Solder a vent tube on a C1 gas tank?

[Larry P.]

My new gas tank vent tube connection solder is cracked. The connector on the new tank was such that in order to slide the hose on, the tube needed to be bent up away from the tank. (Bubba might have a job building gas tanks)
There is about a gallon of gas in the tank. I believe I could probably heat the solder enough to make a good seal with out a problem using an iron or even a torch. Logic tells me not. I could use JB weld or a sealer of some kind but I would like to do it right.

1. Torch it and melt the solder
2. Use an Iron and heat it enough to make the seal
3. JB weld
4. some other sort of sealer
5. Empty the tank and fill it with water
6. Duct tape
If the vote is for number 1 and you don't see any more posts from me,
you can send email and my wife might have some misc 60 parts for sale.
What do you think?

[Joe L.]

Re: Solder a vent tube on a C1 gas tank?

Larry-----

ABSOLUTELY FORGET using ANY heat source around a tank with gasoline (or, even, just gasoline fumes) in it. I wouldn't use a soldering iron; I wouldn't use a torch; I wouldn't use anything hot under these conditions. If you are going to use a hot solder repair then you ABSOLUTELY MUST take EXTENSIVE precautions to evacuate all gasoline and fumes from the tank. Filling the tank with water would do this. The problem is that if the tank is completely filled with water it's going to be difficult to solder since the water will act as a massive heat sink and draw the heat of the torch away from the solder site.

A JB Weld repair will work well if you do it right. Make sure the area to which the JB Weld is applied is roughened and scrupulously clean. Under these conditions the JB Weld will produce a joint as strong or stronger than a conventional solder joint.

[Clem Z.]

empty the tank and put in dry ice

before you try any torch work. i watched from a distance as a fellow put a torch to a gas tank that had been washed out with hot water. the large fuel gauge opening was facing down towards the floor and as he applied the torch to the tank it went 6/8 feet in the air and since the fellow with the torch had on dark glasses he woundered where the tank went. good thing it did not hit him on the way down.

[Chuck R.]

Re: Don't go there!!

Hey Larry,

For those who think that an electric soldering gun around gasoline is safe, believe me IT'S NOT!

When the trigger is pulled, there is a chance of the gun arcing internally. Add gas fumes that go everywhere.....well you get the picture.

JB Weld is about your only hope on this one if you don't want to pull the tank and have it professionally repaired.

Chuck

[Wayne K.]

Gas fumes tend to hang around....

like when you let the little woman know you've had one too many burritos.

[Mike M.]

Re: Don't go there!!

reminds me of an event that occured about 25 years ago. a guy gave me a 2000 gallon ex-gasoline storage tank that had pin holes in it. i wanted to cut the ends out of it and use it for a culvert here on the farm. my uncle, cousin and i , all mthree of us wearing our Bubba hats that day, decided to torch out the ends. course we knew there were fumes within the tank. we chained the tank vertically to a real big sycamore tree down by the creek. we thought we were out of sight of the wives. not so. we took a long piece of cotton rope, dippped in gas, inserted one end in the tank and the other end about 50 feet distant and then got behind another equally large sycamore. it took quite a while for the burning rope to reach the tank but when it did, the tank started to lift off(from mother earth). the chains and sycamore held but the tank made about a revolution around the tree before it was all over. cut the ends out unevenfuly , placed the culvert in a feeder stream to the large creek going thru the farm. next springs floods took the tank way downstream. wives still pissed when the tank discussed-- they witnessed the whole abortion. however, all three wtill puttin up with our shenanegans. mike

[Chuck R.]

Re: Or your Buddy in the ice shanty *NM*

[Wayne K.]

Hey, you lived to tell. What more could you ask *NM*

[Terry M.]

Re: Hey, you lived to tell. What more could you as

Well, I think he would prefer not to hear about the incident with regularity from Lea. On the other hand, mentioning it here will guarantee frequent reference at NCRS meets. Mike, how much of The Beast had you consumed before that stunt? I can guess how much afterward.

[Mike M.]

Re: Hey, you lived to tell. What more could you as

big mike, gary and i awoke that summer morning at the foot of the cross, having treated our bodies like the temples they were at the time. we may have had a Beast or two thereafter. please don't bring up the ICBM gas tank when lea is about. her discourse to follow might bring on beast repeat.mikie

[Terry F.]

Re: Solder a vent tube on a C1 gas tank?

There are ways of soldering it. It should only be done by professionals and I am not sure where you find people to do this sort of thing.

You can wash it till the cows come home and you will never get the fumes out of it (will still explode). Once, I washed a small tank out really really good and it still exploded. Thank God it was such a small tank (lawn mower repair). After it exploded (spit down the seems) I thought, "Heck, I'll try fixing it anyways!" You know what, it exploded again. So, the fumes reacumulated. I learned the hard way and lived to tell about it. If you want another good story that involes the wife and my leaf burning experience just ask. The moral of the story is that gas is not to be played with.

A professional will wash it and fill it with an inert gas to displace the fumes. Then it is safe to work with. But, professionals only. I like the JB weld idea or just buy a new tank. It would probably be a bearcat to solder on somthing that old and make it reliable. Gooooooooooood luck with whatever you do. Terry

[Joe Maulsby]

Re: Solder a vent tube on a C1 gas tank?

Larry, I am a consultant in the environmental business and have witnessed many underground storage tanks be rendered inert by UST removal contractors. They start with a rinse out using Simple Green and water, then place dry ice into the UST. The CO2 displaces the air and fumes out of the tank as the dry ice evaporates.

[Michael H.]

Re: Solder a vent tube on a C1 gas tank?

Here's one that works. I've never actually done this myself but I've watched many dealer mechanics do it over the years. (from a distance) With the tank removed and empty, they run an exhaust hose from the tailpipe of a running car, into the large opening of the tank. After allowing the exhaust to displace all of the oxygen in the tank, they solder or weld with no problem. I guess there's no possibility of combustion without oxygen. After watching several successful repairs done this way, I finally believed it worked. (I still won't try it myself tho)

[Wayne K.]

Terry, ever hear the phrase "third times a charm" *NM*

[Terry F.]

Re: Terry, ever hear the phrase "third times a cha

You are probably right about the third time thing. When I look back at the things I have done without regard to safty, I am humbled.

I remember growing up around people smoking hand roled cigarettes and washing parts in a solvent tank filled with mixtures of gas and anything else that would disolve grease.

I once watched a drunk guy who had a glass eyeball bend over a 50 gallon barrel of scrap iron. His eye fell out and into the barrel. He just dug it out and stuck it back in his eye socket. Those were the days growing up in rural Nebraska. The human experience....I was probably 5 years old.

Terry