Electrolysis would have worked better if you would have capped off the gas tank and filled only the gas tank with the water solution. Then dangled a chain down the fill hole as the anode. Would have concentrated the action to only the inside of the tank.
Yup, immediately saw the problem with the blue tank setup... he wants to clean the inside, it has to be done internally. Electrolysis is a 'line of sight' action. The electricity runs the shortest path. Shopdogsam has a good demonstration on this.
I would think that just having an electrode internal of the tank even while submerged like that might have taken care of the inside of the tank. Just a bit of rebar through an insulator hanging down into the center of the tank.
That a Genius Matt Strapping the Gas tank to a tractor Wheel using Chains and Filling with nuts and bolts in it and Just driving the tractor and letting the wheel Do the Shaking and Cleaning Work and using the Concrete Mixer i will need to get a Concrete mixer Now Matt lots of ways to Clean metal and Be Creative 1:00 @Diesel Creek
You don’t understand Russian, I don’t understand English, but I watch your videos and am delighted with your videos, how much technology you have, how much enthusiasm you have. And I translated this text through a google translator, so that at least somehow you would understand me. Sorry if Google translate something wrong
Electrolysis works Amazing for Cleaning Metal As well as Plating Metal With other Metals Like Gold and silver and Chrome Plating or Even Other metals and minerals Matt 8:00 @Diesel Creek
Next time you have a tank to clean out, try tumbling it with gravel (crushed stone with lots of sharp edges) instead of nuts and bolts. It is abrasive like sand blasting and works a lot better. BTW, I agree with others. Put the anode inside the tank for best results with electrolysis.
I ran concrete mixers, the first thing is teach the guys never to hit the drum to remove stuck on concrete. As your say newly crushed gravel is best, plus add a few soft bricks for extra weight and impact. After mixing a load on concrete or mortar, leave the mixer running a while with some sand or stone and some water before shutting it off. Do a full clean at the end of shift.
Wish you had mentioned the electrolysis earlier! The electrolysis can not clean surfaces that are "shielded" by other elements connected to the same voltage. In order to clean the inside of that tank, you would need to put the sacrificial electrode inside.
@@DieselCreek Forget electrolysis. It's too hit and miss. Just make a 70/30 bath of water to vinegar and leave it a week. That's a weak solution but stronger is better. I use that to clean axe heads that have been buried in the ground for 50 years so that should tell you how effective it is.
Question: If you can not get scale and rust out of the tank while you are trying different methods...then it seems logical that you would not get scale and rust while in use. Put two filters in a row and use the tank now. Occasionally check the first fuel filter...and get on with your life.
I had a fuel tank from a Cub Cadet that was coated with a layer of crud from a full tank of evaporated gas. No solvent would touch it including MEK or Acetone. I read that expensive tank cleaning solutions used phosphoric acid so I filled the tank with Coke Classic and let it sit. It took it down to bare metal after soaking for 3 days!
In school I was a grill cook. Burgers, ham and cheese, grilled cheese, eggs, bacon, potatoes etc. Our cleaning routing was diet sprite. Took it to metal and we had to season it over and over, but that grill was sparkling.
With Electrolysis your going to wa t to do it Several Times When using Laundry soap. BEST WAY to do it Matt would Be using Actual Chemicals With the Electrolysis but You would Need to Use Chemistry and Specific Minerals And Ingredients to do so Matt 14:00 @Diesel Creek
Your first coat of spray paint (whether with a gun or a rattle can) should be so light that it looks like accidental overspray. The second coat should be so light that it doesn't completely cover. The third coat is when you finally get complete coverage. I've been painting things for years this way with excellent results. 👍👍
We took our old rusty gas tanks to the raditor shop where they would clean the inside and then apply a liquid plasticote material that would seal rust etc to the tank and thus be good for our clean fuel. Tank would be rough inside but rust was encapsulated. Worked great. Done deal!
New battery Chargers are smart chargers So that is why they need To see battery voltage to charge the. But there is a way to trick a smart charger into thinking there is battery voltage and force smart chargers To Run by Adding a good Battery Or 12 volt sorce IN Line with the charger to make it think the bad battery is good and should work fine. Harbor Freight still Sells The Mechanical Chargers Matt As Well as Napa Does Also Just go to napa And ask For a 12 and 24v 250 Amp Jumper and Charger That is Not a Smart Charger Hope the information Helps Matt.. 9:30 @Diesel Creek
I like that this guy is learning the same way alot of us do: watch RUclips videos and read articles on the internet. Always a good video and entertaining.
So I learned same thing you did about electrolysis in the comments. White vinegar outa the jug in the tank soak for 24 hrs. Then add your chains n bolts to put on the mixer might have done same thing. 5% acid content, 2$ a gallon at the dollar store. I've cleaned steel with it before, it's suprising what it does. Basically soak n scrub with abrasive dishwashing scrunchie thingie. I've also used dead battery acid on sheet metal tanks. The trick there is not to just flush it. Use a baking soda to neutralize the acid before you empty it. It will be effervescent so don't cap it. After foaming stops empty and flush. Battery acid will keep eating all the non submerged parts of the tank without neutralizing it. Even with flushing, what others have told me. I've had excellent results that way too. Thanks for sharing
I did this method before and used epsom salt, just an idea. Everyone has their method, and most often it’s based on what you have on hand and being realistic. In the Navy on my ship I had a huge ultrasonic tank for cleaning reduction gear filters...on a duty day my buddy brought in a motorcycle tank from a crusty old Honda he was rebuilding. We filled the ultrasonic cleaner with feed water (very clean distilled water) and kind of forgot we put the motorcycle tank inside, as the duty day took our attention on to other issues. After evening chow we went down to the filter shop after it running for hours (I’d be lying if I said how long, but it was hours) oh that tank was sparkling CLEAN, looked brand new, even his paint came off in one giant piece. Not many people have a 100 gallon ultrasonic cleaner in their garage though...do what you gotta do.
11:42 occasionally cleaning your sacrificial metal with a hose and bristle brush will speed up the process. Suspending a piece of sacrificial steel down into the tank is the only real way to clean the inside.
Matt, get yourself an inspection cam, like the ones used to inspect water damage in a wall. You will be able to film the dark recesses of the insides things like this tank.
Pausing at 3:30 my initial thoughts on cleaning the inside of something that large and dirty by electrolysis are thus-: Firstly I'd clean and paint the entire outside of it with something to insulate that part so your amperage isn't wasted on the bit that doesn't matter & secondly I'd want to have the thing submerged in a tank large enough to have it upright with the neck at the top. Also it'd probably work faster/better if you were able to somehow put your anode plates inside the tank without them touching the sides since it works best "line of sight"...
A few people suggested adjusting our paint spray gun on cardboard before spraying end items. For that task I use discarded cardboard bicycle crates. They cut apart into large pieces and are free at bike shops.
There is a very easy way to remember about Stalagtites and Stalagmites. Stalactites grow down -- they have to "hang on tight". Stalagmites grow upwards. They need the "might to grow upwards".
Found this Video today. I think, one of the best adresses to ask fighting against rust might be Mustie 1 on YT. Every time, I see him starting new projekts, they are crusty, crispy and rusty in the begining, at the End he wins. Sorry for bad english, I'm a german guy. Greetings from Germany Jo
You definitely have the right idea with the electrolysis. Electricity takes the the shortest path that has the least resistance and flows from neg to pos. That sounds a little counterintuitive, but the reason it flows like that is because negatively charged electrons are smaller and move easier than the positively charged protons. The idea is to remove a small layer of metal from the inside of the tank and by removing that layer it takes the rust with it. Your cathode, the negative lead, is connected to the tank and your anode, the positive lead, needs to be connected to the metal rod rod and placed IN but not touching the tank for the shortest path with the least resistance. If you insulate the the wire where they connect to the anode and cathode it will reduce the amount of corrosion to them or just make sure the wire connections are not in the water.
Unrelated by your shop cut maybe 20 5in trees x 10 notch the ends withhave anih hhh H ,,,h - chainend do yo will Yodo wt. saw hook together with cable clip each end do when muddy you will have a nice wash pad
Any time you buy fuel from any gas stations, there is some water in that fuel, specially in winter time I use bottle of HEET fuel additive regularly to dissolve water in the fuel tank, it works pretty good and it's cheap
Just a quick spray painting tip. Before you shoot the paint on your prepared work piece, use a piece of scrap cardboard to test and adjust the sprayer setup. When you first pull trigger and some blob of unwanted material comes out, it will not spoil your work piece. This test method also provides an opportunity to adjust paint and air flow to optimum. Nice job cleaning the tank.
@@localcrew Correct you are. I have four toads that live in my garage. Each one hangs out in their respective corner until evening then they come out and help me get rid of bugs.
On a lot of railroad track equipment we rebuild we get some really bad tanks and we fill em with Evaporust and BBs. Strap it to a BBQ spit and let it sit there a few days. Comes out super clean. Then we add Kreem and spin em again.
I definitely would have opted for the electrolysis seems like a pretty good method ...works pretty good for me in the past just make sure you got a nice old battery charger for it...these new ones don't work right for me
As mentioned, the newer ones dont work without modifications, but an old computer powersupply works well with minor modifications, or pick up a variable voltage power supply with current limiting- cheaper than a new battery charger and works perfectly for electrolysis work (and yes, if you wanted the inside cleaned, you needed to have an electrode inside, insulated from the tank!
@@cdouglas1942 same! That's why I started branching out to others like Diesel Creek. But I'll be honest, the first AC video I watched he was pushing a dump truck with a trailer on the back up a hill using an excavator in idle. Then he jumped out and ran up to the dump truck to park it on the road. THEN ran back to deal with the excavator. I said in my head, then commented on the video, "This guy is an idiot!" But I kept watching and now I truly understand what a genius he really is!
@@morgan0179 Its hard not to watch Andrew and not develop some genuine affection for the guy. His frequency has dropped off a little with the work on the Castle expansion and I imagine COVID has but the kibosh on work availability.
it is a bit frustrating to see how AC is sucessfull with everything, so diesel Geek serves as the reality thing where you see all the unsuccessful and sometimes really stupid mistakes. It takes balls to publish all your failures and total fault of physical knowledge on YT
I've cleaned more than one rusty and cruded tank. I just use sand with some bluestone mixed in. Works every time. I clean my chains the same way putting the bluestone and sand in my mixer and then putting in the chain. Works just like a sandblaster without the work and mess.
I saw Marty t do the electrolysis thing on a big drive chain. It seemed to work good for him. I prefer the muraic acid thing. It’s no joke, but it works. I was using it once to get and get some alum piston debris from a chainsaw cylinder. I left a cap of of on my bench for a couple hours. Came back and all the tools and metal that were close had rusted over. Crazy stuff.
I just use Molasses, easiest and cheapest way to clean rust and contamination. No worries about eating holes in it. I have a 44 gallon plastic tank full of it mixed with about 5 parts water to one part molasses (feed molasses from sugar cane) and everything from motorbike frames, springs, wheels has been cleaned in it. Can leave the part in it 7 days to 6 months. Just washes off with water to clean parent metal. I will do my own vid on it one day.
I third this. I've done metal fuel tanks in the past and you have to fill the tank with premixed water and washing soda first. Then suspend a diode in the fill cap and attach the negative somewhere at the base. The farther away from the diode the better. It will likely overflow with schmoo so you dont really want to do this on a tank with a nice paint job on the outside.
I've used muratic acid to clean out a rusty marine exhaust manifold and you really need to avoid those strong fumes. They can seriously burn your lungs.
I did clean old horseshoe with baking soda solution. 12V didn't work best and I ended up using 20V battery charger but I was dealing with huge rust blob with the horseshoe inside. Good luck with your project.
Thank you Matt, that is something I will keep in mind as I have ran across that same problem on an old garden tractor. The only thing I could consider was sandblasting and that would create too many other problems.I chose not to pursue the project any further instead.
If the tank is really nasty I use lye for electrolysis. I cleaned a tank from my 1970 Charger that had 30 year old junk gas in it and plenty of rust. Had to solder several rust holes but it has been good for 10 years now. Used a inner coating to seal it. I first used this technique in 1984 on an old ATC 90 I was given. That tank is still good today. You can use the new battery changer as long as you put a battery in parallel with your electrode- just make sure you have a circuit breaker. A pressure washer speeds up the process if you clean off loose rust after a few hours.
Next time dealing with rust try vinegar, usually three or four bottles from most dollar type store or vinegar by the gallon jug at most supermarkets. Also coating the inside of metal fuel tanks definitely a good choice.
Your biggest mistake was placing the tank into the bucket, before making turning the water into electrolyte - unlikely that much electrolysis will went on in the inside.
Tim from Canada if you want to dry out the inside of the tank or anything you can use a leaf blower if you’re worried about. The size of your tags you can go to the hardware store and buy PVC pipe and stick that into your tank then hook up your leaf blower it will dry the inside of your day. You can use A leaf blower with the cord and leave it plugged in for as long as you want or use a battery power this way you know when the battery went out you might need to recheck it again
Faced with a similar problem, I put both pea gravel and 1" gravel in the tank. Strapped it to the side of my tractor tire. While cutting 5 acres the rotation of the gravel in the tank knocked out all the rust.
Helpful video. Shows exactly what not to do. "Sacrificial" metal in line of sight...anode/cathode in line of sight. So...sacrificial rod inside the tank.
When using acid, make sure your gloves are butyl rubber. The hydrogen ions will pass straight through the pores in latex/nitrile gloves. Goggles are also a good idea. You don't want acid in your eyes. Remember to neutralise the acid solution when done; don't just pour it down the drain. If you paint from top-to-bottom, small runs get covered over as you paint.
epoxy fiberglass resin works well. pour into tank use as lil hardner as possible to still have it set up fully. seal tank. roll tank slowly in all directions will coat the entire inside.
My dad made an anode out of a hunk of threaded rod and stuck it through a cap from a paint can with a nut on top to stop it from dropping through. Set that down into the filler hole on the tank. Filled tank with salty water and hooked it up. I think that helped attack the inside more because my tank was very clean inside after that
The best most successful electrolysis tank i built was 50 gallon plastic barrel with a full sheet of galvanized hardware cloth wrapped around the inside perimeter of the tank and sticking out of the water a few inches on top but touching the bottom and a couple bricks on the bottom to set your piece that needs cleaning. Then hook your negative clip from the charger to the hardware cloth, then the positive to the piece and set it to 3 amps, then sprinkle the powder over the piece so it charges with energy and attaches itself to the piece. I Use Sodium bisulfate (PH Decreaser) pool cleaner that you can get from Amazon.com and it works much faster. After about 5 hours you should take the piece out and pressure wash off the loose scale then rest it in the tank and start over so the charge doesn't get insulated from the surface silt buildup. Don't let the piece you are cleaning touch the negative charge diode (wire mesh). I Clean cast iron pots and pans, and tractor engine blocks and parts for old Farmalls that i rebuild and customize.
One day I mentioned a double wide mobile home for your place in the forest.You said your wife would never go for it. Look on you tube at chance's mobile home world and let her look at what they are now days. Construction is as good as a stick built house now and they are beautiful.
Don't worry about the paint to much. I had a painter varnish two big rural church doors and prior to varnishing he asked that all outside lights not be turned in until the next day. Everyone forgot about the high pressure sodium light though. In the morning we could have had 10 million bugs stuck to those front doors as the light was directly over those doors. I paid the paint a full second cost to redo and we taped off the breaker for that light.
Vinegar works very well. fill it up, put it in a warm spot and check it every 2 or 3 days. you'll end up with a lot of black stuff so afterwards jut put some gravel in there and shake it around for a bit
What they said about line of sight on electrolysis. I never had luck using metallic items for tumbling. What I found was superior to nuts / bolts etc. was Gravel. I've had very good results tumbling with gravel.
I think the tank rust problem will return due to the hole in the fuel cap and location of the tank being exposed to the elements. The daily outdoor temperature swings and sun exposure cause air (and moisture) to be pumped into the tank which condenses into liquid water. I would suggest adding a separate vent line to the side of the fill pipe and route it down under the tank somewhere. Plug off the hole in the cap. Parking it inside your shop should help too.
Really enjoyed this and your other videos too, keep em coming.
Muriatic acid not bad safety glasses/googles a must but hands plenty of water to rinse best if no rubber gloves but water to dilute it needed on hand. We use it all the time to clean screens in water wells an it is inert when we are done and the wells sanitized ,just use it correctly !
When i tumble tanks I use 7/17 nuts that have the captive star washers. Lots of sharp edges to catch on scale and debris. Cleaning vinegar or CLR in the tank with the nuts
At 21:15 you're talking about drying out the inside of a tank. I saw Andrew Camarata dry out the inside of a fuel tank with some shop towels and an air hose. The air pushed around the paper towels and eventually dried out the inside of the tank. It worked, try it. Can't hurt. Just have to get a hook inside to pull out the towels when done. Stay Safe and keep uploading. I should have watched 1 more minute before commenting, you already knew about this.
I don't think electrolysis does anything more than stop and prevent further corrosion. They use it on gas pipelines to prevent the exterior surface of the steel pipe from rusting. It alone doesn't reverse or clean rust as you saw (on the exterior or your tank). You had to scrub and eventually use muriatic acid, but if it did work to reverse it with the proper chemicals, you would put the anode (the sacrificial part) and the cathode (the wall of the tank) exposed to the same electrolyte (the liquid inside the tank) for the reactions to work. As many have commented. I think as others have said and you did, just use the muriatic acid, or viengar or lemon juice to clean the scale off.. Kudos for the shout out to Andrew C for the rag air hose trick.
Muriatic acid is my go to for cleaning out toilets, I live in a place with lots of limestone. The inside of the commode between the inner and outer shell and the jet in the bottom will get stopped up making it hard to flush out clean. The muriatic acid will dissolve the limestone, I put about a half a cup of the stuff you can buy at the big box stores down the pipe that the small plastic line from the flush valve goes into and leave it alone for at least 30 minutes. It will dissolve the limestone and the acid and the base, limestone has a ph of probably 11 or more will turn to salt water and not hurt your drains. Been doing it for over 25 years with no problem, yeah it does smell bad.
Let me put in another vote for Evaporust. From all evidence, it is the easiest and safest approach. It involves a complex process of removing the iron from rust but not from steel, and then binds the iron to sulfer to keep it in solution so that it doesn't go back into the rust. Magic.
yes it works pretty well I use it frequently but for heavy rust and scale like this it would take forever if it could even cut through plus its expensive. the acid was $14 for a gallon, evapo rust is 21... and I only needed half a gallon of acid and did it in 24 hours.
Matt: before ruining your Heavy Duty fuel tank. I thought of an idea for cleaning the neck of the tank, & that would be to take a ridge reamer for doing engine cylinders, & run up & down the filler neck, to knock off all of that rusty crud, then chase it with a set of three, or four Arm deglazing stones. I know it won't do anything for the inside of the tank itself, but it sure wouldn't hurt the inside of the filler neck. GOOD LUCK WITH THE IDEA MATT, IT JUST MIGHT WORK.
Matt Try some Lead Buckshot for loading Shotgun Shells on the inside & also some plain coarse Sand & strap tp Mixer & run a couple days, I bet that would clean it like new.
PURCHASE SEVERAL "DIESEL" FUIL PEEL AND STICK DECALS. I HAVE HAD TO DRAIM THE TANKS IN THE PAST BECAUSE SOMEONE PUT IN GASOLINE INSTEAD. MIGHT GET A FIRE EXTINGUISHER TO MOUNT ON EQUIPMENT.
I normally cut open the tanks and harbor freight sand blast it , weld it shut then fill it with motorcycle fuel tank sealer .roll it around then pour out extra and let it dry . Works ever time
Get a couple bags of red vol rock, like in your gas BBQ. Fill tank about a third full, a little more than cover with water. Set it up to tumble, tractor, truck, cement mixer. You're looking for a sliding action to scrub the surface, not a crashing action trying to pound the rust off, think sanding. Won't take but a few hours and that tank will shine. Or you could muck about with electricity and acid.
if you find yourself doing this type of project in the future, consider using your mig welder for a power source. it should supply you with about 18 to 24 volts dc and over a hundred amps of current. should speed up your process somewhat. btw, stalactites hang down
Several gallons of Evapo-Rust will get that cleaned up like nobodys business. For all of the rusty metal work you do, I'd order a 55 gallon drum since it lasts forever. Been using it on a rusty, crusty Kubota RTV900 and the parts come out like new after a few days
Electrolysis would have worked better if you would have capped off the gas tank and filled only the gas tank with the water solution. Then dangled a chain down the fill hole as the anode. Would have concentrated the action to only the inside of the tank.
I agree
I was also thinking that, that would the electrolysis have getting into the tank as the neck opening was close to the top?
Yup, immediately saw the problem with the blue tank setup... he wants to clean the inside, it has to be done internally. Electrolysis is a 'line of sight' action. The electricity runs the shortest path. Shopdogsam has a good demonstration on this.
I would think that just having an electrode internal of the tank even while submerged like that might have taken care of the inside of the tank. Just a bit of rebar through an insulator hanging down into the center of the tank.
YES
That a Genius Matt Strapping the Gas tank to a tractor Wheel using Chains and Filling with nuts and bolts in it and Just driving the tractor and letting the wheel Do the Shaking and Cleaning Work and using the Concrete Mixer i will need to get a Concrete mixer Now Matt lots of ways to Clean metal and Be Creative 1:00 @Diesel Creek
Andrew Camarata has a video on how to disable the sensing feature on a Harbor Freight battery charger.
With the help of a chainsaw. 😉😂
Use some of that soda you are drinking, it's amazing what it can do!
You don’t understand Russian, I don’t understand English, but I watch your videos and am delighted with your videos, how much technology you have, how much enthusiasm you have. And I translated this text through a google translator, so that at least somehow you would understand me. Sorry if Google translate something wrong
Electrolysis works Amazing for Cleaning Metal As well as Plating Metal With other Metals Like Gold and silver and Chrome Plating or Even Other metals and minerals Matt 8:00 @Diesel Creek
Next time you have a tank to clean out, try tumbling it with gravel (crushed stone with lots of sharp edges) instead of nuts and bolts. It is abrasive like sand blasting and works a lot better. BTW, I agree with others. Put the anode inside the tank for best results with electrolysis.
I ran concrete mixers, the first thing is teach the guys never to hit the drum to remove stuck on concrete. As your say newly crushed gravel is best, plus add a few soft bricks for extra weight and impact. After mixing a load on concrete or mortar, leave the mixer running a while with some sand or stone and some water before shutting it off. Do a full clean at the end of shift.
I had to rewind twice. I was betting mouse when it arrived, but obvious when it left.
What about using a corse sand blasting material and tumble it
Or visit a farm supply/feed store and get some turkey grit. That's fresh-crushed granite chips. Very sharp and very clean.
Always A Good Afternoon when the sun is Setting and Your opening a Beer Matt 0:10 @Diesel Creek
Wish you had mentioned the electrolysis earlier!
The electrolysis can not clean surfaces that are "shielded" by other elements connected to the same voltage. In order to clean the inside of that tank, you would need to put the sacrificial electrode inside.
That’s what everyone’s telling me lol 🤦🏼♂️ oh well I learned something
@@DieselCreek Also every so often you want to grind off all the rust from your sacrificial pieces in order for the electrolysis to keep working well.
You can always bend a steam wand you know !
Hand painting (with a brush) works better, Texaco hand painted their Tanker chassis for nearly ever.
@@DieselCreek Forget electrolysis. It's too hit and miss. Just make a 70/30 bath of water to vinegar and leave it a week. That's a weak solution but stronger is better. I use that to clean axe heads that have been buried in the ground for 50 years so that should tell you how effective it is.
exactly this
Question: If you can not get scale and rust out of the tank while you are trying different methods...then it seems logical that you would not get scale and rust while in use. Put two filters in a row and use the tank now. Occasionally check the first fuel filter...and get on with your life.
I had a fuel tank from a Cub Cadet that was coated with a layer of crud from a full tank of evaporated gas. No solvent would touch it including MEK or Acetone. I read that expensive tank cleaning solutions used phosphoric acid so I filled the tank with Coke Classic and let it sit. It took it down to bare metal after soaking for 3 days!
I was going to suggest acid, that usually does the job.
I've tried COKE & it's not the miracle solution that many say it is.
Best use for Coke yet.
I'm a Pepsi man 😎
In school I was a grill cook. Burgers, ham and cheese, grilled cheese, eggs, bacon, potatoes etc. Our cleaning routing was diet sprite. Took it to metal and we had to season it over and over, but that grill was sparkling.
But is Coke better than Pepsi?
You can pick up a bottle of 80% phosphoric acid from a hydroponics supplier. Cheaper than Coke and no sugar residue to deal with afterwards.
With Electrolysis your going to wa t to do it Several Times When using Laundry soap. BEST WAY to do it Matt would Be using Actual Chemicals With the Electrolysis but You would Need to Use Chemistry and Specific Minerals And Ingredients to do so Matt 14:00 @Diesel Creek
Your first coat of spray paint (whether with a gun or a rattle can) should be so light that it looks like accidental overspray. The second coat should be so light that it doesn't completely cover. The third coat is when you finally get complete coverage. I've been painting things for years this way with excellent results. 👍👍
We took our old rusty gas tanks to the raditor shop where they would clean the inside and then apply a liquid plasticote material that would seal rust etc to the tank and thus be good for our clean fuel. Tank would be rough inside but rust was encapsulated. Worked great. Done deal!
As stated, electrolysis is "line of sight". Fill it with water and put electrode inside, isolated from touching the tank.
New battery Chargers are smart chargers So that is why they need To see battery voltage to charge the. But there is a way to trick a smart charger into thinking there is battery voltage and force smart chargers To Run by Adding a good Battery Or 12 volt sorce IN Line with the charger to make it think the bad battery is good and should work fine. Harbor Freight still Sells The Mechanical Chargers Matt As Well as Napa Does Also Just go to napa And ask For a 12 and 24v 250 Amp Jumper and Charger That is Not a Smart Charger Hope the information Helps Matt.. 9:30 @Diesel Creek
I like that this guy is learning the same way alot of us do: watch RUclips videos and read articles on the internet. Always a good video and entertaining.
So I learned same thing you did about electrolysis in the comments. White vinegar outa the jug in the tank soak for 24 hrs. Then add your chains n bolts to put on the mixer might have done same thing. 5% acid content, 2$ a gallon at the dollar store. I've cleaned steel with it before, it's suprising what it does. Basically soak n scrub with abrasive dishwashing scrunchie thingie.
I've also used dead battery acid on sheet metal tanks. The trick there is not to just flush it. Use a baking soda to neutralize the acid before you empty it. It will be effervescent so don't cap it. After foaming stops empty and flush. Battery acid will keep eating all the non submerged parts of the tank without neutralizing it. Even with flushing, what others have told me. I've had excellent results that way too. Thanks for sharing
I did this method before and used epsom salt, just an idea.
Everyone has their method, and most often it’s based on what you have on hand and being realistic.
In the Navy on my ship I had a huge ultrasonic tank for cleaning reduction gear filters...on a duty day my buddy brought in a motorcycle tank from a crusty old Honda he was rebuilding. We filled the ultrasonic cleaner with feed water (very clean distilled water) and kind of forgot we put the motorcycle tank inside, as the duty day took our attention on to other issues. After evening chow we went down to the filter shop after it running for hours (I’d be lying if I said how long, but it was hours) oh that tank was sparkling CLEAN, looked brand new, even his paint came off in one giant piece.
Not many people have a 100 gallon ultrasonic cleaner in their garage though...do what you gotta do.
vinegar would also have been a good alternative. it takes a little time but works pretty good.
11:42 occasionally cleaning your sacrificial metal with a hose and bristle brush will speed up the process. Suspending a piece of sacrificial steel down into the tank is the only real way to clean the inside.
Tank installed Looks Pretty Good Matt 26:20 @Diesel Creek
Matt, get yourself an inspection cam, like the ones used to inspect water damage in a wall. You will be able to film the dark recesses of the insides things like this tank.
Vinegar works very well that’s what I use
Pausing at 3:30 my initial thoughts on cleaning the inside of something that large and dirty by electrolysis are thus-: Firstly I'd clean and paint the entire outside of it with something to insulate that part so your amperage isn't wasted on the bit that doesn't matter & secondly I'd want to have the thing submerged in a tank large enough to have it upright with the neck at the top. Also it'd probably work faster/better if you were able to somehow put your anode plates inside the tank without them touching the sides since it works best "line of sight"...
A few people suggested adjusting our paint spray gun on cardboard before spraying end items. For that task I use discarded cardboard bicycle crates. They cut apart into large pieces and are free at bike shops.
The first time I saw Andrew use this rag trick I had to face palm myself. Couldn't believe I'd lived my entire life without figuring that trick out.
Put white vinegar in the tank and the white vinegar will actually eat the rest the way okay I’ve done it to Kabhi is that it works well 👍👌🇦🇺
Personally I would buy a gallon or two of Evpro-rust remover soak the entire tank and the insides if the drum and you might like outcome.
its amazing what that stuff does to rust
Great stuff
Can you EvapoRust with electrolysis?
There is a very easy way to remember about Stalagtites and Stalagmites. Stalactites grow down -- they have to "hang on tight". Stalagmites grow upwards. They need the "might to grow upwards".
Found this Video today. I think, one of the best adresses to ask fighting against rust might be Mustie 1 on YT. Every time, I see him starting new projekts, they are crusty, crispy and rusty in the begining, at the End he wins. Sorry for bad english, I'm a german guy.
Greetings from Germany
Jo
I love your side! What I don't like is that you accept your mistakes instead of removing them and getting better!
You definitely have the right idea with the electrolysis. Electricity takes the the shortest path that has the least resistance and flows from neg to pos. That sounds a little counterintuitive, but the reason it flows like that is because negatively charged electrons are smaller and move easier than the positively charged protons. The idea is to remove a small layer of metal from the inside of the tank and by removing that layer it takes the rust with it. Your cathode, the negative lead, is connected to the tank and your anode, the positive lead, needs to be connected to the metal rod rod and placed IN but not touching the tank for the shortest path with the least resistance. If you insulate the the wire where they connect to the anode and cathode it will reduce the amount of corrosion to them or just make sure the wire connections are not in the water.
Unrelated by your shop cut maybe 20 5in trees x 10 notch the ends withhave anih hhh
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chainend do yo will
Yodo wt. saw hook together with cable clip each end do when muddy you will have a nice wash pad
Is this the Tank From the Drag behind Vibratory compactor that the Neighbor Painted For you Red That you didn't ask him to Matt? 3:19 @Diesel Creek
I was waiting the entire video for you to drop that flashlight inside the tank! Good job bub!
Try using Feed Grade Molasses 9:1 (water:molasses), it works better. It's slow, but works perfectly.
The only thing better is sand blasting.
Any time you buy fuel from any gas stations, there is some water in that fuel, specially in winter time
I use bottle of HEET fuel additive regularly to dissolve water in the fuel tank, it works pretty good and it's cheap
ive got a case of it on the shelf lol
Just a quick spray painting tip. Before you shoot the paint on your prepared work piece, use a piece of scrap cardboard to test and adjust the sprayer setup. When you first pull trigger and some blob of unwanted material comes out, it will not spoil your work piece. This test method also provides an opportunity to adjust paint and air flow to optimum. Nice job cleaning the tank.
Frog bottom left corner at the start of the video!!!! lol
I didn’t even notice that lol
Good eye
at about 0:27; rewinded it 3 times before i figured it was a frog and came to check the comments
It’s a toad.....
@@localcrew Correct you are. I have four toads that live in my garage. Each one hangs out in their respective corner until evening then they come out and help me get rid of bugs.
On a lot of railroad track equipment we rebuild we get some really bad tanks and we fill em with Evaporust and BBs. Strap it to a BBQ spit and let it sit there a few days. Comes out super clean.
Then we add Kreem and spin em again.
I definitely would have opted for the electrolysis seems like a pretty good method ...works pretty good for me in the past just make sure you got a nice old battery charger for it...these new ones don't work right for me
As mentioned, the newer ones dont work without modifications, but an old computer powersupply works well with minor modifications, or pick up a variable voltage power supply with current limiting- cheaper than a new battery charger and works perfectly for electrolysis work (and yes, if you wanted the inside cleaned, you needed to have an electrode inside, insulated from the tank!
The Spray pattern is Splotchy like the Spray Nozzel Is Clogged and Is your Air Pressure at 40psi or Is it Higher Matt 24:50 @Diesel Creek
I really enjoy watching Andrew Camarata! RUclips actually suggested your channel to me because I watched Andrew!
I blame my YT habit on AC (and Levi) videos. Bummed when I found I had watched them all.
@@cdouglas1942 same! That's why I started branching out to others like Diesel Creek. But I'll be honest, the first AC video I watched he was pushing a dump truck with a trailer on the back up a hill using an excavator in idle. Then he jumped out and ran up to the dump truck to park it on the road. THEN ran back to deal with the excavator.
I said in my head, then commented on the video, "This guy is an idiot!" But I kept watching and now I truly understand what a genius he really is!
@@morgan0179 Its hard not to watch Andrew and not develop some genuine affection for the guy. His frequency has dropped off a little with the work on the Castle expansion and I imagine COVID has but the kibosh on work availability.
it is a bit frustrating to see how AC is sucessfull with everything, so diesel Geek serves as the reality thing where you see all the unsuccessful and sometimes really stupid mistakes. It takes balls to publish all your failures and total fault of physical knowledge on YT
put a positive rod inside the tank. ?
Why didn’t you try Evaporust and ball bearings when you had it strapped to the cement mixer
I've cleaned more than one rusty and cruded tank. I just use sand with some bluestone mixed in. Works every time. I clean my chains the same way putting the bluestone and sand in my mixer and then putting in the chain. Works just like a sandblaster without the work and mess.
I saw Marty t do the electrolysis thing on a big drive chain. It seemed to work good for him.
I prefer the muraic acid thing. It’s no joke, but it works. I was using it once to get and get some alum piston debris from a chainsaw cylinder. I left a cap of of on my bench for a couple hours. Came back and all the tools and metal that were close had rusted over. Crazy stuff.
I just use Molasses, easiest and cheapest way to clean rust and contamination. No worries about eating holes in it. I have a 44 gallon plastic tank full of it mixed with about 5 parts water to one part molasses (feed molasses from sugar cane) and everything from motorbike frames, springs, wheels has been cleaned in it.
Can leave the part in it 7 days to 6 months. Just washes off with water to clean parent metal.
I will do my own vid on it one day.
I’ve never heard of that. I’ll have to look it up.
Thanks!
One elektrode in the metal tank!
This is what I came here to say you should’ve hung and electrode inside of the tank not touching the sides
I third this. I've done metal fuel tanks in the past and you have to fill the tank with premixed water and washing soda first. Then suspend a diode in the fill cap and attach the negative somewhere at the base. The farther away from the diode the better. It will likely overflow with schmoo so you dont really want to do this on a tank with a nice paint job on the outside.
Ill forth it line of sight
Electrolysis is line of sight. You needed to put an electrode inside tank to convert the rust inside of the tank
@@dennishudson9723 q
I've used muratic acid to clean out a rusty marine exhaust manifold and you really need to avoid those strong fumes. They can seriously burn your lungs.
“Somting Wong” I lost it😂😂😂 good work buddy! Sure turned out nice
You're not stupid. far from it. I really enjoy your videos and all your hard work. Thanks.
Phosphoric acid, the active ingredient in naval jelly. I think your tumbling attempt would have worked better with a metal-cutting tumbling medium.
Added benefit, phosphoric acid is much safer to work with and you can just dump it out onto the ground.
For the longest time when I was a kid I thought naval jelly had something to do with your belly button 🤣
I did clean old horseshoe with baking soda solution. 12V didn't work best and I ended up using 20V battery charger but I was dealing with huge rust blob with the horseshoe inside. Good luck with your project.
I hear this is where the cool people hang out
This is where everybody hangs out
Thank you Matt, that is something I will keep in mind as I have ran across that same problem on an old garden tractor. The only thing I could consider was sandblasting and that would create too many other problems.I chose not to pursue the project any further instead.
Glad to help
Anyone see the frog at 0:27?!
I thought it was a mouse but it is indeed a frog.
@@petercolquhoun2086 same. I'm actually surprised i did, because it obviously jumps like a frog.
@@petercolquhoun2086 Mouse was my first thought too!
Add salt bring to a boil on high heat, add veggies and meat lower heat simmer , for 2 hours. Good to go! Nice job Matt
I watch Andrew Camarta also.
If the tank is really nasty I use lye for electrolysis. I cleaned a tank from my 1970 Charger that had 30 year old junk gas in it and plenty of rust. Had to solder several rust holes but it has been good for 10 years now. Used a inner coating to seal it. I first used this technique in 1984 on an old ATC 90 I was given. That tank is still good today. You can use the new battery changer as long as you put a battery in parallel with your electrode- just make sure you have a circuit breaker. A pressure washer speeds up the process if you clean off loose rust after a few hours.
Yessir! The bigger the gob, the better the job, as our favorite British Columbian would say.
Next time dealing with rust try vinegar, usually three or four bottles from most dollar type store or vinegar by the gallon jug at most supermarkets. Also coating the inside of metal fuel tanks definitely a good choice.
Your biggest mistake was placing the tank into the bucket, before making turning the water into electrolyte - unlikely that much electrolysis will went on in the inside.
when using acids its best to flush them with a base sollution to neutralise the acid.
It’s kind of funny I’m watching this as a have a backhoe tank soaking in muratic acid lol
Imagine how many ants someone had to milk to get a gallon of the acid!
Tim from Canada if you want to dry out the inside of the tank or anything you can use a leaf blower if you’re worried about. The size of your tags you can go to the hardware store and buy PVC pipe and stick that into your tank then hook up your leaf blower it will dry the inside of your day. You can use A leaf blower with the cord and leave it plugged in for as long as you want or use a battery power this way you know when the battery went out you might need to recheck it again
drink a keg of beer and weld er up to fit . Food grade clean👍🍺
Faced with a similar problem, I put both pea gravel and 1" gravel in the tank. Strapped it to the side of my tractor tire. While cutting 5 acres the rotation of the gravel in the tank knocked out all the rust.
Helpful video. Shows exactly what not to do. "Sacrificial" metal in line of sight...anode/cathode in line of sight. So...sacrificial rod inside the tank.
When using acid, make sure your gloves are butyl rubber. The hydrogen ions will pass straight through the pores in latex/nitrile gloves. Goggles are also a good idea. You don't want acid in your eyes.
Remember to neutralise the acid solution when done; don't just pour it down the drain.
If you paint from top-to-bottom, small runs get covered over as you paint.
the gloves I have are industrial grade, they say chemical rated lol whatever that really means.
Great how to video 👍. I've cleaned a few tanks using various methods but never electrolysis.
Citric Acid usaly works well for me... Molasses too if you have the patience :-)
epoxy fiberglass resin works well. pour into tank use as lil hardner as possible to still have it set up fully. seal tank. roll tank slowly in all directions will coat the entire inside.
If cleaning a nasty fuel ta nk. Use marbles. They are easier to use.
My dad made an anode out of a hunk of threaded rod and stuck it through a cap from a paint can with a nut on top to stop it from dropping through. Set that down into the filler hole on the tank. Filled tank with salty water and hooked it up. I think that helped attack the inside more because my tank was very clean inside after that
The best most successful electrolysis tank i built was 50 gallon plastic barrel with a full sheet of galvanized hardware cloth wrapped around the inside perimeter of the tank and sticking out of the water a few inches on top but touching the bottom and a couple bricks on the bottom to set your piece that needs cleaning. Then hook your negative clip from the charger to the hardware cloth, then the positive to the piece and set it to 3 amps, then sprinkle the powder over the piece so it charges with energy and attaches itself to the piece. I Use Sodium bisulfate (PH Decreaser) pool cleaner that you can get from Amazon.com and it works much faster. After about 5 hours you should take the piece out and pressure wash off the loose scale then rest it in the tank and start over so the charge doesn't get insulated from the surface silt buildup. Don't let the piece you are cleaning touch the negative charge diode (wire mesh). I Clean cast iron pots and pans, and tractor engine blocks and parts for old Farmalls that i rebuild and customize.
One day I mentioned a double wide mobile home for your place in the forest.You said your wife would never go for it. Look on you tube at chance's mobile home world and let her look at what they are now days. Construction is as good as a stick built house now and they are beautiful.
Don't worry about the paint to much. I had a painter varnish two big rural church doors and prior to varnishing he asked that all outside lights not be turned in until the next day. Everyone forgot about the high pressure sodium light though. In the morning we could have had 10 million bugs stuck to those front doors as the light was directly over those doors. I paid the paint a full second cost to redo and we taped off the breaker for that light.
Vinegar works very well. fill it up, put it in a warm spot and check it every 2 or 3 days. you'll end up with a lot of black stuff so afterwards jut put some gravel in there and shake it around for a bit
What they said about line of sight on electrolysis. I never had luck using metallic items for tumbling. What I found was superior to nuts / bolts etc. was Gravel. I've had very good results tumbling with gravel.
I think the tank rust problem will return due to the hole in the fuel cap and location of the tank being exposed to the elements. The daily outdoor temperature swings and sun exposure cause air (and moisture) to be pumped into the tank which condenses into liquid water.
I would suggest adding a separate vent line to the side of the fill pipe and route it down under the tank somewhere. Plug off the hole in the cap. Parking it inside your shop should help too.
Really enjoyed this and your other videos too, keep em coming.
Muriatic acid not bad safety glasses/googles a must but hands plenty of water to rinse best if no rubber gloves but water to dilute it needed on hand. We use it all the time to clean screens in water wells an it is inert when we are done and the wells sanitized ,just use it correctly !
Macro machines did this with a flathead v8, it worked great. You are on the right path
When i tumble tanks I use 7/17 nuts that have the captive star washers. Lots of sharp edges to catch on scale and debris. Cleaning vinegar or CLR in the tank with the nuts
Ya try leaving it filled with vinegar for a few weeks and seeing how much was left afterwards?
I bought a bunch of VERY rusty tools off a farm and I hear this is the way to go. After seeing how yours turned out I've got to try this.
At 21:15 you're talking about drying out the inside of a tank. I saw Andrew Camarata dry out the inside of a fuel tank with some shop towels and an air hose. The air pushed around the paper towels and eventually dried out the inside of the tank. It worked, try it. Can't hurt. Just have to get a hook inside to pull out the towels when done. Stay Safe and keep uploading.
I should have watched 1 more minute before commenting, you already knew about this.
The tried and true that has always worked for me was a 50/50 mix of transmission fluid and acetone for rust, carbon buildup, paint removal...
I don't think electrolysis does anything more than stop and prevent further corrosion. They use it on gas pipelines to prevent the exterior surface of the steel pipe from rusting. It alone doesn't reverse or clean rust as you saw (on the exterior or your tank). You had to scrub and eventually use muriatic acid, but if it did work to reverse it with the proper chemicals, you would put the anode (the sacrificial part) and the cathode (the wall of the tank) exposed to the same electrolyte (the liquid inside the tank) for the reactions to work. As many have commented. I think as others have said and you did, just use the muriatic acid, or viengar or lemon juice to clean the scale off..
Kudos for the shout out to Andrew C for the rag air hose trick.
Muriatic acid is my go to for cleaning out toilets, I live in a place with lots of limestone. The inside of the commode between the inner and outer shell and the jet in the bottom will get stopped up making it hard to flush out clean. The muriatic acid will dissolve the limestone, I put about a half a cup of the stuff you can buy at the big box stores down the pipe that the small plastic line from the flush valve goes into and leave it alone for at least 30 minutes. It will dissolve the limestone and the acid and the base, limestone has a ph of probably 11 or more will turn to salt water and not hurt your drains. Been doing it for over 25 years with no problem, yeah it does smell bad.
If you need12-24 VDC you can plug in a TIG Welder set to ~5-10A, I use it like that to clean colors of stainless steel welds
Let me put in another vote for Evaporust. From all evidence, it is the easiest and safest approach. It involves a complex process of removing the iron from rust but not from steel, and then binds the iron to sulfer to keep it in solution so that it doesn't go back into the rust. Magic.
yes it works pretty well I use it frequently but for heavy rust and scale like this it would take forever if it could even cut through plus its expensive. the acid was $14 for a gallon, evapo rust is 21... and I only needed half a gallon of acid and did it in 24 hours.
Matt: before ruining your Heavy Duty fuel tank. I thought of an idea for cleaning the neck of the tank, & that would be to take a ridge reamer for doing engine cylinders, & run up & down the filler neck, to knock off all of that rusty crud, then chase it with a set of three, or four Arm deglazing stones. I know it won't do anything for the inside of the tank itself, but it sure wouldn't hurt the inside of the filler neck. GOOD LUCK WITH THE IDEA MATT, IT JUST MIGHT WORK.
Andrew Camarata is a living Legend when it comes to stuff like that, thanks for the video Matt.
Matt Try some Lead Buckshot for loading Shotgun Shells on the inside & also some plain coarse Sand & strap tp Mixer & run a couple days, I bet that would clean it like new.
PURCHASE SEVERAL "DIESEL" FUIL PEEL AND STICK DECALS. I HAVE HAD TO DRAIM THE TANKS IN THE PAST BECAUSE SOMEONE PUT IN GASOLINE INSTEAD. MIGHT GET A FIRE EXTINGUISHER TO MOUNT ON EQUIPMENT.
I normally cut open the tanks and harbor freight sand blast it , weld it shut then fill it with motorcycle fuel tank sealer .roll it around then pour out extra and let it dry . Works ever time
Get a couple bags of red vol rock, like in your gas BBQ. Fill tank about a third full, a little more than cover with water. Set it up to tumble, tractor, truck, cement mixer. You're looking for a sliding action to scrub the surface, not a crashing action trying to pound the rust off, think sanding. Won't take but a few hours and that tank will shine. Or you could muck about with electricity and acid.
if you find yourself doing this type of project in the future, consider using your mig welder for a power source. it should supply you with about 18 to 24 volts dc and over a hundred amps of current. should speed up your process somewhat. btw, stalactites hang down
Several gallons of Evapo-Rust will get that cleaned up like nobodys business. For all of the rusty metal work you do, I'd order a 55 gallon drum since it lasts forever. Been using it on a rusty, crusty Kubota RTV900 and the parts come out like new after a few days