Fuel Tank electrolysis

Hi All

Anyone tried this on a 550 tank for rust removal ? Can it be done with the petcock and sender in place ? I have teh 'ingredients' but first hurdle for me is seized Petcock screws...

Advice welcome.

JS

 

I used an impact driver bit, chucked into a 5/16 (or maybe a 3/8) inch socket and driver to remove these screws recently on a tank. Had to "bump" or "jolt" it a bit to get them out. Hopefully you haven't buggered up the screws too bad.

Obviously an impact driver might get the screws out, but you might dent the heck out of the tank.

As for electrolysis, I did it to my 750 tank after all of the hardware was out of it. I made my own blanking fitting out of some thin steel and used bicycle inner tube to seal. However, my tank flash rusted quickly once completed. You really have to coat the tank well when complete.

I had that same tank repainted, then washed it in phosphoric acid concrete Prep & Etch cleaner, and it removed all of the rust and prevented it from flash rusting. It's on the bike now and working wonderfully.

 

Thanks for the info..

I often wondered about the flash rust and how come they don't do that from new. Is it that a new tank has some kind of plating on it, or it it just they are never exposed to moisture..

JS

UPDATE - A bit more aggresion (hammer and chisel) got them freed plus removed the sender for a better view inside - and while rusty ( a camouflage of scabs) it seems not too bad for one that has seen action for over 12 years. Now thinking mechanical methods (1/2 gall of diesel and a handful of 6mm nuts) might be a good start..

 

So I'm doing electrolysis to my tank right now, and I just checked it out and there's no rust sticking to the rod where the positive charge is at. But there is rust and some goo collecting where the gas cap was at. It's only been on for about 6 hrs. Some questions.

Does anybody know what the green/black goo is? Should I be worried?

Is 1 amp too low for this? I'm using a 1 amp 12 volt manual battery charger.

I'll post pics tomorrow.

 

HI

I did attempt this myself in the end with a fair degree of success BUT you should be seeing the accumulation of gunk (green and black is what I saw initially on the steel anode and not your tank. Double check your connections or I fear for teh consequences. Note that the anode also gets 'eaten' with time.

1 A is I think OK - can't recall exactly what mine pulled but it wasn't much more and it did slope off with time - cleaning teh electrode periodically helps but turn off power to prevent shorts when removing.
I think in the end I ran mine for about 36 hrs. It could have used a change of electrolyte and another session I think but I was impatient - it got the worst of if off I'm fairly certain of that.

Good luck

James