rusty gas tank
Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Allis Chalmers
Forum Name: Farm Equipment
Forum Description: everything about Allis-Chalmers farm equipment
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7632
Printed Date: 30 Jan 2025 at 2:46am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: rusty gas tank
Posted By: Killerkukoo
Subject: rusty gas tank
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 5:49pm
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So on this tractor i bought, the guy swore he has been driving it regularly for 9 years. so when the tractor sputters and quits i check the sediment bowl and what do i find? spiders a leaf a bug and a bunch of rust/dirt. i look in the tank and the bottom is very dirty with what looks like rust flakes. This tractor starts very well. maybe half a pull on the starter, runs well and idles well, when it gets gas that is. what is the best way to clean out the tank? Help! thanks Jacob
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Replies:
Posted By: Killerkukoo
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 5:50pm
| By the way it is an allis chalmers wd 45 |
Posted By: ChuckLuedtkeSEWI
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 6:05pm
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Some people have used nuts inside the gas tank and bounce them around to remove the rust. I have a rusty WD tank that I have been using electrolysis to clean the inside. You can fill the inside with water mix with an Arm and Hammer solution and then put a scrap piece of metal on the inside and hook up a battery charger and it will pull the rust out of the tank and onto the scrap piece of metal. It has been working really good, and it doesn't hurt the paint on the outside. I would think you might even be able to do it with the gas tank on the tractor. I took mine off. If you want, I can put some picture of it on here for you. I used to have some good links to it on my old computer. I will try to find some for you to read. |
Posted By: ChuckLuedtkeSEWI
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 6:11pm
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Here are some links:
http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/rust/electrolytic_derusting.htm - http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/rust/electrolytic_derusting.htm
Here is a video on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5I5WBG5HPw - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5I5WBG5HPw
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Posted By: Thad in AR.
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 6:20pm
| I have an electric cement mixer that I strap gas tanks to and let them spin. I fill them with roffing nails and a length of small chain. I strap them on every way I can so it will clean all sides. Then I clean it out with air then parts washer. |
Posted By: Killerkukoo
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 6:35pm
| that electrolysis is a pretty neat idea. how would i clean the inside? just put the electrode in there? I would love to see some pics of how you are doing it. Im pretty disgusted with the guy i bought it from. he said he drove it all the time in summer and winter...but i find spiders in the sediment bowl??? sheesh |
Posted By: Bertman
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 6:48pm
| Interesting idea Thad. How do you do tanks if they got a baffel in them? I cant see you getting the nais out of both sides or being sure its clean. |
Posted By: ChuckLuedtkeSEWI
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 6:51pm
| I will go take some pictures of mine and load it up. Be patient. |
Posted By: ChuckLuedtkeSEWI
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 7:20pm
The key to the process is to keep it going and running and then when done, clean the tank out and dry it and then put something in there to keep it from rusting until you fill it up with gas. There is some acid etching solution that you can buy from Home Depot by Krud Kutter, called Must for Rust. It etches the bare metal and when dry protects it from rusting again. When I am done with my tank, I am just going to put some of this in there and swish it around and dump it out. Here is the pictures of my tank. I put an old piece of conduit in there, and put a roll of electrical tape around it to keep it from touching the sides, as the two pieces of metal can't touch.
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Posted By: ChuckLuedtkeSEWI
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 7:23pm
Here is the picture of the conduit after I pulled it out. You do have to take the scrap piece of metal that you use and clean it once or twice a day to get it to make a better electrical connection as it will build up with rust and crud. Once the tank is clean, the ampmeter will drop to next to nothing and no more rust will accumulate on your scrap piece of metal and then you're done.
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Posted By: mark/indiana
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 7:29pm
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One thing be sure you do....make sure there is a riser that sits at least 1/2 inch up into the tank (allows for rust and stuff at least that deep) I found a button off of someone's coverals in mine once , and yes, it drove me crazy!! Run then stop, run , then stop... I have quick fixed two tanks left on the tractor by disconnecting the bowl and lines and powerwashing inside...then allow plenty of time to dry...rinse and drain with new fuel and put it back together with the riser...Mark
------------- mark/indiana..."My favorite Allis Tractor or Crawler is the one I'm sitting on at the time!!.. |
Posted By: Thad in AR.
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 7:33pm
| Bertman I haven't tried one with a baffel yet but even with out it it can be hard to get nails and chain out. I dump out what I can and use a magnet on a stick to get the rest. |
Posted By: DREAM
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 7:35pm
| I have used the piece of chain and roller it around for a while, but not long enough. I will be doing it again hopefully before garden time gets here. I was looking at POR 15 online. They offer a kit that has the acid/cleaner to remove the rust and varnish, an etching and drying agent to get all of the moisture out and prime the metal, then the POR 15 coating to seal and coat everything. It is supposed to be a special kind of coating that will never come off or get brittle, soft, or eaten away by gas and additive chemicals. Water is supposed to make the coating "set" harder. I'm thinkin of trying it. I like the electrolysis idea Chuck, seems like less work anyway. Can you give me a few more pointers on how to mix the water, laundry soda, what amp battery charger you need, and so on? Did you put anything in the bottom to keep the conduit from touching the metal bottom of the tank? |
Posted By: ChuckLuedtkeSEWI
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 7:40pm
| What I did was use my larger rolling battery charger which has the big clips on it. I would clean the electrode and then put it back in and bottom it out in the bottom of the tank, then pick it up about an inch and then clamp it with the big clip. I then put a piece of wood under the clip and wire lead so that it wouldn't pull the piece of conduit over and let it touch the sides of the tank. I would go out in the morning and at night to clean the electrode. I buy the Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, and it has a scooper inside. I think it is one scoop for every five gallons of water. The water gets pretty nasty after awhile and if you use a big tank of it, you can use a skimmer to get the grease off of the top of when it is running. |
Posted By: GlenninPA
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 7:47pm
| I'll vouch for that POR15 kit. It sure would be nice to get the rust out first with Chuck's method. |
Posted By: DREAM
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 7:58pm
| Yeah Glenn, that's the way i'm leaning. Chuck, I have a small charger, I think it's a 10 amp charge rate. How long do you think it would take to clean out the tank on my C. It's not heavily crusted, i've already rolled some chain in it once. It mostly gets really fine stuff in the settling bowl. I have a piece of brass screen in the inlet to the cutoff. Do I need more charger? I have a big Solar brand roll around, but the rectifier shorted out, and I haven't gotten around to ordering another one yet. |
Posted By: Killerkukoo
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 8:29pm
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thanks so much for the pictures. i got the tank off just a second ago. im thinking what i thought was rust might be a hevty dose of dirt. the gas cap is loose so who knows how much dirt might have found its way in. im going to pressure wash it tomorrow and what doesnt come out with that im going to try the battery charger trick. in fact im filing that trick away for when i restore the wd 45. thanks Jacob
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Posted By: ChuckLuedtkeSEWI
Date Posted: 04 Feb 2010 at 8:56pm
| I would say if you let the tank work for a week, it should take most of it out. My tank was really bad. I used nuts and washers and did the drive around method and it only took out some of it. I have had it running for about two weeks and it keeps pulling out crud, so I keep running it. It is near the end though. I will clean it out and finish it up this weekend and get it back on the tractor. Just make sure that the battery charger is the old type and not a digital one as I was told that those do not work for electrolysis. |
Posted By: Barry
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2010 at 9:40am
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Very interesting discussion. I went the POR 15 route on mine. First I cleaned it in a parts washer, then a power wash. Followed this with the POR system. It takes some time to ensure the entire inside is cleaned with the cleaner and then prepped. POR 15 adheres to anything it touches when it drys, so make sure that there are no plugs left in the tank after you drain out the left over POR. I had to run taps in the fuel outlet to clean it up. Haven't used the tank yet, but have used the PO 15 exterior coatings and they sure are hard and impervious. |
Posted By: Barry
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2010 at 9:46am
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Very interesting discussion. I went the POR 15 route on my C tank. First washed it in a parts washer, then a power wash, then some sand blasting (it at least hits the bottom where most of the rust is). It takes time and patience to use the POR cleaner and prep. When you put the POR 15 in make sure you roll the tank around a lot. After draining the left over POR MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE ALL PLUGS. If you don't, they are there for the duration. I had to run a tap in the outlet threads to get the dried POR off. Haven't used the tank yet, but have used PO15 on exterior surfaces. It sure is hard and impervious. |
Posted By: Stan IL&TN
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2010 at 11:26am
| I used the POR-15 kit on my one-seventy tank. After I turned it up to pour out the excess coating I used Q-tips to clean the POR-15 off the threads where the sedement bowl attaches. Worked good. |
Posted By: firebrick43
Date Posted: 06 Feb 2010 at 11:32am
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Has anyone used the POR15 system for a long period of time. I play with motorcyles and most of their tanks rust after a few years. I have used several systems similar, but sometime the coating is softened by the (I think its the ethonol added now) and it flakes off plugging things worse than the rust. |
Posted By: norm [ind]
Date Posted: 06 Feb 2010 at 1:37pm
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if you need to use put a riser in the tank 1 1/2" --2" high an go on about your work
rinse out taank before riser is put in leave balance of dirt in tank will not cause any problems havedismantled many with risers in them
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Posted By: Gary in da UP
Date Posted: 06 Feb 2010 at 1:53pm
| A riser of copper tubeing works well, but you can have moisture in the bottom of the tank that lays there until you remove the sediment bowl assy ,which can be frustrating . I suggest instead of tubeing to use a tightly wound spring , lets all the fliud drain but stops the majority of fines and floaters. Gary |
Posted By: GBACBFan
Date Posted: 06 Feb 2010 at 2:27pm
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In an earlier post, I think Allen Dilg had suggested wrapping a sediment bowl screen up like a cigarette and sticking it in the upper threaded stub of the sediment bowl to function as a riser. Like Gary's idea, it drains the fluids and catches the chunks. ------------- "The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine." - Mark Twain |
Posted By: GlenninPA
Date Posted: 06 Feb 2010 at 6:08pm
| I have POR 15 in the tank of the first B I bought, and it has to be going on 10 years now. No issues yet, but I generally do not let fuell sit in it too long, because the new stuff goes bad so quick. |
Posted By: Dnoym N. S. Can.
Date Posted: 06 Feb 2010 at 6:35pm
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Just make sure that the battery charger is the old type and not a digital one as I was told that those do not work for electrolysis.
i think the new one will work if you hook
it up to a battery for it to have some thing
to take a feed of off hth
B:-) Dnoym
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Posted By: Killerkukoo
Date Posted: 07 Feb 2010 at 9:40am
| well i got the tank back on yesterday and plowed out the pickup path back to the pigs. its amazing how much better it runs now that its getting gas lol! |
Posted By: TimNearFortWorth
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2010 at 7:03pm
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If off the tractor, run it to a good radiator shop and have it acidized; they can perform this on the inside only and save your original paint if they know what they are doing when they "bung" it up. Then have them line the inside with the correct sealer as many radiator shops are well versed these days to repair gas tanks of all materials.
My D12 tank was $40 total.
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