Tank Rust

[Nicky Dodds]

So.....am in the process of cleaning some light rust from the inside of my SD tank using the electrolysis method.
Found some instructions elsewhere and am following them to the hilt but it seems a pretty slow process....well slower than I'd imagined!!
I'm using an electrolyte solution of soda crystals/water with my battery charger hooked up to an electrode made of a bit of mild steel tubing which I periodically clean off before re-starting.
A couple of questions I have are....
1. How do you know when you're finished or do you just keep going until no more rusty deposits are collected at the electrode?
2. Never having had a tank that had rust in that I can recall...is there an 'acceptable' level of rust or should it be spotless?
3. Should I just take it to a professional and let them deal with it?

Nicky.

[callyboy]

Don't know how long you do it for, but when your done stick a inline filter on your petrol pipe to catch anything you missed

I think Johnr uses his cement mixer to do his tanks I don't know who else has one

Pete

[bobster]

Till all the rust has gone, and the cathode/electrode is clean.............took me about a weekend to do on the XN85 tank but I used a piece of copper tubing as that won't rust. I then power washed the inside of the tank and then dried it out using an airline and paper towels...............followed Immediately by a good spray inside with some WD40 to stop any more rust from re-appearing!

As Pete says fit an inline filter afterwards , but also glue a small strong magnet to it first to collect any miniscule particulates which would pass straight through the filter mesh!

[Nicky Dodds]

I actually brought a couple of fuel filters home with me when I went to buy a new battery on saturday
Am not entirely sure of the quality tho and they look a little on the large side for the amount of room there is under the tank. Is there a preferred brand you guys use as these look like the disposable plastic type ones?

Am fresh out of cement mixers although from what
I've seen it does look fun!!!

[callyboy]

Seen someone do it by strapping it onto the rear wheel of a jacked up car !!

Pete

[Nicky Dodds]

Ha ha we're stumped then cos all our golfs are fwd!

[sparki]

not as cheap as a diy option but these guys do a stonking job of cleaning anything you throw at 'em... http://www.paint-strip.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[johnr]

ribble technology are near me. ive in the past taken a lot of stuff both mine and other peoples to them for cleaning. but it will also remove every scrap of paint from your tank too! so only an optionif you are having it sprayed too. but if you want it doing you can send it to me \nd i will take it to them. personally, i would rinse the rust out like you have, and then i would seal the taank with a product called por15, its a 3 part process involving a chemical de ruster, a cleaner and primer, and finally a silver coloured sealer. ive used this stuff a couple of times now and had top results with it.

[Nicky Dodds]

Tank paint is bordering on pristine....

[johnr]

then get a por15 kit remove the loose rust, follow the instructions to the absolute letter and seal it in. i did the very rusty tank on my 1961 triumph and it worked fine and is still working fine.