Rusty bike fuel tanks

ELLIS

ELLIS

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Jan 6, 2017
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Could anyone tell me what is the best acid to clean rust from inside a bikes petrol tank.

ELLIS
 
Cleaning strength vineagar can work.
Another good choice is a product like MetalRescue or EvapoRust. These are not acidic, non-toxic and work by a chemical concept known as Chelation. They convert rust back to metal.
 
If you have an Autosmart van/dealer in your neck of the woods, get a gallon of Treble X. I've used it a lot & it works very well. Try not to get it on your paint work, but if you do you should rinse it off asap. Evaporust is also effective, if a little slow & expensive.

Martyn.
 
I got great results with citric acid, then after rinsing out thoroughly, phosphorus acid to prevent flash rusting.
 
A product called ChemPrime not only removes rust chemically similar to MetalRescue, EvapoRust, or others, but leaves the cleaned metal surface with a rust inhibitor that prevents, or at least discourages future rust. Rust is converted to an iron-zinc strontium cellular film which is bonded to the parent metal.

Al-Con Chemical Co. Mandeville, LA 800-843-2254

May be difficult to find in the UK

Slick

NOTE: I called the company with a technical question and was connected to the pres. of the company. He told me instructions that are not on the product label. He said after allowing the product time to dissolve rust, drain, but do not rinse. Allow to air dry - the conversion occurs during the air dry cycle.
 
Vapo- Rust hands down best I ever used + won't harm outside tank paint! Available in UK. Rusty bike fuel tanks
 
HYDROCLORIC treats everything . And rusts instanter . after rinsing . SO you then dump it full of PHOSPHORIC . Diluted . Both. Perhaps . Unlessn youve only got ten minutes .

Well , nobody mentioned Paint Jobs , Did They . :)

Recently done a Car Tank in this fashion . Dilute say 50 % - Roll & turn - rinse - repeat . to eliminate internal corrosion . Sitting on the bench for months with a little Phos. in it . Now .

Best ive seen is Engine Builders Non Acidic / Alkaline ( Suitable for Alloy Wheels ) HOT TANK . Not just the outside - of course . Youd wanna mask & bung the whole thing external ,
If you wanted ( to Try ) to save the paint job , with acid . If its only very light - No Scale - not to many pimples ! - 2/3 or 3/4 diluted Phosphoric maybe . BAD corrosion Hi Strength Hydrochloric
will go through pretty fast .
And you need tubs & ground sheets / alkatheen , rags , Trash Bags etc . And a powerfull hose handy . It hurts in any cuts in your hands . Did somebody mention GOGGLES .
 
I recently completely removed bad surface rust from inside a Kawasaki tank using cleaning strength white vinegar. Its cheap as chips (and possibly still fairly tasty on the chips), so I bought enough to completely fill the tank and left it in there for a few days. Tank inside surface was clean and rust free afterwards. and no hard to the paint.
 
Phosphoric acid tends to passivate steel as it removes rust. You can buy it as 'food acid'. Two places where I worked had big metal finishing shops, and I was the factory chemist.
If you use most other acids to remove rust, the steel immediately begins to rust again. One way to slow rusting is to flush the steel with a very dilute solution of potassium dichromate. But if you use phosphoric acid, you won't need to do that.
 
bsaboss said:
I recently completely removed bad surface rust from inside a Kawasaki tank using cleaning strength white vinegar. Its cheap as chips (and possibly still fairly tasty on the chips), so I bought enough to completely fill the tank and left it in there for a few days. Tank inside surface was clean and rust free afterwards. and no hard to the paint.
Click to expand...
I did this on my Roadster tank. Took 2 days, but cleared the tanks of surface rust. The mistake I made was then washing it out with water. By the time it had dried thoroughly it had a layer of flash rust, despite being a warm dry day. Nothing serious, but I couldn't get rid of it. Thinking about it since, I should have stayed clear of water and rinsed it with fresh vinegar, then petrol.
 
Matt Spencer said:
HYDROCLORIC treats everything . And rusts instanter . after rinsing . SO you then dump it full of PHOSPHORIC . Diluted . Both. Perhaps . Unlessn youve only got ten minutes .

Well , nobody mentioned Paint Jobs , Did They . :)

Recently done a Car Tank in this fashion . Dilute say 50 % - Roll & turn - rinse - repeat . to eliminate internal corrosion . Sitting on the bench for months with a little Phos. in it . Now .

Best ive seen is Engine Builders Non Acidic / Alkaline ( Suitable for Alloy Wheels ) HOT TANK . Not just the outside - of course . Youd wanna mask & bung the whole thing external ,
If you wanted ( to Try ) to save the paint job , with acid . If its only very light - No Scale - not to many pimples ! - 2/3 or 3/4 diluted Phosphoric maybe . BAD corrosion Hi Strength Hydrochloric
will go through pretty fast .
And you need tubs & ground sheets / alkatheen , rags , Trash Bags etc . And a powerfull hose handy . It hurts in any cuts in your hands . Did somebody mention GOGGLES .
Click to expand...
If you want to remove paint, the heated trichorethylene degreaser tank is good. It becomes more aggressive as it ages. But these days most metal finishers use 1.1.1 tricholroethane - it is not as poisonous.
I have just remembered what you get when you heat chlorinated solvent - phosgene - it was used to kill in WW1. The metal finishing tradesmen know a lot about their industry. You just have to talk to them in a certain way.
 
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bsaboss said:
I recently completely removed bad surface rust from inside a Kawasaki tank using cleaning strength white vinegar. Its cheap as chips (and possibly still fairly tasty on the chips), so I bought enough to completely fill the tank and left it in there for a few days. Tank inside surface was clean and rust free afterwards. and no hard to the paint.
Click to expand...
Acetic acid is probably the worst acid you can work with. It attacks organic matter. After you have used it, your skin can start peeling off. You need to be extremely careful with it. With hydrochoric, you know also immediately if it gets on you. Phosphoric is fairly gentle.
Never play with sulphuric acid. I have battery acid, and I always like to have clean water close at hand when I use it. It is really nasty shit - (that is chemists' talk )
 
acotrel said:
Phosphoric acid tends to passivate steel as it removes rust. You can buy it as 'food acid'. Two places where I worked had big metal finishing shops, and I was the factory chemist.
If you use most other acids to remove rust, the steel immediately begins to rust again. One way to slow rusting is to flush the steel with a very dilute solution of potassium dichromate. But if you use phosphoric acid, you won't need to do that.
Click to expand...
When you say Phosphoric acid, what strengh is best for rust removal? It seems to be available in 30% to 80% when sold as descaler/rust remover.

Martyn.
 
Automatic dishwasher soap & HOT water just brought this tank back from the edge of the grave
Rusty bike fuel tanks
Rusty bike fuel tanks
Rusty bike fuel tanks
Rusty bike fuel tanks
Rusty bike fuel tanks
Rusty bike fuel tanks
Rusty bike fuel tanks
Rusty bike fuel tanks
Rusty bike fuel tanks
Rusty bike fuel tanks
Rusty bike fuel tanks
 
What are modern bike tanks lined with as rust no longer seems to happen on bike tanks?

Why is plating (Nickel or other) not used inside tanks for corrosion prevention?
 
Rusty Tank,

Thanks for all the replies. I have decided to try Citric Acid, And I will post the results when I have finished the Tank.

Cheers
ELLIS
 
Matchless said:
When you say Phosphoric acid, what strengh is best for rust removal?
Click to expand...
I dilute to 10% as much for safety in case of splashes, it does take longer but time is free in diy. I had some really rusty RSJ's recently and used full strength 80% and they went jet black from the iron phosphate coating the acid forms on the bare steel. Look like new with high zinc paint.
 
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