Tank coating

Has anyone used or know anything about Kreem gas tank coating? After re-painting my gas tank I discoverd leaks in the seam of the tank. I searched the internet for a solution and came across this three part clean and repair stuff called Kreem. I hope it's worth the $40.00 it cost.

 

It works, if you follow all the intructions to the letter. You are essentially painting the tank's inside, and surface prep is all-important.

The one big problem with it is that it coats everything inside the tank, so if your bike has any sort of a gas-gauge sender/float inside it, that gets coated as well, and will no longer function.

BTW-I've recently seen the Kreem kit for sale at a Yamaha Shoppe for $28.00. If you decide to go with it, shop around, and save enough to fill the tank up when you're done.

 

Thanks bisozoku. unfortionatly things here in Ga. are a bit more pricey so I had to go for 38.99 but thats ok as long as it does the job. And by the way ditto on bringing back the 70's

 

My friend made a rotisserie for his tank and it worked really good. Just remember to cap off all the openings.

 

Sorry for the typo on your name bosozoku ( i'm a hunt and peck typer).
Thanks 1chewey1 that sounds like a good idea.

 

Kreem is crap - you should really stay away from it. It's tricky to apply properly, guaranteed to fail if it isn't applied perfectly, and pretty likely to fail even if it is applied right. Plus it's messy and nasty stuff to deal with.

Get yourself some POR-15 Tank Repair Kit

Costs about the same, and is 100x the product - this is the stuff lots of pro's use.

 

Thanks Altus for the heads up.

 

I took my tank to the local rad shop, they sealed it up nice and neat, $40 and none of the hassle.

 

I've decided for the overkill method. I'm going to have the seam brazed and due to the spots of rust I can see inside I'm going to use a tank coating (which ever coating I find is best)to block any further damage.

 

Use the electrolytic method to de-rust the inside of the tank (all you need is a battery charger) and then treat the inside with Ospho (which you can get at Ace Hardware) and your tank is now completely and zetfully clean and rust-free and will stay that way as long as you keep the tank somewhat full. You can go the coating route, but be aware, if it's not applied correctly, and starts coming off, and ends up in your carbs..............well, just read through all the threads on here about what a pain it is to clean your carbs, and how crappy your bike runs if you don't clean them really, REALLY properly. And once you coat the inside of the tank, there's no un-doing it, and if it's not done absolutely, positively right, then you'll just keep clogging your carbs up forever.

Now there's a good definition of hell.........

 

I'll second the electrolysis method.
Have done 4 that way, and takes them from disposable junk to good as new in an hour or so.
Actually had a shop say one tank was not repairable, and they were amazed when they saw the bike drive up a week later with same tank now spotless inside.
It convinced them to change to electrolysis method as well.
Keep fuel in tank, and it will not rust again.

 

If I was to put the solution(bakeing soda) in a rubbermaid trash can and submerged the whole tank in it would that work? w/electrodes

 

Jeff.....it's not baking soda, it's washing soda (a whole different chemical!) and you can get it at your local grocery store in the clothes washing/detergent aisle. WASHING SODA. That's how it's marked. Usually Arm & Hammer brand.

No, don't submerge the whole tank. Mixup the washing soda with water as per the directions for electrolytic cleaning. You'll have to make a block-off plate for where the petcock normally lives (flat piece of aluminum with two holes drilled in it, and a thin rubber gasket to match). Remove the petcock, bolt this block-off plate in its place. You'll also have to have a way to rig up the electrode for the top of the tank. I bought a 2+" rubber plug at a local ace hardware store. Through this plug I drilled 3 holes: 2 for the anode to go through (my anode was a coat hanger twisted around into 4 "fingers") and one extra hole that I stuck a leftover spray can extension spray tube through to provide some venting during the process (don't smoke around this tank while it's doing it's thing!).

I've used a 10 amp charger, and it takes about 2 days to get it really clean. I'm going to buy a 50 amp charger shortly to do th enext tank, and that should get it clean as a whistle in about 4-6 hours "cooking" time. Just realize that you have to turn off the charger, and remove the anode periodically to clean the accumulated junk/rust off of it, or it will slow down the process significantly.

Also, I find it helpful to remove the paint---down to bare metal----where the charger negative clip will attach. I use a small area on the raised lip where the rear tank rubber mounting pad goes. You want a good strong current to flow through the tank/solution, and good electrical "grounds" (both on the outer tank skin AND inside---which is why you clean the anode/coat hanger every so often) keeps those electrons flowing and that rust coming free!

Like RobsTV says, you won't believe how clean it will be. May sure you rinse the tank completely after you're done. You may end up with some solid material left afterwards. I just let it dry out and then use a turkey baster with an extension tube to get the last little bit of material.liquid out. Then use the Ospho (takes about 5 minutes, juts dump it in, swirl it around for a few minutes, and dump out). The use your turkey baster to suck out all of that liquid, too. Then I spray inside with WD40 or fogging oil. Now you're done---it was cheap, fun, you learned something new, and you're tank is completely rust free. Rock on.......

 

Here we use common table salt instead of washing soda.

"DANGER" fumes will be harmful and may cause injury or death!!! (I guess, if you are not very bright. Many cleaning products we use create toxic fumes, and this is no different. Do not put yourself in a position where you will breath in fumes).

One normal sized box of Morton in the water filled tank cleans it great at 10 amps in about an hour or two.

Start with 3/4 of the carton of salt premixed in bucket, pour salt water mixture into tank (petcock and sender removed and openings sealed), insert plastic funnel into fuel opening so rebar will not contact fuel opening, insert piece of rebar into funnel with plenty of electrical tape covering bottom (or any side portion that might come into contact with tank, attach charger (-) to rebar and tank filler cap mount (+), rebar will be resting on tank bottom and sticking out the top through funnel, stand back and plug in charger, hold breath while adding salt to bring charging amps near 10 amps. check every 15 to 30 minutes.

Take additional precautions as needed. Outdoors with a fan blowing fumes away from you might be a good idea. Don't be stupid. Use caution and common sense. Done in about an hour or two. Total cost about $2.00 for a piece of rebar and a carton of salt.

 

Well guys it's wurse than I thought. I started the cleanig process and I noticed my solution (laundry soda-thanks chacal) coming out and the longer the electrode was in the wurse it got so I stoped everything. After I cleaned the tank off I discovered dozens of holes. Needless to say at this point the tank is beyond repair. Fortianatly the guy Ibought the bike from has a 700 tank that might fit. So thanks for all the help.

 

I used the electolysis method on mine. One suggestion though, start of will a handful of 1/4 in nuts and about a cup of oil first. Shake the snot out of it. THis will remove most of the loose rust first. Flush it out with water several times. Then do the electrolysis. I found that a rubber bathtub stopper fit the fill hole perfectly (78 cents at WalMart) you will have to make up something to cover the petcock hole though.

 

Web Page Name

 

link to the XJ FAQ page which shows the saline method used by many

Also a lot of other good XJ info at the above page.

 

WoW ... I've never herd of cleaning a tank that way ... and I'm getting old!

 

Got a question about tank coating, so I'll just bump this thread.

I POR-15'd my tank about a year and a half ago, and all seemed well. Last August, I sort of had to abandon the bike (family emergency) and left a bit of gas in it. So a few weeks ago, I set up shop to clean out the carbs (again) and since it was winter figured I'd paint the tank, tail, and sidecovers. Took the sender, petcock and gas cap off the tank, shined a light in and low and behold, I can see a big peel! I run a long screwdriver in thru the sender hole, and there's another one!

I'm tempted to just try and sand the spots where its peeling, and just keep an eye on or change regularly the inline filter, but I'm also wondering if there are more spots I just don't/can't see. Can I use the electrolysis method now? or is it not an option because I coated with the POR-15?