Tank Sealant

[ryanschoebel]

Hey all, i need to de rust the inside of my tank. IM gonna just use a few lengths of chain, and some CLR ( as i believe Pat told me?), but once thats done,whats a good sealant to use to make sure it doesnt happen again? Does anyone have any good brands? Thanks

[red]

Hey all, i need to de rust the inside of my tank. IM gonna just use a few lengths of chain, and some CLR ( as i believe Pat told me?), but once thats done,whats a good sealant to use to make sure it doesnt happen again? Does anyone have any good brands? Thanks

Ryan,

After you use the chain, you can neutralize the remaining rust with a battery charger and some baking soda.  You won't need a plastic tub, since you are doing the job inside the tank.

https://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/rust/electrolytic_derusting.htm

Then do the other stuff.

[Pat Conlon]

IM gonna just use a few lengths of chain, and some CLR ( as i believe Pat told me?), but once thats done,whats a good sealant to use to make sure it doesnt happen again? Does anyone have any good brands?

Hey Ryan, nope it wasn't me.... I'm a fan of the electrolysis method for the heavy stuff...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m-dNX8Q7Jh4
.....then POR-15 process for the final rust, neutralizer wash and sealant.

***Do not use the Kreem product****

[ryanschoebel]

Hey all, i need to de rust the inside of my tank. IM gonna just use a few lengths of chain, and some CLR ( as i believe Pat told me?), but once thats done,whats a good sealant to use to make sure it doesnt happen again? Does anyone have any good brands? Thanks

Ryan,

After you use the chain, you can neutralize the remaining rust with a battery charger and some baking soda.  You won't need a plastic tub, since you are doing the job inside the tank.

https://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/rust/electrolytic_derusting.htm

Then do the other stuff.

Okay, it makes sense. Use chain, then neutralize, then coat? My only question, inside that link, it says to  wipe it down after using the solution. I can't do that inside a tank, so how would I do that? And would I just suspend the sacrificial electrode in the solution, or does it have to inside the tank?

And I'll watch that video shortly Pat, and sorry, not sure who mentioned it then!

[ryanschoebel]

Okay, after watching Pats video, that makes much more sense. Ill figure out how to get rid of the fuel,and start that asap!

[red]

Hey all, i need to de rust the inside of my tank. IM gonna just use a few lengths of chain, and some CLR ( as i believe Pat told me?), but once thats done,whats a good sealant to use to make sure it doesnt happen again? Does anyone have any good brands? Thanks

Ryan,
After you use the chain, you can neutralize the remaining rust with a battery charger and some baking soda.  You won't need a plastic tub, since you are doing the job inside the tank.
https://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/rust/electrolytic_derusting.htm
Then do the other stuff.    

Okay, it makes sense. Use chain, then neutralize, then coat? My only question, inside that link, it says to  wipe it down after using the solution. I can't do that inside a tank, so how would I do that? And would I just suspend the sacrificial electrode in the solution, or does it have to inside the tank?
And I'll watch that video shortly Pat, and sorry, not sure who mentioned it then!

Ryan,

Yes, the electrode must be suspended securely, inside the tank.  Wire-tie it to a piece of wood, and anchor the wood to the outside of the tank somehow.  With the electrode end dunked into the tank almost to the bottom, clip the electric lead to the dry end of the electrode.  Do not let the electrode touch the tank, inside or outside, while it does its' thing.  All the rest is on that web page.

Instead of wiping, you can clean the inside of the tank afterward by using a hard jet of water from a garden hose nozzle.  That will finish the job for you.
.

[Pat Conlon]

After rust removal, do the seal process quickly to protect the bare metal.

[Old Rider]

I have done this i used a product called Bill Hirsh tank sealer.The kit contains 3 bottles one is a strong maurtic acid that removes the rust one that galvanizes the metal and one  that seals the tank .I very satisfied with the product .looking innside the tank now after 2 years it looks total clean with a white plastic coating .First i was thinking of using the por15 product but then i read somehvere that it dident hold up to ethanol and could start flaking off and clogg the gasfilter so i did go for the Bill Hirch product.

[Firehawk068]

Does the fuel tank have holes in it?
I can see the need to de-rust the inside of the tank, but why would there be any need to "seal" the inside of the tank?
I may be missing something here, but the inside of these fuel tanks are bare metal from the factory.........they ALL are.
Keeping fuel in it (with no water) will prevent it from rusting once the metal is clean.

Unless you actually have holes where the fuel is seeping out, I just don't see any need whatsoever to seal the inside of it  

[red]

Does the fuel tank have holes in it?  I can see the need to de-rust the inside of the tank, but why would there be any need to "seal" the inside of the tank?  I may be missing something here, but the inside of these fuel tanks are bare metal from the factory.........they ALL are.  Keeping fuel in it (with no water) will prevent it from rusting once the metal is clean.  Unless you actually have holes where the fuel is seeping out, I just don't see any need whatsoever to seal the inside of it

Firehawk068,

Rust begets rust.  Many stainless steels will NOT rust, until you lay a piece of rusty metal on it, then the stainless steel will rust.  Strange but true.

Even a little rust is bad news, for any fuel tank.  Ethanol fuel combines with water, and months-old ethanol fuel can make a good tank rusty.  An inside coating of sealant is the only way I know to stop this process.  Since gas stations tell me they have water in the bottom of their ethanol tanks, then that fuel has absorbed all the water it can, so your fuel will have a very high water content.  You are buying some water there, at gasoline prices.    

Now there are gas stations (and some unlikely outlets as well) that sell 100% gasoline, not ethanol.  This good fuel will not cause rust, the way ethanol will.  It costs a little more per gallon, because it does not get any subsidies.  Ethanol has now wrecked two fuel pumps in my vehicles, leaving me stranded, and so I will buy gasoline, from now on.  Consult the State list, for your local places selling unleaded gasoline (no ethanol) here:

https://www.pure-gas.org/

All gas stations do sell ethanol, so ask at the station which of their pumps serve up the non-ethanol fuel.  
.

[Firehawk068]

Ok, I get that if you have old fuel in your tank that may contain a significant amount of water in it, you may start to have rust issues after a long period of storage...................but if you are constantly cycling fresh fuel through it, it becomes a non-issue.
The only way a bare metal will rust, is if it's exposed to some sort of oxygen-rich environment. The inside of a fuel tank, full of fuel is NOT such an environment.
Even if there is a small amount of rust in there, it will no longer continue to rust if you remove the oxygen from the equation. It just doesn't...............
There is a reason that it is recommended to top-off a vehicles fuel tank before any length of storage.
Also, fuel filling stations cycle through so much fuel on a regular basis, that there is not a significant amount of water absorption in the fuel. There is also water-separators on the station filters. This is also a non-issue.
I have stored vehicles with partial tanks of ethanol laced fuel for months and months, and even a whole year once, and never even a speck of rust started to form.
Unless someone is dumb enough to store a vehicle with an empty fuel tank and leave the cap off..............or outside in the weather, where rain or moisture is allowed to get into the tank, you won't have a rust issue inside the tank.

[ryanschoebel]

Firehawk, you are looking at one person who is dumb enough.  Not again though.

Question, what kind of metal is the gas tank? I know its some sort of steel, because a magnet will stick,but is it galvanized? If so, i cant use CLR

[FJmonkey]

If it is rusting it is not likely galvanized. I have a stripped tank and it seems like it is mild steel. It rusts like any mild steel I know.

[ryanschoebel]

Perfect, thanks Monkey

[chiz]

This stuff is the only real proper tank sealer ever made in my opinion and no need for rust removal and laughs at gas with ethanol in it.
http://damonq.com/red-kote.html

RED-KOTE