I thought this was an interesting post so I transferred it to the forum from the 'for sale and wanted' section....Ian
Steve Madden
Apr 7, 2015 - 9:52PM
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Blast-cleaning - Fuel tanks
I've been put off for years blast-cleaning fuel tanks after a (thin) Norton 16H tank was left looking like a cullendar...........probably my fault but I didn't know how thin the metal was nor the extent of corrosion.........
With any unrestored tank however, you can never be 100% confident on the thickness of the metal...............so in recent years I've always hand-stripped fuel tanks (and oil tanks) rather than blast-cleaning them............
What do members think ?
John o brien
Apr 7, 2015 - 10:27PM
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Re: Blast-cleaning - Fuel tanks
If you have room outdoors & a big container with a lid, stick it in molasses for a few weeks
It will come out black but rust free on the inside and outside
It will stink - but you can clean it
If paint needs to be removed from the outside, I would use nitro mors or similar just to expose the metal
I asked the people doing my tank not to blast it due to the high risk of holing it
Job
email (option): Jonnyob1@googlemail.com
Andy T
Apr 7, 2015 - 10:42PM
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Re: Blast-cleaning - Fuel tanks
Hi
I don't sand blast anything, I prefer to use either chemicals or the hard way where accessible with a robust wire brush on my angle grinder or drill.
Andy p
email (option): a.tizzard@btopenworld.com
Ian Wright
Apr 8, 2015 - 11:10AM
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Re: Blast-cleaning - Fuel tanks
I don't agree....
I don't blast oil tanks for obvious reasons....Ensuring no grit gets in and remains within the tank after cleaning is a problem...
I do blast all the other steel parts on the bike after chemically stripping the paint...
Care should be taken with mudguards and any thin sheet metal items not to use excessive pressures or very heavy grit...(as used by most powder coaters for example...)...
The action of heavy blasting, apart from blowing holes through thin metal acts as a 'stress reliever', releasing the stresses within the component that were introduced by the forming process at the time of manufacture...
This can lead to severe distortion of items like mudguards, chain guards, tool box lids etc.....
I take the view that if the correct pressures and non aggressive medias are used no further damage will be inflicted on the component, only the cleaning process that is desired...
For example, relatively fragile cast aluminium and die cast components can be blast cleaned with NO detrimental effect on dimensional tolerances or surface finishes...Even plastic components are bead blasted in the industrial environment....
In the case of a petrol tank or any other component it is just a question of selecting the correct pressure and media...
If a tank is so thin that even this process would lead to 'perforation' then it is best to know that so suitable remedial action can be taken...Ian
