tank in the garden (or other outside spot)
carrefully bring an open flame closer from any open spot on the gastank
after first blow, redo it couple of time.
Then it will be safe to weld on it
Take care
Seb
Hot Road Choppers
dai
welsh and proud
- Messages
- 742
sencible people would just fill it with water firstHi there,
here is a tip to reduce the explosive dangers of welding a used gas tank (fuel tank):
first drain all the gas off the tank
allow it to breath for a day or two in a well vented area
(sorry about my english, hope you understand me)
get all caps and petcock away from it
put the gas tank in the garden (or other outside spot)
carrefully bring an open flame closer from any open spot on the gastank
after first blow, redo it couple of time.
Then it will be safe to weld on it
Take care
Seb
Hot Road Choppers
aametalmaster
Member
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- 763
- Location
- Salem Ohio USA
I am mig welding up two new fuel tanks for a 1923 farm tractor from 16 ga galv steel. I will take some pics...Bob
rtbcomp
Moderator
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- Sheffield UK
Hi there,
here is a tip to reduce the explosive dangers of welding a used gas tank (fuel tank):
first drain all the gas off the tank
allow it to breath for a day or two in a well vented area
(sorry about my english, hope you understand me)
get all caps and petcock away from it
put the gas tank in the garden (or other outside spot)
carrefully bring an open flame closer from any open spot on the gastank
after first blow, redo it couple of time.
Then it will be safe to weld on it
Take care
Seb
Hot Road Choppers
Really the danger should be eliminated, not reduced. Personally I wouldn't use this method. People may have done it sucessfully and told the tale, for some reason we never hear from those people for whom it didn't work.
Uniqueusername
Freelance dogsbody
- Messages
- 99
I've heard that story possibly a dozen times but always off "my mate" never off "this is how i....."Hi there,
here is a tip to reduce the explosive dangers of welding a used gas tank (fuel tank):
first drain all the gas off the tank
allow it to breath for a day or two in a well vented area
(sorry about my english, hope you understand me)
get all caps and petcock away from it
put the gas tank in the garden (or other outside spot)
carrefully bring an open flame closer from any open spot on the gastank
after first blow, redo it couple of time.
Then it will be safe to weld on it
Take care
Seb
Hot Road Choppers
I'll stick with water.
the snooper
getting older by the day
- Messages
- 21,086
- Location
- Hull UK
ive welded a few petrol tanks and ive blown one up
through rushingi always (well apart from the once) wash out the tank with detergent a couple of times fill it right up so it overflows a couple of times blow plenty of compressed air though it and away i go .
one of my first jobs when i left school was repairing car radiators and petrol and diesel tanks.diesel tanks can be welded without removing the fumes, so long as you remove the filler cap and the sender unit. diesel ignites under pressure, with no pressure build up in the tank you are safe.advisable to remove as much fuel as possible. will smoke a lot though as the diesel burns unless you clean out as a petrol tank. petrol tanks are a lot more volatile, you must remove all of the fuel first, then use a steam cleaner or a jet wash with detergent.clean the inside and outside of the tank. usually two washes inside will clean all fumes out. you can smell inside the tank for fumes and all should be ok. remove sender as well before any welding commences.
any small pinholes in the welds can be rectified by tinning up and soldering.
hope this helps.
any small pinholes in the welds can be rectified by tinning up and soldering.
hope this helps.
outofthefire
Member
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- 2,881
......
Welding it the way you describe make sure your spots overlap though, if you can seal it up and put a bit of air in it from a compressor (dont go mad or you can deform it) then hold it under water like you would with a puncture and you should see air bubbles from any leaks mark where they are and put a spot over them.
Welding it the way you describe make sure your spots overlap though, if you can seal it up and put a bit of air in it from a compressor (dont go mad or you can deform it) then hold it under water like you would with a puncture and you should see air bubbles from any leaks mark where they are and put a spot over them.
Last edited by a moderator:
This is my first post on this forum, so it's kind of a hello as well. I'm no expert welder (nothing like) - which is why I've been reading through this forum because after a 20 or so year gap I need to get back into doing some welding (1997 Land Rover - need I say more). Great forum by the way - very, very useful, wish things like this had been around 20 years ago. Anyway, I didn't intend to introduce myself quite like this, but sometimes needs must.
As rtbcomp put it on 29/10/2010 "for some reason we never hear from those people for whom it didn't work."
I'm married to one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Health and Safety - in old money an HSE factory inspector. So sometimes I do get to hear about it. Usually over tea when I ask "how was work today?", and she kind of shudders....
The first fatal accident she ever investigated, back in 1992/3, was a welder who'd not got the fumes out of an empty 24 gallon diesel tank properly. According to his mates he was "just tacking" when it went up "like a flamethrower" and sprayed him with DIY napalm from waist to head. She's investigated a few more since, usually involving lots of third degree burns at "best", to be followed by months of treatment, skin grafts, plenty of pain and loss of income. Or a funeral.
That welder only took 2 1/2 days to die from the burns, which was probably lucky given how badly he was hurt (he'd inhaled the burning vapour, and with 3rd degree burns to his lungs he stood no chance). Not so lucky for his wife and kids though, having to bury him with his hair, ears, eyes and nose all burned and melted. Think Simon Weston and then some.
His boss wasn't best pleased either - the explosion/fire did several grands worth of damage and the company got prosecuted.
Diesel fumes in a tank can be within their explosive limit and you only need to be unlucky once. Diesel does not need to be under pressure to explode. Diesel engines work because if you get a diesel/air mixture hot enough under the right conditions it will explode all by itself; compressing the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder does the trick with no need for a spark plug. The compression isn't necessary if the air/fuel mix is right and you provide a good enough spark/hot spot.
Piping exhaust fumes into a tank isn't safe either - besides being poisonous, get the right carbon monoxide/oxygen mix and it's explosive (12%-75% CO in air - now, exactly how much oxygen and how much CO have you got in that fuel tank?). Add hydrocarbons (fuel vapour) into the mix and.....
Sorry if I'm coming across a bit heavy, but even if you're prepared to run the risk, hearing your real-life horror story might really put me off my tea
So please, do me (and yourself) a favour, and do the job safely (www.hse.gov.uk has the guidelines in case you didn't know).Free HSE Advice
Just as a footnote to TLW's good advice, the HSE provide a printed booklet at £4 at the web address below, but scroll down the page a little and there is a PDF file of the entire booklet which can be downloaded free to your computer, and printed off if required.
Safe welding!
http://books.hse.gov.uk/hse/public/saleproduct.jsf?catalogueCode=9780717613656
Just as a footnote to TLW's good advice, the HSE provide a printed booklet at £4 at the web address below, but scroll down the page a little and there is a PDF file of the entire booklet which can be downloaded free to your computer, and printed off if required.
Safe welding!
http://books.hse.gov.uk/hse/public/saleproduct.jsf?catalogueCode=9780717613656
jugs
Dont wish to offend & annoy, but...
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- 1,449
This one again !! it usually opens a can of worms 
As it gets asked so many times & is such an important subject, could we have a sticky with the correct procedures & refs, that we can point people to.
(I'd be happy to help put one together 
)
For cleaning and gas freeing of tanks
READ - Pg 10, para 31 to 38, of HSE cs15 PDF The cleaning and gas freeing of tanks containing flammable residues.
HSE Books CS15 1997 ISBN 0 7176 1365 8
See also
Pg 8 of this HSE pdf reads -
"Tanks and drums
Flammable liquids and vapours such as petrol, diesel, fuel oil, paints, solvents, glue, lacquer and cleaning agents are found in many places of work. If a welding blowpipe or burner is used on a tank or drum containing flammable material (solid, liquid or vapour), the tank or drum can explode violently. People have been killed and seriously injured by such explosions. Tanks and drums that are 'empty' usually still have residues in the bottom, and in seams and crevices. Just a teaspoon of flammable liquid in a drum can be enough to cause an explosion when heated and turned into vapour. You must never use an oxy/fuel gas blowpipe on a drum or tank that has contained or may have contained flammable material unless you know it has been made safe.
If it contains flammable material, it will need thorough cleaning or inerting (see the HSE guidance note CS15 The cleaning and gas freeing of tanks containing flammable residues).
It may be safer for a specialist company to carry out the work. If in doubt, ask."
Lots more info HERE
As it gets asked so many times & is such an important subject, could we have a sticky with the correct procedures & refs, that we can point people to.
(I'd be happy to help put one together )For cleaning and gas freeing of tanks
READ - Pg 10, para 31 to 38, of HSE cs15 PDF The cleaning and gas freeing of tanks containing flammable residues.
HSE Books CS15 1997 ISBN 0 7176 1365 8
See also
Pg 8 of this HSE pdf reads -
"Tanks and drums
Flammable liquids and vapours such as petrol, diesel, fuel oil, paints, solvents, glue, lacquer and cleaning agents are found in many places of work. If a welding blowpipe or burner is used on a tank or drum containing flammable material (solid, liquid or vapour), the tank or drum can explode violently. People have been killed and seriously injured by such explosions. Tanks and drums that are 'empty' usually still have residues in the bottom, and in seams and crevices. Just a teaspoon of flammable liquid in a drum can be enough to cause an explosion when heated and turned into vapour. You must never use an oxy/fuel gas blowpipe on a drum or tank that has contained or may have contained flammable material unless you know it has been made safe.
If it contains flammable material, it will need thorough cleaning or inerting (see the HSE guidance note CS15 The cleaning and gas freeing of tanks containing flammable residues).
It may be safer for a specialist company to carry out the work. If in doubt, ask."
Lots more info HERE
brightspark
Member
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- 41,482
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- yarm stockton on tees
well the tank cetainly wont have any fumes in it by nowThis thread is five years old chaps!!!
its probably coroded away All Alone.
All those precautions work with different levels of security. In a shop, for cert. work, it is recommended to clean the tank completely with a detergent, flush it and then weld, case closed. Here's a story for ya.
I had a contract to remove and old oil fired furnace(boiler) from a four story parking facility in New York City. My luck I had the only current NYFD Cut and Burn permit. Two weeks later and a serious come-apart when I walked in to find a double jacketed "cast iron" boiler occupying 3/4 of the room, we now had progressed to the fuel tank. Oh, and don't ask me about the white covered pipes either. It sat in a corner backed up against a wall of the same room. Six feet in diameter and about ten feet long, old as sin, but it was made of steel. We drained it of fuel, refilled it with water and as such I was able to cut a 36 inch hole on its top surface, the plug dropped into it with a hiss. It being a Friday and the clock striking 5pm, we all packed up and left. Monday morning, I get in and immediately set up to start cutting. What I didn't know was that someone had drained the tank over the weekend. I got a good strong neutral flame on the torch and the minute the flame entered the diameter of the cutout on the top of the tank I saw a flash in the form of a column, it rose 20 feet and struck the ceiling in this boiler room, mushroomed and spread like an opening umbrella, rode the roof to all four walls and cascaded down the walls about ten feet. All this took place in about three seconds and the force kicked up a heck of a dust cloud. I stood there, torch hissing gas and no flame, immediately turned on the second rung of the ladder I was on, and realized that the three other guys in the room with me were gone! Two hours later we were pulling out the last slab pieces of the tank and I was still riding them hard for leaving me to burn, LOL.
All those precautions work with different levels of security. In a shop, for cert. work, it is recommended to clean the tank completely with a detergent, flush it and then weld, case closed. Here's a story for ya.
I had a contract to remove and old oil fired furnace(boiler) from a four story parking facility in New York City. My luck I had the only current NYFD Cut and Burn permit. Two weeks later and a serious come-apart when I walked in to find a double jacketed "cast iron" boiler occupying 3/4 of the room, we now had progressed to the fuel tank. Oh, and don't ask me about the white covered pipes either. It sat in a corner backed up against a wall of the same room. Six feet in diameter and about ten feet long, old as sin, but it was made of steel. We drained it of fuel, refilled it with water and as such I was able to cut a 36 inch hole on its top surface, the plug dropped into it with a hiss. It being a Friday and the clock striking 5pm, we all packed up and left. Monday morning, I get in and immediately set up to start cutting. What I didn't know was that someone had drained the tank over the weekend. I got a good strong neutral flame on the torch and the minute the flame entered the diameter of the cutout on the top of the tank I saw a flash in the form of a column, it rose 20 feet and struck the ceiling in this boiler room, mushroomed and spread like an opening umbrella, rode the roof to all four walls and cascaded down the walls about ten feet. All this took place in about three seconds and the force kicked up a heck of a dust cloud. I stood there, torch hissing gas and no flame, immediately turned on the second rung of the ladder I was on, and realized that the three other guys in the room with me were gone! Two hours later we were pulling out the last slab pieces of the tank and I was still riding them hard for leaving me to burn, LOL.
