| Author |
Message |
Ed Brenner (207.226.80.190)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 08, 2001 - 10:12 pm: | |
Does anyone know of a way to repair a small hole in the fuel tank.The hole is a rust hole from the outside,from years of crud around the straps.There is only two small pin point holes,the rest of the tank almost looks new,otherwise I wouldn't try.I can weld,and braze have the equipment,but prefer not to go into orbit with all the fumes lingering in the tank.Would fiberglass matte hold?Any ideas from those that have been there. Thanks Ed |
Steve Fessenden (63.27.89.73)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 08, 2001 - 11:15 pm: | |
We repaired a gasoline tank on a Mercedes UNIMOG truck with epoxy putty like JB weld. It was done in a mountain town in Dominican Republic with no other choices. That tank had a 1/8 inch by 6 inch rusted slot under the mount. The mechanic first tried brazing it and it did not work. Epoxy putty will stick to metal that cannot hold brazing. It has worked for a year now. just remember that with diesel fuel you have to get the oil off the metal before you try to repair it with epoxy. As a final cleaning agent you could use acetone or spray on a little carb cleaner. I would not use to much fiberglass because it may only hide the leak if you get a poor bond. Better to find you have a poor bond and redo it now. Of course enlarge the holes to good metal.
Should be able to fix it in place.
Steve Fessenden |
Frank Rowe (198.60.100.186)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 08, 2001 - 11:34 pm: | |
Repairing a diesel fuel tank is not very difficult. Brazing with coated rod with a acetelene/oxygen torch is the fastest and longest lasting repair. A trick that works especially well is to first rinse fuel tank with water and blow dry with air or allow to dry in sun. In preperation of brazing, bring a car with a gas engine close to work/torch area. Connect any type hose from gas exhaust into fuel tank filler. Start the gas engine and allow carbon monoxide to fill tank. The tank will not ignite without sufficient oxygen. This has worked for me for many years on all types of fuel tanks.
Another fuel tank solution. Some times fuel tanks become very rusty inside the tank. The tanks are very difficult to remove the rust from the inside. An old mechanic shared some info to clean tanks. The instructions are to get or make 4-5 pieces of a variety of types of chain. Some chain can be 1/4 inch as a dog's lead, or hd chain as for towing a car, and the better the mix, the better the end result. Place the short pieces of chain into tank. With the tank empty and dry, have a helper shake and turn tank for 5 minutes. Fill tank with water, and pour out contents. Allow tank to sun/air dry. Repeat process 3 times. Tank sealer can be used but not necessary for good repair. Recently cleaned pickup tank filled with water for 4 years. After 1000 miles gas filter had a very small amount of rust/dirt. Now about a year and 12K miles......... no rust in filter.
Frank Rowe Idaho |
Wayne Stayton (64.129.121.117)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 09, 2001 - 8:41 am: | |
I have succesfully used aircraft tank sealer. commonly called "PRC" in the trade. It is the stuff used to seal up aluminum wings to make integral fuel tanks. As with any other sealant, surface to be sealed needs to be clean and dry, and have some solvent on hand for clean up, the stuff is insidious about getting EVERYWHERE! |
Chuck Harris PD4104 (66.44.3.133)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 09, 2001 - 1:43 pm: | |
Hi,
I am somewhat concerned about using car exhaust as an inert non combustion supporting gas when welding gas/diesel tanks.
In the old days, cars and trucks were carburated, and virtually all of the air ingested was used in combustion. The exhaust gasses were almost entirely HC, CO, CO2 and water vapor. Virtually no oxygen.
Today, things are different. Cars have pollution equipment, such as blowers, that add free air to the exhaust inorder to lower polution emissions. You end up with CO2 percentages in the 10 to 20% range. That WILL support combustion!
If you are going to weld a gas/diesel tank better to get a tank of CO2, and fill the bugger from that. Or, use your lawn mower as the source of exhaust... But don't use a modern car.
(Don't use a 2 cycle diesel bus, either! There is lots of free air in their exhaust. Think Roots blower.)
-Chuck |
Les Robinson (24.112.119.183)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 13, 2001 - 3:06 pm: | |
I agree with Chuck, you could also use "DRY ICE" break it into pieces that will fit the fill hole drop it in and wait a few minutes for it to fill with the vapours |
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