tank cleaning

[Billy Ricks]

I know some people have trouble finding phosphoric acid at Home Depot. It can be found where I live in the paint department. You may have to ask for concrete etcher. I just checked a few days ago and at least locally they do carry it. Works great on rust and won't harm solid metal. If you don't plan on filling the tank right away use a little motor oil in some paint thinner and slosh it around the tank to coat the bare metal with a little oil to preventflash rust from coming back. A gallon of the acid only runs about $13 at Home Depot. It's made by Behr.

 

[kruppy761]

I just did a tank cleaning,

1. Empty gas out, after throughly soaking your shoes, clothes, and eveyrthing else while trying to pour out of the cap hole and petcock hole, remove fuel sensor, flush tank with water (if rust is as bad as mine; hearing flakes and pieces roll around in tank) then allow tank to sit for a day or so to dry change clothes and listen to the woman complain about the stench of gas.

2. Put some screws, bolts, BB's or something in tank. Shake until arms are tired. Rest and repeat side to side motion seems to be most efficient.

3. Remove screws with a magnet and vaccuum all the crap out, shake to ensure most of it is sucked up.

4. Add rust remover, I used Purple Power(contains phosphuric acid found it at autozone as I couldn't find just the acid) I guess you could use something else; this is just my exxperience, roll around in tank and let sit (I left mine for about 1 hour).

5. Empty residual acid and allow to dry.

6. Put the screws in again, shake again and vaccuum out again.

7. Pour in some oil to coat tank so it doesn't rust, add some gas to rinse any excess.

Good luck, it's a... great time... worth it anyway.

 

[trippivot]

dude!!! muriatic acid is what you want!! go to the pool section of wallymart



I have used C.L.R. as well but takes 2 weeks

 

[highmileage]

Ditto on that. I've known several guys who used muriatic acid for cleaning the insides of tanks.

This is the product that I plan on trying sometime soon: http://www.hirschauto.com/prodinfo.asp?number=CRK-01

 

[biker_guy]

Ok will that stuff from wallyworld clean out the red coat stuff?? I like to not think of my self as stupid just I have to see things for my self. Don't use red coat. I don't know if I didn't do it right or what but it's a BIG puddle in the bottom of my tank and I and NOT going to put it back on the bike with that stuff in there. I know what you guys said I just already had the stuff so I used it.

And I'm really starting to get ticked off at this town I'm in and the tank I've got. When I call a radiator shop they're like Who's ever herd of that? in the most absoulte red neck beverly hill billies look proper kinda tone.

 

[alke46]

tank cleaning

While we are on this subject, I too have a tank that someone else coated and it looks like crap.
Will all of these steps mentioned properly clean it back down to the bare metal?
Thanks guys,

Larry

 

[cloudbreakmd]

I've used Zep Calcium Lime & Rust remover with great results. Doesn't hurt your paint, and is done in about 24 hours. Apparently it doesn't hurt the environment either. No need to coat the inside after.

Will this work on very heavy rust?

 

[cloudbreakmd]

dude!!! muriatic acid is what you want!! go to the pool section of wallymart

I am thinking of going this route but how do you neutralize it in the tank or get it out without destroying the paint on the outside of the tank?

 

[Riding Again]

I am thinking of going this route but how do you neutralize it in the tank or get it out without destroying the paint on the outside of the tank?

In the same section, by a pH test kit and move on over and pick up some baking soda.

Add the baking soda about 1/2 cup at a time to the acid. Test with the pH kit and when it comes up to about 6-7, empty the tank.

Flush with water to get rid of the acid/baking soda mixture, then rinse several times with some rubbing (typically 70% isopropanol) alcohol to remove the water. The alcohol will evaporate and any residual will mix with the gasoline.

If you shop carefully you can find 90% isopropanol which will evaporate quicker and mix better with gasoline if any remains.

This will work regardless of the acid used. You'll use roughly 3x the amount of soda if neutralizing phosphoric acid. This is assuming the phosphoric and muriatic acids are at the same concentrations (Laymans terms as I know some of you understand normality and molarity. A possibly advanced topic for this forum).

 

[cloudbreakmd]

Okay... Next question. How do I plug the outlet for the petcock? What do I use?

 

[almarconi]

dude!!! muriatic acid is what you want!! go to the pool section of wallymart

You do not want to use muriatic acid aka hydrochloric acid to clean your tank. The vapors from the HCL will combine with any moisture on the metal causing even more rust to form. The vapors from the acid will remove the layer of oxide that are one on the steel and give it a hazy or etched appearance. It is also hell on painted surfaces. You must also be careful to neutralize any of the acid (use baking soda or TSP solution) as well as the vapors because the vapors can cause nearby items to rust. It is better to avoid handling or using this stuff in the first place.

Use a solution of dilute phosphoric acid. The phosphoric acid will attack the rust and not harm the clean metal. After you remove the phosphoric acid the previously rusted metal will be coated with a phosphate coating.

To plug the petcock hole, cut a plate out of sheetmetal and use a scrap of rubber for a gasket. Drill a couple of holes in the same location as the petcock and tighten it up.

Another method that really work well is electrolysis. Google electrolysis setup for a description of the method.

Another product that work is Evaporust..much safer than the acid and better for the environment.

 

[Nessism]

Plug the petcock hole using a plate of metal and a sheet of rubber. Cut metal to cover the hole and drill holes to match the petcock spacing.

To plug the top opening, get a large rubber stopper from Lowe's or similar. My stopper is drilled down the middle for a long screw to which I attached a crosswise metal piece that is drilled/tapped in the middle. This crosswise metal piece needs to be slightly wider across than the opening on the tank so it will catch inside the tank when you tighten the bolt. Make sense?

To remove a failed coating attempt, you need paint stripper. I did this on a bad Por-15 job and it worked but took a long time and lots of aggravation. Some aquarium rocks in the tank helps break up the coating - works much better than using nuts/bolts/screws. I'm getting ready to do another tank like this and not looking forward to it.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

This is the right way.

This is the right way.

Evapo-Rust is good stuff. It's reusable so don't throw it away. Not sure about your tank but when using Evapo-Rust on a few parts it did take some time to work. Don't be worried about leaving it in the tank for longer than a day. Just rotate the tank every few hours until all the rust is gone. You can have a look inside the tank by peering in through the petcock and sender unit holes - put a strong flashlight shining in the main fill opening and you will have enough light to see in through the various holes. Worked for me anyway.

I followed your advice, and just finished my GS550T tank using this stuff. Non toxic and not corrosive, A+. It had superficial rust. I set the tank down for 24hrs, for each of the 6 sides, slow but no matter, as I am still waiting for my first parts order. I fastend a cotton rag onto a heavy wire, put that through the filler hole, and used it to wipe rust off the center hump. I sifoned out the liquid, back into the bottle, as it can be used again.
No burns, no accidental damage.

 

[biker_guy]

so will any of this stuff remove the red-kote stuff or will only MEK do that?

 

[cloudbreakmd]

I bought a POR kit a little while back. It came with metal ready and marine clean. I had planned on using the metal ready but if you think the Evaporust will work better then I will buy that instead. Mind you the tank I am working on his heavily rusted inside from sitting with a half a tank of fuel in it for 5 years outside. No leaks whatsoever and amazingly the paint looks brand new.

If I use evaporust, do I still have to coat the inside or will keeping the tank full suffice?

 

[almarconi]

Coating is really not necessary unless you have pinholes/leaks in the tank. Clean out the tank and see what it looks like. I would probe the underside of the tank as well as the seams to make sure the metal is still solid. If you are going to store the tank over the winter, fill it to the top with gas and add some stabil. I believe the marine clean is a degreaser and the metal ready is basically phosphoric acid. I usually use a pressure washer with some detergent to clean the tank out first. This get rid of alot of large scale and dirt. Then cover all the holes and add your acid. If you are using concentrated phosporic always fill the tank about 3/4 full with water and then add the acid NOT the other way around. Let it soak overnight and then drain off the liquid. Make sure to wear an apron, gloves and googles so you don't get any on you. Rinse the tank out with the pressure washer and see what the metal looks like. If its clean looking either fill the tank with gas or spray the metal with some WD40 or other light oil.

 

[almarconi]

Hey cloudbreakmd... Did you ever get your bike running? I know you were having some coil/spark issues.

 

[rodm850g]

tank coating

tank coating

Guys,
A last note on this from me .....after yopu treat your tanks and you are ready for fuel add an inline fuel filter....one poster mentioned finding rust in float bowls....and as Neil Young said "rust never sleeps" yeah I read that in one of the ads...but it is true and a good filter will give a measure of relief....it may not stop all of it but if you clean,seal your tank hopefully the rust problem will be solved....I would also further caution the use of MEK or methyl ethyl ketone is very dangerous.....as a fire fighter {now retired} we had to take a Haz-Mat training class or two along with recert classes....the instructor always harped on if anything {chemical or substance } started out with methyl ethyl it was toxic to human life....
nuff said on that.
Something I didn't mention I did as a precaution, someone mentioned was sealing the tank to put the sealant in....I went to the autobody paint store and got me a pair of "bondo spreaders" you know the flat yellow plastic things....they will give them to you if you are buying paint or sealing products....cut to fit.....and my lil trick was to wrap the bolts and the threadsup in a liberal {not a good term in many places} coating of anti sieze compound...the POR-15 product is thin enough to get into threads and bugger them up same on bolt threads....So good luck all with your winter work.....I'm down to receiving a set of stainless bolts for my GS850, and then a coat of paint some stripes then some clear.....I can't wait to debut my GS850GN.....makes me wonder about a fellow who will spend a minor fortune on a bike thats worth 1500-1800 bucks at best.....but the proof as they say is in the pudding....the old boy lasted me 20 years before I put him in storage .....if I can get another 20 years out of it....I'll get my money back.....
Rodm850g

 

[cloudbreakmd]

Hey cloudbreakmd... Did you ever get your bike running? I know you were having some coil/spark issues.

No

I'm not giving up but my schedule has been more than hectic lately. I will probably start tooling with it again this weekend.

 

[Nessism]

Started refurbing an old 1000S tank last night that has a failed Kreem job inside. Dumped in a quart of paint stripper and it seems to be eating off the coating pretty well. I stripped out some POR sealer before on another tank and it was much tougher to remove.

The base metal in the tank has deep rust but no holes…I think. I have some phosphoric acid and some Evapo-Rust but guess I’ll try the E-R first and see how it goes. Don’t want to remove any of the good metal, just get rid of the rust. Using Muratic acid will remove good metal along with the rust so be careful if anyone chooses this route. Oxalic acid (commonly available as deck cleaner) is another choice.

I did a tank earlier in the year using phosphoric acid, which eats off some of the rust and converts it to iron phosphate. I left the solution in the tank until the rust was gone, not just a short time to etch the surface like the sealer kits suggest. I think removing as much rust as possible is the key to getting lasting results. In addition, I sealed over the surface after the rust was converted because I don’t trust it to not rust further. This S tank is much worse than the other tank I did so fingers crossed on this one.