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Torch near a gas cap,any ideas?

R

rrlund

Well-known Member
I've got a bearing out on the combine. It's on a shaft about 8 inches behind the gas cap on the side of the combine. There's a pulley on it that runs the straw spreader that has to come off and it's on there but good. I don't know if the puller will budge it without putting a good deal of heat to it first.
I'm scared to death of the torch near that cap because of the fumes. I've thought about putting a piece of inner tube over the cap and neck and tightening up a hose clamp over it then wetting it down good,but I'd sooner scrap the combine and buy another one than blow myself up.
 
We like you. Don't do it.

As mentioned, try the air hammer. Or remove the gas tank. That time will be less than that in the burn ward.

Or hire someone to do it.
 
Randy,1 idea would be to drain all the gas,and then fill the tank with water to the top of the neck,making sure that no gas remains.Of course,then you later have to dry out the tank.I soldered the neck on my gas tractor's tank 1 time doing this,and did not have a problem drying out the tank,just blew down the neck with a blow gun for a while.
Another idea,take a towel,soak it with water,and shove it down the neck;which is probably the way I would do it.Also I would examine the fill neck for any sign of a leak,and maybe wrap it with a wet towel too.Point the torch away from neck as much as possible.Just be careful!Mark
 
Just put a fan blowing away from where you are going to use the torch. That will blow the fumes away from the torch, then go to work. If I was there I would do it for you. Some fuel oil applied ahead of time might just soak in enough to make the difference before hand.
 
Can't get in behind it. There's room for the jaws of the puller,not much else. Except maybe a hack saw. I don't use the spreader anyway. I might have to get a new hack saw blade then spend some time making short strokes and cut the shaft off right behind the pulley.
 
If you got a die grinder with a cut off wheel to cut a slit in bearing, then split with a chisel and remove. (hopefully) Pete
 
It might be possible to drill holes in the hub of the pulley to weaken it. You can start a little ways away in several places and keep using larger drill bits until there is hardly any metal between the drilled hole and the shaft. That would be sacrificing the pulley. I dreamed this up before I went back and read it and realized that getting the bearing off was the main objective. Advice is worth at least what you pay for it!
 
Dad used to lay a wet rag over the neck and he only blew up once, just kidding about that last part. I would try the rag and a fan like was mentioned.
 
Dry Ice. CO2 or if you have a mig or tig, whatever inhert gas you use will prevent a fire.Drain as much of the gasoline you can, fill the tank with inhert gas should not be a problem. Or go with the water.
dry ice
 
If there is room behind it to move a little in on the shaft, try pounding it in to see if it will break the rust loose. Then you can use a puller and pull it off.
 
I had something like that on a jeep I needed to fix. What I did was fill the gas tank up as full as it would go and then did the work. Yes it did in fact start to burn but a simple bucket of water and a few wet rags did the trick. A full gas tank CANNOT blow up because it has no air inside it to cause a problem. Yes it can start burning but it is simple to put back out with a wet rag. BTDT more then once and yes I have put out more then one fire in doing so. Best if you have a safety man there holding there hands in the bucket of water and rags and even putting a rag over the cap area with a bucket sitting below full of water so the rag can soak up the water and keep it even safer. I have done it both ways and have even punched a hole in a full gas tank when I was doing some welding but I knew I might hit the gas tank so again I made sure it was full and I do mean as full as you can get it
 
Sounds like a wool blanket (or 2) over the gas and, spayed with a hose to keep the moisture up may be an option for the 'fired/hot wrench'. HTH
 
There was a time when I probably would have covered the tank with a water soaked rug. I think now I would drain the tank, fill it with water, and cover it with a water soaked rug, to catch any remaining fumes. I have welded a new 2" neck on a gas supply tank using the water method.
 
I did. It's on there now. I blasted it up tight with the impact wrench and thought I'd leave it over night and see what it looks like in the morning. I've soaked it with PB Blaster twice. I hate to beat on it too much and try to drive it in. It might raise heck on the bearing at the other end of the shaft.
 
As long as it's not leaking, there won't be any fumes to burn.

Now if you think there is a chance you could puncture the tank, or cut a fuel line while the torch is burning, that would be a problem. But even if that happened, there would not be an instant explosion. Only what ran out would burn.

If left burning, the tank would pressurize and burn very intensely, but explode, never seen that happen. Typically what is seen exploding are the tires after the fire is well established.

My biggest fear of doing something like that would be if I were crawled up inside and could not quickly get out.
 
Randy, I'm with petetx. I have had almost miracles with Aerokroil or Silikroil. Kano Labs, Nashville, TN...
 
I figured you probably had tried, I couldn't think of a reason not
to at least try it. I'm trying to think of the welder's name over in
Long Lake, long gone now, seems like it was Jack Hopkins? He used
to use his welder for stuff like that including thawing frozen pipes.
Heated them up with no sparks or flame. Might be an option.
 
If you want peace of mind you could drain the tank, disconnect the fuel lines and either fill the tank up to the cap with water or remove it. Then after you are done drain and dry the gas tank.
 
This brings up the question of what is in the tank? Gasoline or diesel fuel???
If it is gasoline, I would recommend pulling the tank and removing it to a safe location before using the torch.
However, if it is diesel, it is not all that flammable. Keep the cap closed, and there should be no problem.

The reason I ask this question is because we seem to generically call many things wrongly. Like the gas pedal, gas cap, or whatever. Truck drivers refer to "giving it the gas" or "gassing it up" when fueling, or other generic expressions.
 
rrlund: Do you have a wire welder that uses argon/CO2 ???? What I have done several times is to take the argon tank and regulator an put a hose on it. I then remove the gas cap and stick the argon hose down into the tank. Wrap a rage around the hose at the filler neck. Turn the argon/CO2 gas on. Fill the area above the gas with the inert gas. You can tell when you stop getting gas fumes out the filler neck. You can then cut the bearing off without worrying about the gas burning/blowing.
 
All you have to do is get a non vented cap and put on it till your done with the torch.I can't believe all the so called solutions people come up with.
 
Thank you I know my way works because I am still here to tell people how to do it and I have done it to many times. Does it worry me well yes but hey I am still here talking about it and all my worry did was keep me cautious. I have also sen more then one car on fire in the gas tank area and I have yet to ever see on explode but that is due to the fact liquid gas does not burn it is the fumes that burn and explode
 
Funny how the idea that gasoline, in all forms, is explosive. Years ago I was burning a huge brush pile, and needed to get the fire to spread to one particular area. All I had on hand was some gasoline. So, I filled a quart, plastic, oil container with the gas, and tossed it in the area I wanted to light off.

I had purposefully left the cap loose so it would come off and let the gas spill out and draw the fire, but it stayed on. So, I just backed away and watched, half expecting to see a poof, or even a minor explosion. I got neither. When the fire finally reached the container, it did nothing but burn the top off. From there is simply burned away at the liquid gas for a few minutes, until it was all gone.
 
Got it. I stood a piece of sheet metal between the pulley and cap last night,put some heat to one side of the hub and left the puller tight all night. I put the impact to it this morning. I was slow going,but it came off.
 

I will 3rd that option unless the tank is Duck soup taking it off.
Full tank with a well soaked wet rag has worked for me many times.
 
(quoted from post at 18:23:23 07/28/16) Dad used to lay a wet rag over the neck ................ I would try the rag and a fan like was mentioned.
Click to expand...

Ditto. 8)
 

Some guys in West Central Il used to arc weld on bulk gas truck tanks - You brought them in FULL and they would light each compartment and go to welding the crack. When they were finished they'd close the caps and the fire would go out. Kinda hard to explode when it's already burning! I've welded cracks in big-truck saddle tanks this way; made me nervous that I would burn through and leak fuel as I was laying on the ground between the tanks BUT I was young and pretty dumb and gutsy at the time! :shock:
 
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