The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

Got me a good 2nd hand fuel tank.

The inside looks quite good apart from a few superficial rust spots:


Should I treat it?

EG with a phosphate 'rustblast' product?

If we keep our tanks full of fuel that should help reduce any new rust. However, I've read that modern fuels especially bio-fuels with ethanol don't inhibit corrosion like the old fuels, as the ethanol absorbs water.

To coat or not to coat the inside, that is the question?

I wonder what the original coating was - perhaps Brian can elighten us?

Advice appreciated,

I recently had mine coated as a precaution and it looked similar to yours.
Had the work done at the radiator shop I use. He cleaned and coated the inside for less than the coating materials would of cost me. Money well spent, in my case.

Gene

gcamp wrote:Had the work done at the radiator shop I use. He cleaned and coated the inside for less than the coating materials would of cost me. Money well spent, in my case.

Gene,
Do you know which coating he used?
There seem to be 4 contenders your side of the pond:
1-packs: Kreem, POR15, KBS
2-pack: Casswell epoxy

I've read of failures with Kreem on some forums, although others seem to be happy with it.

In Europe there is also a German 2-pack epoxy called Tapox, which is for steel tanks only and interstingly also sold by Casswell.
All the best,

I have coated tanks on both my Dexta and a kerosene engine with POR15 and had good results. Rather than buy the kit I just purchased POR15 silver, which they assured me is the same product. It was a lot cheaper than a kit.

If you do go with POR15 the tank will need a good flush with a soapy cleaner first. I would leave it to harden with the cap off for a week before putting fuel in. It relies on moisture in the air to go off, so dont worry about the tank being 100% dry before treating, this is why the cap must be off.

pjjms wrote:I have coated tanks on both my Dexta and a kerosene engine with POR15 and had good results. Rather than buy the kit I just purchased POR15 silver, which they assured me is the same product. It was a lot cheaper than a kit.

If you do go with POR15 the tank will need a good flush with a soapy cleaner first. I would leave it to harden with the cap off for a week before putting fuel in. It relies on moisture in the air to go off, so dont worry about the tank being 100% dry before treating, this is why the cap must be off.

Pj,
How long is it since you coated your tanks?
Do you recommend treating any rust in the tank with phosphate first?

Also I have blocked off the leak-off pipe inside the tank. I've run a thin wire down it, attached a small piece if cloth and pulled the wire up tight to seal the inside end and stop it getting blocked with coating.
Thanks,

We treated the inside of our Class 47 diesel belly tank with POR15 around 2-3 years agao and so far so good!

Ben,
Sorry, I don't know what brand/name product he used.
I had a small leak to repair and he offered to coat it while it was newly cleaned.

Gene

I coated both tanks about 6 months ago. There are some limits on treating rust with convertors before POR15. I think the tanic acid based products are a no no as POR15 will not stick to them. Check with the supplier.

This may sound a bit rough, but I put lots of small nuts and bolts in my tank and rumbled them around for a while. Got down to reasonbly clean metal and the POR15 has bonded well. I have to say your tank looks in great condition.

I suspect that the tanks were not coated from new, Ideally you should kill the rust prior to coating the tank. If you go to www.frost.co.uk they do a tank cleaning kit.

You can also obtain the various cleaners and sealers from this site
http://www.rust.co.uk.

The tanks tend to rust around the bottom seams due to condensation collecting in the tank. I have seen a number of tanks where perforations have occured along the bottom seam due to internal rusting. Also external perforations caused by the fumes from the battery condensing on the surfaces of the cold fuel tank!

I am not happy with your idea of blocking the return pipe with a piece of cloth, as the cloth will become coated with the tank sealer and stick to the pipe and prove difficult to remove. I would use a piece of stiff wire to clear the coating from the end of the pipe or even blow air from a compressor through the pipe to clear it prior to the coating setting.

Gerald