I too have welded gas tanks but used the aircompressor to blow the tank
for 4 or 5 hour before and during the weld. The theory here is, that to
be explosive the gas/air mixture has to be rich enough so by introducing
enough air it becomes too weak to ignite.
On the other hand I have had a tank blow when I was working on something
else entirely but happened to move the tank so that the filler was the
lowest point and the gas fumes flowed across the bench. Result: ruined
sweater & tshirt and 3rd degree burns to most of my left upper arm.
John and Muddy
jimfoo wrote:
>
> I have welded gas tanks a few times. What I have done is to hook a
> canister vacuum cleaner in the blow configuration, and let it blow for
> quite a while. After that, it is hard to smell any fumes. You can also
> fill it with an inert gas such as argon, co2, nitrogen...
>
> Jean-Leon Morin wrote:
> >
> > I think it is now possible to express the degree of "disorder" of the
> > Land-Rover by a constant. It used to be that the need for repair increased
> > exponentially with the amount of mileage covered, but now I've got it down
> > to a constant amount of "stuff" that doesn't work.
> >
> > Last night I installed some brand new rear springs on Valdez, with (gasp)
> > new bolts. These springs solved my spring wrap problem (as they are really
> > HD), my excessive sway problem, and the saggy rear end problem. I was simply
> > delighted to round corners without having to lean into them, and to be able
> > to load five hundred pounds of junk into it without having the spring end up
> > in negative arch.
> >
> > Of course, having decreased the overall amount (X) of
> > unreliability/disorder, mathematics prevailed and left me with a stuck relay
> > (draining my new $$$ battery) and a substantial fuel leak. The relay was
> > cured this morning with a new one, but the fuel leak is the real annoyance.
> > I've fixed that tank once before (it's actually quite solid) but it has
> > rusted out right where the salt accumulated behind the tank. Excellent.
> >
> > Someone mentioned welding... What IS the general consensus of the list when
> > it comes to welding a fuel tank? Of course, after having removed the tank,
> > drained it of fuel, filled it with hot water to the brim, and having washed
> > it with a mixture of soap and steaming water. That should get rid of enough
> > of the fumes and junk, if not I'd just leave it full of water as I'm welding
> > it. Ordinarily I wouldn't consider it, but this tank is pretty decent
> > inside, and overall is in excellent shape. I figure that with a welded patch
> > of 18 gauge over the rusted area (leaking from a pinhole or something) I
> > might get some decent life out of it. I hesitate to have it coated as it
> > won't fix the problem permanently, it'll simply plug the hole until the
> > whole area is weakened and lets go entirely.
> >
> > Am I going to explode if I do this? I figure that washing it should rid it
> > of a large percentage of vapour, and whatever is left would be "popped" with
> > a match before welding it. Welding a tank filled with water sounds like a
> > recipe for a brittle weld.
> >
> > J-L
> > _______________________________________________
> > LRO mailing list
> > LRO@land-rover.team.net
> > http://land-rover.team.net/mailman/listinfo/lro
>
> --
> Jim Hall
> 1966 88" Elephant Chaser
> http://webs.purplemountain.net/jimfoo/Foospage.htm
> "You know, I never really damaged my Rover 'till I started wheeling
> with Jim." Mitch Stockdale
> _______________________________________________
> LRO mailing list
> LRO@land-rover.team.net
> http://land-rover.team.net/mailman/listinfo/lro
_______________________________________________
LRO mailing list
LRO@land-rover.team.net
http://land-rover.team.net/mailman/listinfo/lro
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Mar 27 2003 - 09:06:52 EST