[dOGhAIR]

bio/svo melted my fuel tank's... epoxy or whatever paint inside.
I just dropped the tank on my e350 2000
It's a mess in there, can I remove the remaining epoxy paint that is all flakes and goo? with what?
I have a pressure washer but I will need more.
Also I've been looking for a link to hutch's or others fuel return/pickup mod, I found pictures but I'm not sure what I'm suppossed to do.
Another thing I'm trying to do is plumb a coolant heated coil around the pick up. I have the round disk off the stock tank that holds the pickup and have been trying to locate the fuel disconnect tool for an easier time of it.
I'm wondering if any of you have any tips on bulk heading through the disk or using the 3/4" ? plastic bung near it to get a coil in there.
If I were to use 3/8" aluminum tubing inline with my coolant hoses will I create too much restriction for the coolant system to function well?
I'll probably find the fittings I need to use 1/2" instead but I've been wondering.
Should I give up on the stock 35g tank?
In case your wondering, I've been searching the forums a lot before I post this, using the + symbol etc... the search system on these forums hardly ever returns any help.
thanks for any help here

 

[olddieseldude]

Is this something that Ford coats all the stock fuel tanks with?

 

[dOGhAIR]

I've heard that epoxy is in stock steel tanks but I dont know ,,, I boughtthe van a year ago, I'm assuming noone added anything from stock

 

[olddieseldude]

I have no experience with bio but I would think that if it was responsible and if that coating is in all PSDs we would have read many posts on this problem.

I found a thread discussing a buildup associated with vegetable oil usage

 

[dOGhAIR]

I would agree with what you have said, I was just having a conversation that included that topic. So maybe for some reason the previous fleet owners coated this tank with something. Both scenarios seem unlikely

well I took a few pics for you.
I'm familiar with what happens to svo that sits around. it gets jelly like and sticky. This might be what people are refering to when they say polymerization although I think a little more heat than coolant alone would be needed to create that. In the last picture you will see the brown film that I would attribute to svo build up. I see it all over my shop in places where svo has been able to pool.
In the first 2 pics you will see what I did in the 10 remaining gallons of svo when I dropped the tank. Lots of flakes. The other pictures show the grey paint being efficiently eaten!
The plastic bung thing I mentioned before doesn't seem to do anything or have a thread it turns out so I dont think I can use it for anything.
I'm tempted now to put a brass bulkhead fitting on the bottom of the tank and heat after the tank with hih. I will just have to watch my filter a lot until this gunk subsides.
Is this crazy?
What bulk head or other fittings are successful in leak free connection?
Where can I buy viton or other resistant o rings or gasket material?
thanks
here's the pics
http://spaz.org/~davey/svo_tank_mess.htm

 

[orange99]

That almost looks like algae , but if it was mine i would have the tank boiled or bead blasted to clean it out . just my .02

 

[bork]

Great pics! almost looks like galvinizing in pics?

 

[dOGhAIR]

[ QUOTE ]
That almost looks like algae , but if it was mine i would have the tank boiled or bead blasted to clean it out . just my .02

[/ QUOTE ]
Having never experienced algae, unless I am now. I would lay money down that it's epoxy paint. Having stripped paint with chemicals in the past I would up my bet, but I could be wrong. What I think is epoxy paint when blown off with the pressure washer when I can reach it, reveals bare metal underneath. If it were just an algae problem I think it would be on top of the paint?
It is definatly gray in colour, what color is algae usually?
Would I see evidence of algae up river in my after market (and huge!) filter? The brown stuff in one of those pictures is exactly the same as residue that clings to the side of my steel biodiesel reactor drums so I'm pretty sure that's what that is.
I just found replacement tanks for 120 and 30 shipping on ebay, had I not just plumbed a new 3/4" valve and bent up aluminum hose in hose lines into the bottom of my tank and put the tank back on I would swap it out. My plan is to drive with bio in the tank sloshing around and drain and filter/repeat for a while then use the tank again for my main svo tank with a strainer and additional filter inline before the huge fleetguard filter I have. I hope that I can trap anything that might kill my engine but i know it's a risk. Input on that would be appreciated.
As it was, it seems the intank strainers blocked before I saw anything end up in the big filter.
As I'm in a betting mood, I will lay more money down that this can't be an isolated occurance, I hope there aren't thousands of tanks getting eaten as we speak. I hope I'm wrong on that bet too.

 

[DR435rider]

Could your tank have been galvanized? The free fatty acids in the WVO will strip the galvanized coating.

How much Bio did you run in it? Biodiesel is an excellent solvent though I doubt it would strip a factory epoxy coating. WVO wouldn't touch epoxy but would strip galvanizing. The shape doesn't look like any type of growth, rather like something stripped off a suface.

I've been around WVO/biodiesel for three or more years and this is the first I've heard of a Ford tank doing this. Do you think the previous owner installed an aftermarket tank? Maybe the stock tank developed a leak and it was replaced with an aftermarket tank.

If it is a galvanized tank, you may want to re-coat it with some POR, stands for Paint Over Rust. I've heard it is a good product.

Good luck.

Todd

 

[bork]

Do some research on POR if so you choose. I saw a post on some guys using it & said it was great stuff but then within a year it was so hard it was shattering off the surface. Kinda like it was aging/hardening more and then fell off. I have not personally used the product but I had some which after seeing some post would think twice about applying.It's been around now for a while, I saw it about 20 years ago, but if it were as good as the manufacturer claims, wouldn't everyone be using it? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif

 

[DR435rider]

Thanks for the heads up on POR. I've heard good things about them but have never used their products. I'm in the chemical business and prefer to remove the rust first and then apply an inhibitor (i.e. cosmoline type) or paint to prevent rust in the future. Unfortunately, the oil-based cosmoline style inhibitors will all be removed by biodiesel. They might work for WVO but I wouldn't trust them.

I've always been a bit leery of converting rust as POR claims to do. Rust is like a cancer and unless you remove it all, it always seemst to come back to bite you.

Todd

 

[butch cassidy]

Doghair,

Why not go with a plastic tank and eliminate the problem all together?
I run biodiesel in my truck, with no problems. I have the plastic OEM tank.

Hopes this helps,

Butch Cassidy