Stripping Tanks

SeaJay · June 27th, 2006, 03:33 AM

Thought I'd share a little, just in case it can help someone else... I had to learn the hard way, sandblasting, elbow-greasing, shot-peening, Dremel-tooling, and using a variety of chemicals, all of which fell really, really short... I finally found the magic stuff:

http://www.autotoolmart.com/cgi-bin/...39&p_catid=295

Here is it in a gallon size:

http://www.autotoolmart.com/cgi-bin/...40&p_catid=295

Today's stripping of a tank - which consisted of removing the clearcoat off of a Luxfer S080 (notoriously the worst of tanks to strip) took about 5 minutes' worth of work.

I removed my valve and inserted an old yoke valve which I can afford to ruin if I want to. I brushed the stuff on (I haven't tried the spray-on) and left the tank to sit for half an hour. When I came back, everything just hosed off. I did it a second time just to be sure - and presto, the tank looks brand new.

For kicks, I also used a little coarse steel wool (brass wool would have been better) to remove some of the spots of corrosion that had begun to form under the paint (from salt water getting trapped - paint is evil stuff).

My stage bottles - which from the outset have been paint-free - get a once-a-year brush with a little steel wool to keep them shiny and new-looking. Of course, these are aluminum tanks - someone else will have to chime in on whether or not you should do this with steels.

For those of you thinking about stripping your tanks... Definitely do it, and save yourself the pain - do it with this stuff!

dlegros · June 27th, 2006, 08:34 AM

So that stuff is guaranteed to remove any stubborn aircraft then? :D

Dom

SeaJay · June 27th, 2006, 08:58 AM

Heh... Apparently. I read the label and thought the same thing. I will tell you this, though - no matter what the label says, the stuff works wonders. I had some luck with other products as well, but nothing like that.

The instructions say to brush it on in one direction and let it sit for anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes - I found the clearcoat on my tanks bubbling up in a matter of five minutes or less. Additional brushing actually took the clearcoat off with the brush alone. Letting it sit for 30 minutes didn't seem to have any additional effect - in fact, I think that long actually began to make everything dry out. Since you'd want to hose it off wet, that was actually a bad thing.

Brush it on THICK - and don't get it on your hands - it burns in a matter of a minute or less. Rubber gloves would be best, although I was able to slop it on without getting but a drop or two on me, and rinsing it off of my skin immediately with a garden hose worked fine. The stuff is totally water soluble, so it's easy to work with and comes off without a fuss.

So I would brush it on thick, let it sit for about 10 or 15 minutes, and hose it off, then reapply. There was nothing but clean metal with almost no agitation necessary. What little agitation I did was with a paint brush - I mean, the whole process was effortless.

Interestingly, the VIP sticker I had on my tanks was eaten right through. I didn't even have to take that off... The stuff did the work great.

The only real work was what I did afterwards with the steel wool - just to try to remove any corroded spots that the paint had caused by keeping salt water against the tank... And even that was pretty easy and painless.

After rinsing and letting dry, I replaced the valve and replaced the VIP sticker - job done. Not even one beer's worth of work.

June 27th, 2006, 03:33 AM	#1 (permalink)
SeaJay(Offline) New Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Beaufort, SC, USA Posts: 162	Stripping Tanks Thought I'd share a little, just in case it can help someone else... I had to learn the hard way, sandblasting, elbow-greasing, shot-peening, Dremel-tooling, and using a variety of chemicals, all of which fell really, really short... I finally found the magic stuff: http://www.autotoolmart.com/cgi-bin/...39&p_catid=295 Here is it in a gallon size: http://www.autotoolmart.com/cgi-bin/...40&p_catid=295 Today's stripping of a tank - which consisted of removing the clearcoat off of a Luxfer S080 (notoriously the worst of tanks to strip) took about 5 minutes' worth of work. I removed my valve and inserted an old yoke valve which I can afford to ruin if I want to. I brushed the stuff on (I haven't tried the spray-on) and left the tank to sit for half an hour. When I came back, everything just hosed off. I did it a second time just to be sure - and presto, the tank looks brand new. For kicks, I also used a little coarse steel wool (brass wool would have been better) to remove some of the spots of corrosion that had begun to form under the paint (from salt water getting trapped - paint is evil stuff). My stage bottles - which from the outset have been paint-free - get a once-a-year brush with a little steel wool to keep them shiny and new-looking. Of course, these are aluminum tanks - someone else will have to chime in on whether or not you should do this with steels. For those of you thinking about stripping your tanks... Definitely do it, and save yourself the pain - do it with this stuff!

June 27th, 2006, 08:34 AM	#2 (permalink)
dlegros(Offline) 20% Ninja 80% Rebel Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Birmingham Posts: 245	So that stuff is guaranteed to remove any stubborn aircraft then? :D Dom __________________ Dom I reject your reality and substitute my own DIR-RA

June 27th, 2006, 08:58 AM	#3 (permalink)
SeaJay(Offline) New Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Beaufort, SC, USA Posts: 162	Heh... Apparently. I read the label and thought the same thing. I will tell you this, though - no matter what the label says, the stuff works wonders. I had some luck with other products as well, but nothing like that. The instructions say to brush it on in one direction and let it sit for anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes - I found the clearcoat on my tanks bubbling up in a matter of five minutes or less. Additional brushing actually took the clearcoat off with the brush alone. Letting it sit for 30 minutes didn't seem to have any additional effect - in fact, I think that long actually began to make everything dry out. Since you'd want to hose it off wet, that was actually a bad thing. Brush it on THICK - and don't get it on your hands - it burns in a matter of a minute or less. Rubber gloves would be best, although I was able to slop it on without getting but a drop or two on me, and rinsing it off of my skin immediately with a garden hose worked fine. The stuff is totally water soluble, so it's easy to work with and comes off without a fuss. So I would brush it on thick, let it sit for about 10 or 15 minutes, and hose it off, then reapply. There was nothing but clean metal with almost no agitation necessary. What little agitation I did was with a paint brush - I mean, the whole process was effortless. Interestingly, the VIP sticker I had on my tanks was eaten right through. I didn't even have to take that off... The stuff did the work great. The only real work was what I did afterwards with the steel wool - just to try to remove any corroded spots that the paint had caused by keeping salt water against the tank... And even that was pretty easy and painless. After rinsing and letting dry, I replaced the valve and replaced the VIP sticker - job done. Not even one beer's worth of work.