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Spraying the inside of my air compressor tank

W

wsmm

Member
I have a large upright air compressor. It's a Campbell-Hausfeld Model VT-558704. It has 2 inspect plugs on either side. I was thinking on removing them this spring and looking at the bottom of the tank and possibly trying to vacuum up anything loose on the bottom of the tank and then spraying the inside on the tank with rust convertor. I figure it can't hurt anything and might even help. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Bill
 
I believe one other good thing to do is put a valve in the bottom of the tank, and open it every so often to blow out any moisture that has accumulated in the bottom.
 


When I put my similar CH in I sprayed some WD-40 into the tank to prevent rust. I am sure that it has evaporated by now. I believe that the air going into the tank contains a very slight amount of oil from the air pump that would prevent rust converter from working. Too much of any type of oil in the tank would of course be detrimental to any painting, but I think that the WD-40 once every 2-3 years would be easily filtered out of the air.
 
My concern would be getting it clean enough for the paint to adhere.

What would happen with the flakes of paint, would they be enough to possibly clog the drain or the filter dryers?

I have never seen the inside of a compressor tank painted from the factory. There may be a reason.
 
they should have drains on the bottom of tank with like a 1/2 " ball valve. keep it drained regularly. dont hurt to add air brake antifreeze to the system either. i dought painting would do any good as any compressor makes water in the tank. blowing them down is the answer.
 

Penetrol is an Australian product that will stick to lightly corroded surfaces and protect them for years against moisture and further rust . It won't flake or peel , it's colourless and reasonably thick and I can testify that it sticks like poo to a blanket . A product that is similar and available in the UK and US is Owatrol , not quite as good but close .
 
You'll never get it evenly coated that way. Moisture will condense behind treated spots and won't drain. These tanks are made to run wet, just blow down the excess water once a week.
 
(quoted from post at 16:32:30 02/10/21) they should have drains on the bottom of tank with like a 1/2 " ball valve. keep it drained regularly. dont hurt to add air brake antifreeze to the system either. i dought painting would do any good as any compressor makes water in the tank. blowing them down is the answer.
Click to expand...


rustred, wsmm asked about rust converter as opposed to paint. I use a fair amount of rust converter. None of what I use is anything like paint.
 

Back when I was acidizing my gas tank (before I got it coated) to get rid of rust, they recommended phosphoric acid to coat the bare metal to help it avoid rusting again. Another option I was told was to spray it with wd40 which would also help coat it. Couldn't really find any phosphoric acid that would work since the tank was mounted with a baffle in it. Best I could do was spray the wd40 around inside as best I could.

Find something with a high concentration of phosphoric acid. When comparing labels years ago, I think maybe driveway concrete cleaner may have the highest and then maybe some of that Ospho and maybe evaporust has some as well but don't quote my memory on that.

It's the same acid used to give the flavor to Coke and Pepsi. I heard of guys using what coke they didn't drink to get rid of rust on bumpers.
 
There is suppose to already be a coating on the inside of a compressor tank however Campbell Hausfield probably doesn't do it anymore. I've been using their compressors all my life and replaced one a couple years ago and there has been a sea of rusty water coming out of the tank every time I have ever drained it.

I'm not sure I would coat the inside of the tank. What ever you coat it with will eventually flake off and contaminate your air.
 
(quoted from post at 08:02:14 02/11/21)
Back when I was acidizing my gas tank (before I got it coated) to get rid of rust, they recommended phosphoric acid to coat the bare metal to help it avoid rusting again. Another option I was told was to spray it with wd40 which would also help coat it. Couldn't really find any phosphoric acid that would work since the tank was mounted with a baffle in it. Best I could do was spray the wd40 around inside as best I could.

Find something with a high concentration of phosphoric acid. When comparing labels years ago, I think maybe driveway concrete cleaner may have the highest and then maybe some of that Ospho and maybe evaporust has some as well but don't quote my memory on that.

It's the same acid used to give the flavor to Coke and Pepsi. I heard of guys using what coke they didn't drink to get rid of rust on bumpers.
Click to expand...

All of the rust converters use phosphoric acid as the active ingredient. It is very readily available at any restaurant supply or dairy supply. It is sold as limestone remover. It converts rust to iron phosphate which is what the black coating on your impact wrench sockets consists of. Evaporust breaks rust down but does not convert it. Coca Cola contains phosphoric acid but at under .003 concentration level. It takes weeks for it to remove any amount of rust.
 
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