April 5, 2021
GAS CAN SEALING
I obtained a used 31 gallon tank that will replace my smaller gas tank. The 31 gallon had about 1/2 a gallon of old gas/kerosene in side and the walls were covered with varnish (I forgot to get a "Before" photo). Ordered the POR15 gas tank sealing kit and went to work.
1. I first emptied the old gas and jammed old rags inside to absorb as much gunk as possible.
2. Partilly filled the tank with dish soap and water. Sloshed the tank around and let it sit overnight.
3. Drained the tank and fully rinsed out the soap
4. Poured in the first POR15 step which was 1 quart of de-greaser and 1 quart of warm water. I also put a 4' section of chain-link chain inside to help break off any deposits. Taped the fill pipe and sending unit hole with really good Duct Tape. Spent 30 minutes sloshing the solution around, rotating the tank so each side was facing downward for several minutes. Rinsed out the solution and repeated it again with the 2nd bottle of de-greaser.
5. Drained the tank and fully rinsed out of the de-greaser solution
6. Added the Metal Prep solution which basically etches the steel. During this process I again sloshed the solution around for the prescribed time making sure each side was facing downward for several minutes. Drained the solution and FULLY rinsed out any remaining solution.
7. Used a heat gun to dry the inside of the tank. The interior is required to be FULLY DRY. This took about an hour to complete then I let it sit overnight. In the morning I let the heat gun, on low setting, blow into the fill tube for another hour. The tank was dry after this.
8. Poured the quart of Sealer into the tank and taped shut the fill tube and the sending unit hole. I spent the next 40 minutes slowly sloshing the tank around to make sure every part of the tank was covered with sealer.
9. THE HARDEST PART was next. Drain the remaining sealer from the tank. Unfortunately K5 tanks do not have a drain hole and there is no easy way to to drain the sealer due to the way the sending unit hole is situated. With the tank upside down, you have to spent a long time waiting for the sealer to collect near the sending unit hole. You then need to lean the tank from side to side to slowly get the unused sealer out of the tank. It even helps to slide the tank vigorously back and forth to force the unused sealer out of the tank. I supported the tank on an old steel bed frame that allowed me to slide the tank back and forth with a large metal tray underneath to collect the unused sealer. Still made a mess and part of my backyard is covered with silver paint.
After more than one hour of draining sealant I left the tank to fully dry. I still managed to get a small pooled area of sealant in one of the corners. Instruction say to be carefull to avoid looming but without being able to get my hand/arm inside the tank it was inevitable. We will see what happens after it all dries. After the first 24 hours I can say that the sealant dried HARD with a shiny appearance. The instructions say to wait 96 hours (4 days) before putting gas inside.
Now, need to wait the 96 hours and take the tank to be powder coated!
