Welding on steel Gas tank.

Purchased a New gas tank and have been very happy with the construction. After instal I went and filled to capacity. Next day came out to a small pool of gas. There is a small pin sized hole in one of the seems.

I have the means and ability to weld but am a bit hesitant when it comes to welding in the areas of combustible gases. Ive seen enough live bombs and would rather one not go off in my face.

Any suggestions on welding on a tank in the most positive fassion? I guess after draining it completely then what?

Thanks in advance,

Dave

The fumes are probably more dangerous.Water should displace the fumes?
Will whoever you got it from exchange it?

New tank? return it. You could remove it and us a tank sealer inside of it. You could weld ,or silver solder it.
Drain take ,remove,wash many times with a high detergent soap. Drain let air dry. Sniff, if you smell gas, wash again. Some people will tell you to fill the tank with as much water as possible when you are about to weld. This is a good idea as long as it wont stop heat penitration. thery is less room for vapor= less boom!

Good luck

I had exactly the same thing happen to me . I just used some of that gas tank repair putty and painted it over when it dried completly.

That was a few years back and its holding on strong. I didn't like the idea of welding on a tank that had gas in it. Even if I filled it with water, it might have been OK but the putty works well.

Good luck....

Run a hose from another vechile's exhaust into the filler neck of the tank, start the vechile and let idle 15-20 minutes. The heat will evaporate all the gas and the exhaust will fill the tank with inert (non-explosive) gases. Do welding as soon as you stop purging.

Doyle said:

Run a hose from another vechile's exhaust into the filler neck of the tank, start the vechile and let idle 15-20 minutes. The heat will evaporate all the gas and the exhaust will fill the tank with inert (non-explosive) gases. Do welding as soon as you stop purging.

Click to expand...

What about the unburned fuel = BOOM = no more silverbullet.

The old hot rod mod was a spark plug at the tail pipe to ignite the unburned fuel to get a flame coming out.

Just doesn't sound right but, I have been wrong before.

Whatever you do, PLEASE, let me get my camera first.

Not done it myself. Watched it done several times by local Dragster fabricator to weld sumps on gas tanks. He's been at it doing it for 25-30 years. Maybe he's lucky, or maybe he knows something we don't.

I fixed a small hole in my tank with the putty gas tank repair 20 years ago and it is still holding. I have also used the exaust hose in the tank method to cut the ends out of about 50- 100lb propane bottles without any trouble.

I did some solder work on a rotted out gas tank many years ago when I was invincible. My Dad had a good running VW. Good running is mandatory. I taped up one pipe and hooked up a garden hose to the other exhaust pipe and ran it into the tank. I ran it for about 30 minutes, maybe longer. I got a little flash out of the neck of the tank when I first started. After I changed my underwear (not really) I put a coat of lead all over the bottom of the tank pin holes and all. It never leaked and I never did another one.

Rinsing it out with water will get some of the gas out but if you can smell gas it will still go boom. Actually it will go boom even if you can't smell it unless you fill it with an inert gas. My advice, don't mess with it unless you use JB Weld or some other material that is made to fix gas tanks. The other option is take it to a radiator shop. A lot of them fix gas tanks if they are not coated. A radiator fixed a leak in my rear tank.

Return it for a new one.

OR take it to a radiator shop and let them fix it.

i relocated th stock filler neck on mine & sealed up the old neck hole & return line hole also welded mounting tabs on the side. drained tank, filled with soapy water, rinse repeat. no fumes no problem.

Whether you wash it or not, whether you can smell gas or not you have to purge it with a shielding gas like 75/25 or nitrogen at a minimum this will give you a non-explosive blanket. Personally if you aren't comfortable doing it just exchange it or take it to a pro. The JB Weld will work just fine too.

Call the vendor and give them the option of either exchanging it for a new one or allow them to set up the payment plan for someone else to weld it up. That way if something goes terribly wrong then it is their fault not yours. If you burp that tank then it isn't exchangable.

If you have an extra co2 bottle lying around just plumb the bottle into the empty tank and plug up all the leaks with rags or whatever you can find to stop the gas from escaping. Let it sit with the gas running through it for a few minutes. The co2 is an inert gas and it's is all that is needed to stop you from blowing yourself up.

Put some jb weld in the pin hole!

drain it take the big hose loose the vent hose loose (its gotta get some air)........ stick a shop vac in it (small vac hose even better it can get air around it)... let run till.... DRY.....DRY!......(leave it runnin....you could run it for hours or even overnite if you want GET IT DRY!!!!) .....weld it!.......remove vac........put hoses on and fill er up........If you put water in it you then get to get the water out! Gas aint gonna make fumes if its dry....... your still pumpin em out.....and if it just a pin hole youll weld for about 2 seconds

NO FUMES NO BOOM!(THIS VERY IMPORTANT)
Remember smelling where gas was and gas FUMES are two different things!

ONE MORE TIME GET IT DRY!

Doyle is correct about the putting the hose from another running vehicle in the tank, Co repalces o2, no o2 no boom i have welded many tanks this way only after draining the tank and letting it air out several days first.

What ever you do don't use a shop vac sparks from the vac motor will cause a serious boom. A man at a local marina was using a vac in the bottom of his houseboat this past summer next to the gas tanks it exploded killing him and his family

I relocated the filler neck on my gas tank. Just filled it with water and welded away.

Welding on steel gas tank

I had bought an aftermarket tank previous to the new Bronco tank that had the same problem so I checked the Bronco tank with air and soapy water before I installed it. It had 8 leaks. two of wich would have definately leaked fuel.

I have welded on many old tanks top install sumps, put on brakets, seal leakes etc.

DO NOT PUT CAR EXHAUST IN IT. EVEN THOUGH CARBON DIOXIDE AND WATER ARE NOT COMBUSTIBLE, AUTO EXHAUST ALSO CONTAINS UNBURNED HYDROCARBONS AND CARBON MONOXIDE, BOTH WILL EXPLODE IN THE RIGHT CONCENTRATIONS. If you doubt this talk to any of us old guys who use to put spark plugs in our exhaust to shoot flames. Yes EFI autos are less of a problem but do not take the chance.

DO NOT JUST FILL IT WITH WATER. IT COMPRESSES THE FUEL VAPOR AND AIR INTO ANY VOID YOU MAY NOT HAVE NOTICED.

Sometimes you get lucky, I know a guy that welded on one with fuel in it. He was below the liquid line. Do not do it. I also know a guy that filled a jeep tank with water when he was in the army and blew out a window in the motorpool because the fuel vapor and air mixed in the top of the tank. My dad.

You can wash it with dish washing detergent and water but in the end you still have to get it dry.

Get it dry. Run a shop or small fan INTO it. Pressurize the tank slightly and just let it run. Set it out in the sun while it runs. It has to be dry. As any chemical engineer will tell you it has to be at the right fuel air ratio to explode, just like your combustion chamber. what you are doing it making sure it is too lean to explode. It can also be too rich to explode by the way.

We normally let the fan or shop vac run for a while after we have visually made sure they are dry. Then we try to light the air leaving the tank with one of those propane barbeque lighters or a cutting torch. That is why we pressurize it. That and you really do not want combustible gasses passing through the fan or shop vac. If the out going air does not light and the tank is dry you are most likely safe. If the outgoing air does light the pressurized tank keeps the flame from backing up into the tank, but I have never been able to light the airstream when I make sure the tank is dry and run the fan through it an hour or so after I see it is dry.

Get it dry, and get behind something when you first put the flame to it.

You really should call the guy that made it and make him fix it.