| Author |
Message |
Louis Kolbe (64.12.106.26)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 04, 2002 - 3:55 pm: | |
I have a 4106, the fuel tank has started leaking in between the supports. Appears to be a section of maybe 2 inches in dia. I can not find anyone local (newburgh,ny) willing to make any repairs.
Short of having a new tank fabricated, does anyone have any ideas on repairing this tank? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for all help. Lou |
George Myers (12.85.1.212)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 04, 2002 - 9:04 pm: | |
Many years ago I had this problem with a gas tank. Moisture had gotten in between the support and the tank and there was a band of rust. I drained and removed the tank. By turning it over so that the bottom was on top and level, I cleaned and brazed a heavy layer of brass (from the rods) over the area using a carbon ark torch. I had taken the chuck off the end of my air hose and put the hose in the fill pipe and had the compressor running full blast to keep any fumes from accumulating inside the tank. This lasted the few years I owned the vehicle, but I think it was good for many more. It is essential that the metal is clean and lots of the proper flux is used.
George Myers |
Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat) (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 04, 2002 - 11:03 pm: | |
You can actually safely MIG weld on a gas tank! BUT once you have all the gas out the trick to staying alive and not blowing up your shop is to let a decent sized tank of CO2 off inside it first, and then weld away. CO2 is heavier than air; it will displace all the oxygen inside, and "float" on top of any remaining gasoline... so even though there's gas inside, the vapors get ousted and anything remaining won't ignite due to complete lack of oxygen.... I found this trick out having once gone to a gas station and watched a guy weld on an underground tanks' OPEN 2 foot diameter bulkhead WHILE it was full of about 10,000 gallons of gasoline!!! I heard his slag dropping in and going "fiz" as it hit the gasoline...(the station was still opened for business) so I walked up to the guy and asked him why we were both still alive... He smiled and said he'd let a full (large) fire-extinguisher of CO2 off in the tank first and there was no danger at all because all the air was now displaced by the CO2.
Of course if you value your life you'll want to keep the C02 flowing and make sure to position things so no air can get in thru holes in the sides... it's probably totally insane but I've actually done it myself on a boat tank and I'm still here.
BUT take my advice for what it's worth...it's not a task for the light-hearted or the non-thinker!!!
Regard
Gary |
Lin (65.184.0.189)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 05, 2002 - 12:04 am: | |
About 5 years ago, I repaired a 10 gallon gas tank with JB Weld. It's still not leaking. I don't know that it will be good enough for your application though. The thing about using CO2 to make welding safe is a great piece of information even if I never use it. |
Scott Whitney (24.205.239.4)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 05, 2002 - 1:52 am: | |
Hi Gary,
That is pretty interesting. The science makes sense, however, you could still not pay me enough to sit there and weld on a 10,000 gallon tank of gasoline with bits of slag falling in!
Sort of reminds me of those linemen who bring themselves up to 300,000 volts and work on the electrical lines with the power on. The science works, but no thanks!
I guess there was a time people wouldn't ride a train for fear of dying from overspeed too . . .
Interesting stuff.
Scott |
Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat) (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 05, 2002 - 1:59 am: | |
Yeah, Scott, it kinda freaked me out too, but the guy was in the business of fixing gas station tanks, and said it was safe enough that insurance companies covered him without question, and the gas stations he worked on didn't have to close!@ Needless to say I filled up and left as fast as I could, but the technique sure saved the day a few times since!! I used to know one of those linemen too...sat in a trailer all day that had plastic steps and was at 100KV...he had some great stories of the close calls he had... heck, I wouldn't take either of their jobs!!!
Cheers
Gary |
Dave (216.192.150.136)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 06, 2002 - 9:29 am: | |
Another technique that works is to take a hose from a running vehicles exhaust and run it into the fuel tank while you're welding. Cheaper than a supply of co2 but the same principle- no oxygen in tank no boom! I assume this is a diesel tank off of a 06, if so, not near as nerve wracking as welding a gas tank but this technique works in either case. |
Chuck Harris - PD4104 (207.172.11.147)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 06, 2002 - 4:22 pm: | |
Not any more! Modern cars inject excess air into the exhaust to help the catalytic converter to work. You can quite easily get a combustible mixture. (The dilution also helps with the part-per-million polution numbers to make them seem to be smaller than they really are.)
A diesel is no better. At idle, there is way way more air than the diesel needs for combustion....boom!
If you wan't to use exhaust, use your lawnmower. Or, better yet, use a CO2 fire extinguisher.
-Chuck |
Jim Stacy (12.87.109.229)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 07, 2002 - 10:07 pm: | |
How about pulling the tank, turning it over, clean the bottom well and repair it with fiberglass? Epoxy bonds to metal a little better than polyurethane resin, but I have used both. Paint well afterward and the repair will last a long time. (Doesn't explode, either.)
Jim Stacy |
Fred Batie (162.33.103.11)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 11:02 pm: | |
I fixed my 65 eagle tank with fiberglas 12 years agoe and it dosn't leek yet |
Louis Kolbe (64.12.104.36)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 13, 2002 - 5:23 pm: | |
Sorry for not replying sooner, been sick...
Thanks for all the good info, will try the fiberglass first and hopefully last. Thanks again--Lou |