What is this fuel tank from?

[scooter01922]

Done properly its no big deal. To start with diesel isn't the most flammable stuff on earth and it you clean the tank well and purge it with something inert (argon, co2/argon blend, co2, nitrogen) there should be about 0% chance of anything at all happening other than the hole being closed up and the tank being useable again.

 

[welldigger]

Just fill it with water and get to welding. I have never had good luck smearing epoxy over a leak.

 

[gimpyrobb]

John, just run your shop-vac to it, to pressurize it. As long as you don't hit the 14:1 air fuel ratio, you'll be fine.

 

[m16ty]

Gimpy, I've never heard of that before. How does the pressurized tank keep the thing from blowing up?

I've been wanting to invest in a oxygen meter but don't really know what kind I need, I have seen people use them before though. They are a meter with a probe that you stick into a enclosed container to check the oxygen level. I see prices from $100 to over $500. I always purge with argon but you still don't know 100% that the oxygen/fuel ratio is safe. There's a thread going on SS right now where a guy was killed cutting a barrel.

I never like to use water because it tends to act like a big heat sink and sucks all the heat out of the weld.

 

[rosco]

Get some little pieces of galvanized scrap sheet, like 20 guage, and solder a patch over it with soldering iron. No open flame. Better then welding. It will not burn the coating off the tank, or cause distortion. Only way to go!

 

[steelypip]

I've soldered fuel and kerosene tanks as well. Scuff the area with the hole(s) down to bare metal and get it fairly rough. Then apply acid flux, get it good and hot (one of those big soldering coppers used for copper gutters works well), and apply solder. If it didn't tin, you didn't get the steel clean enough. If you're trying to cover a large area of pinholes, you probably want a piece of tin can applied to the outside of the solder patch. Prep it the same way, get it and the solder spot hot, then press it together to make a solder sandwich. Once the solder is liquid capillary action will do the rest for you.

The whole thing can be done without any open flame nearby, although I always seem to end up using a plumber's torch to heat up the soldering coppers - just do that upwind.

 

[TehTDK]

Sorry for asking, but what is JB weld?

 

[svd dragunov]

Sorry for asking, but what is JB weld?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-B_Weld

 

[welldigger]

Sorry for asking, but what is JB weld?

The red neck cure all that is kept next to the can of WD-40.

 

[m16ty]

Sorry for asking, but what is JB weld?

It's the next step after duct tape won't hold.

 

[John S-B]

John, just run your shop-vac to it, to pressurize it. As long as you don't hit the 14:1 air fuel ratio, you'll be fine.

What about brazing? Would that be strong enough to hold? I do have, an old CO2 extinguisher I could empty into it, it's due for testing anyway.

 

[steelypip]

Brazing would work fine, but you have to get the metal awfully hot (red) to do it. Soldering is just as good for a fuel tank and a lot less likely to make a mess.