fuel tank repair

el6147

Member
On occasion the subject of repairing fuel tanks
comes up, this is a repair that I recently done on
a aluminum transport diesel fuel tank where the
drop pipe from the pump wore a ring in the bottom
of the tank, I repaired this tank by tig welding
it and generally I don't pump exhaust into a tank
that was used for diesel fuel but on this one I
did use a hose from a diesel tractor. I have done
this same repair on gas tanks but take special
precocious measures to do so , most often I will
let them sit for a extended amount of time to let
the gas fumes evaporate and generally rinse them
several times with fresh diesel fuel and depending
on the situation pump either exhaust fumes from a
diesel engine into them or argon (just because its
the gas I have on hand for the mig welder). every
situation is different I have also repaired gas
tanks on pickups by soldering sheet metal patch's
on them with a electric soldering hot iron. fuel
tanks can be repaired if you use you head about
doing it .
 
one day I'll get this photo upload correct.
a112226.jpg

a112227.jpg
 
What do you use for leak testing? I've always used Windex, it seams to catch leaks easier than soapy water and doesn't leave as much film to interfere with welding.
 
Have you ever tried to use a product called Devcon Aluminum putty. I have used it on aluminum components for machine fixtures. (works well, but I have never used it for a liquid application)
 
There's no point using diesel exhaust to prevent accidents. Exhaust from an idling diesel still contains oxygen.
 
TIG is the way to go but diesel exhaust doesn't do anything to prevent a fire. Diesel tanks aren't nearly as dangerous to weld as gas tanks but it makes no sense to rinse a gas tank with diesel. CO2 in the tank would be good, not Argon. Welding fuel tanks is a real touchy subject on an open forum and it's not a good idea to even suggest doing it. To give miss information is even worse. Someone could get seriously injured or killed.
 
Indeed! The exhaust of a well-tuned diesel at idle contains nearly as much oxygen as fresh air.

If you're gonna use engine exhaust as a purge use exhaust from a GASOLINE engine. Or better yet purge the tank with CO2 from an extinguisher.
 
Dave,

you are just jealous that you did not fix it,and like to tell everybody else how much you know. But some of us know how you are. Have you checked your tickets??????????
 
Worked in a chmical plant for 32 years as a process operator.
The way we prepared ANY vessel for welding in a Chemical plant was to fill it completely with water. Then purged with Nitrogen. I realize nitrogen is not ready available but that being said , Fill with water first then purge it with exhaust.Filling full of water displaces all volatile fumes. Purging afterwards drys the water.
 
Forgot to mention . Nitrogen displaces the oxygen. Nitrogen should be used with caution. If used Do not breathe, it is deadly in small doses !!
 
Argon -inert gas having no active chemical properties . So why the no argon comment ? If you say cost ,okay maybe but argon is fine to purge a tank. Yes welding tanks is dangerous. Cleaning a tank with any soap that contains Naptha can cause it to blow , argon not so much.
 
By the sounds of it and reading other posters comments, it might just be a matter of time before he blows himself up or someone else blows up following the wrong advice. Repairing fuel tanks isn't something to experiment with. Once again you have contributed ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to the original post. So who's all about the drama?
 
Well I didnt' know there was a fire extinguisher that blew out nitrogen .I would reserve the fire extinguishers for putting out fires. Alot more welding shops have argon than nitrogen. Just curious as to why you said not to use argon. I had nitrogen to run air tools and fill tires at one time and the gauge cost 400 bucks so I think argon is cheaper if you don't have nitrogen.Filling the bottles was about the same cost.
 
I sell welding gasses. Nitrogen should be way cheaper than argon. I toured a 150 million dollar air separation facility. They said as long as they can produce argon, all the oxygen and nitrogen is pure profit. CO2 is used to put out fires, argon won't put out a fire. Nitrogen is dry and cheap. That's why it's used for purging.
 
A tank purged with argon is the same thing as a tank purged with nitrogen . You are still not saying why you told the original poster not to use argon. As I posted not many welding shops have nitrogen but most have argon. So why did you tell him not to use argon?
 
I have put chucks of dry ice in a tank and let the tank fill up with its vapors before soldering. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. I pick up free scraps at a dry ice plant that was built next to an ethanol plant.
 
Another thing about argon....I weld lots of tanks, both gas and diesel. I rarely take the fuel out of them. I purged a gas tank one time with argon cause I was out of my usual one. Gasoline will burn in a tank using argon. It won't blow but it will burn. I use co2 exclusively. Please, Please don't ANYONE do this without the rest of the schooling to know how. It is a process you must know in the correct order to be safe at it. A one quart empty gas tank off a lawn mower will clean a work bench and the stuff hanging on a wall. You MUST know the order in which you can do this!!!!!
 
(quoted from post at 03:04:14 04/21/13) TIG is the way to go but diesel exhaust doesn't do anything to prevent a fire. Diesel tanks aren't nearly as dangerous to weld as gas tanks but it makes no sense to rinse a gas tank with diesel. CO2 in the tank would be good, not Argon. Welding fuel tanks is a real touchy subject on an open forum and it's not a good idea to even suggest doing it. To give miss information is even worse. Someone could get seriously injured or killed.

Hello Stick welding,

I'm glade you pointed that out! I hope he was listening, probably NOT!
Being a gas fleet mechanic I have had to repair those same tanks he talks about. Steam cleaned, sniffed and then welded.

Guido.
 

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