Alan:  How did you dispose of the Lye Water??  80 Gallons is a lot!!

DM&FS

At 09:38 PM 8/9/2008, Allan Streib wrote:
>I had very good results at removing the rust from my fuel tank using
>the electrolytic method.
>
>For explantion, google or see here....
>
>   http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/andyspatch/rust.htm
>
>I had just about decided to buy a new tank when I discovered this
>method.  I had already tried cleaning the tank with a wire brush,
>naval jelly, and paint stripper, the latter of which was fairly
>expensive and none of which worked very well.
>
>For the reaction tank, I built a wooden crate big enough to hold the
>gas tank vertically, with a few inches all the way around, and lined
>it with a single sheet of heavy poly film (sold in rolls for use as a
>moisture barrier, etc).
>
>For the electrolyte, I tried to find washing soda but was
>unsuccessful.  I used lye (NaOH), sold as drain cleaner.  Careful with
>this stuff, it's nasty in its pure solid form.  It does not take a lot
>to get the reaction going.  I used about half of a 16oz bottle added
>to about 70 - 80 gallons of water in my tank.
>
>I used some scraps of steel "strap" that I had lying around for the
>anode material, and a battery charger on the 2 amp setting for the
>power source.  I used 4 anodes, one on each side of the crate.
>Probably would have been good to have one on the bottom and top as
>well, but I thought it would be easier to just rotate the tank a
>quarter of a turn about halfway through the process.
>
>I let it sit, energized, overnight and today found that all the rust
>had been removed, and the paint/undercoating had been loosened
>wherever there was rust bubbling underneath, and it scraped easily
>away.  I removed the loosened paint with a putty knife and went over
>the whole tank with a wire brush and it looks really good, no rust to
>be seen anywhere.  There is of course some pitting in the surface
>where the rust WAS, but this process did remove all the rusty metal.
>
>Next steps are a good coat of rust-oleum primer, then a top coat of
>rust-oleum paint, and then a spray coat of automobile undercoating.
>
>Just thought I'd share this, for anyone wanting to remove rust this
>seems like a really good way to do it...
>
>It was still a lot of work, and somewhat messy, but all in all I think
>it was easier, cheaper, and much more effective than manual
>scraping/wire brushing, or chemical strippers.
>
>Was it worth it compared to the cost of a new tank?  Probably not if I
>consider my time, but on that basis nobody should own a Vanagon
>anyway.
>
>Allan
>--
>1991 Vanagon GL