Another gas tank question

[jwebfournow]

Did a search but didn't find much. Anybody have an idea on how to get the loose rust out of the tank. Tried air compressor with blower, tried shaking it all about.......felt like Chubby Checker....hardly anything comes out. can't get vacuum cleaner nozzle in there. Any other ideas!

[vadasz1]

Use Xylen or Acetone along with small chain or nuts and bolts and then do the shake and bake....

[Raj1988]

Acetone no good on rust. Must use  dilute acid to reduce rust. Acetone is only useful in getting rid of Polymer based gas tank liners.

[jwebfournow]

What I meant is the loose flakes in a dry tank, I hear them moving about as I shake it around. Maybe some duct tape on a wire to get the fflakes to stick to the tape?

[Tiger]

 :) Remove the gas cap and petcock, put in a piece of chain/old nuts 'n bolts, etc, give it a good shake around to clean off any further flaking rust, remove the chain/old nuts 'n bolts, what haveyou ...then try again with the airline...but wear safety glasses... :o ;)

                        8).......TIGER....... 8)

[kiawrench]

i know where you are going with the question . once tank is dry get a paper tube from a roll of paper towels , you can bend it ,roll it tuck it, stuff it right into the tank , then use your vac to draw the dry flakes out.

once that is done , roll some duct tape into a ball, sticky side out, and attach to a coat hangar, that can fish out what ever vac missed

[YellowJacket!]

I've had good luck with phosphoric acid (you can get it at lowes, home depot and I tink even ace) which is used for cleaning concrete.  It also comes int e POR-15 tank kit.
It is great at disolving rust, but, if you have any pinholes in your tank, you will find out very quickly where they were becasue as the rust dissolves, the pinholes will probably get bigger.

I also think the phosphoric acid leaves a protective coating on the metal after its rinsed off but that may be just the type that comes in the por kit.

A combination of the phosphoric acid and some lengths of chain or nuts and bolts should work great to clean it up inside.

David

[jwebfournow]

Kiawrench ......you got what I was trying to say......I'll try the paper towel tube thing then the tape on wire, I just wanna get as much dry loose crap out before I line the tank...one other thing.should I clean the tank with the acid in the POR kit before using JB weld on the holes or can I JB weld the holes then clean the tank with the acid? In other words will the acid affect the JB weld if it is used first to plug holes. Thanks for all the info you guys by the way.

[QBS]

JBWeld sticks better to clean steel than to iron oxide (aka rust).  Acid clean first, then JBWeld.

[funkamongus]

right, gotta wash it out with acid first, the recommendations for the bits of chain were exactly what I did,,, then, follow the directions on the sealer...

[akvision]

I have a small vacuum cleaner and the hose is approx. 1" ID, I took a piece of 3/4 garden hose and made a gasket with a paper towel and duck tape and shoved it inside the hose and re-taped it for a good seal.

Waaa LA.. a flexible hose pick-up that you can insert into the depths of the tank...
This worked for me on my Beemer tank with some little rattles inthe bottom.

PS.. POR-15 is well suited to connect to clean rusty surfaces.. We did the Black Tank and it works and looks really good inside.
plus a small patch of JB Weld on the lower corners.  No leaks and works good.

akv

[RedRocket]

Here is a guy from another forum who had what looks like great success with White Vingar.

http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12807138&postcount=49

[funkamongus]

WOW!

[QBS]

Wonder how long the vinegar treatment lasted?

[Rube]

I'm thinking about trying the white vinegar this weekend. I will let yall know how it goes.  :-\

[RedRocket]

I'm thinking about trying the white vinegar this weekend. I will let yall know how it goes.  :-\

Good.  I have a GoldWing tank that needs a bit of help. 

[funkamongus]

I bought some stuff called "rustol" for that, I bet thats what it is, sold to me for 50 bucks!! hahahahaha.. Im a sucker sometimes!!

[RedRocket]

I bought some stuff called "rustol" for that, I bet thats what it is, sold to me for 50 bucks!! hahahahaha.. Im a sucker sometimes!!

Not really.  Rustol leaves a coating on the metal.  
I'm inclined to believe that vinegar will just leave bare metal so it can flash rust.

Another alternative is CLR.  I just used it on some rusty clamps yesterday and it worked amazingly well. 

HEre's another fan
http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11617140&postcount=29

[funkamongus]

Ive heard about CLR,, doesnt work worth a damn on my shower head here, might as well use what I have removing rust, if it works.

[Rube]

Not really.  Rustol leaves a coating on the metal.  
I'm inclined to believe that vinegar will just leave bare metal so it can flash rust.

Yeah, from what I have researched so far on the vinegar is that all it does is remove the rust and will flash in a hurry. They say to either seal the tank, use WD-40 to protect the metal and remove any left over moister, or use gasoline to pretty much do the same as the WD-40.