I think imma try and solder the old tank up while I'm waiting for the new one to get here.... Ill let ya know how it turns out
gas tank giving me the blues
- Thread starter lambofgod121980
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- freakin gas tank
Old tank has been sitting with no cap or petcock for bout a month. I should be good but imma fill it with water before I heat it up. \m/ >.< \m/ worst case scenario ill be posting pic of my exploded fingers every where and chunks of metal imbedded in mah face..... - thinkin I might wear my helmet while I'm torchin bwahahahahahaha
lol if it dosent smell like gas you "should" be safe but you ever know better safe then exploded
Update....
I HAVE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE. Went to home depot and picked up some metal working solder. Tank has been sitting wide open for days now, but I filled it with water and turned it upside down, leaving hole where petcock goes unplugged. Basted on some flux that came with a propane torch that I had previously used and I heated it up and blobbed on copious amounts of the solder.
Good/ bad news -
Good - I didn't explode anything, still have all my fingers and no metal in mah face \m/ and 1 of the studs is leak free
Bad - one of the studs on the front of the tank still has a pin hole. Not leaking like it was at all but still leaking
I'm still left with questions - like can I grind down the ugly, or should I leave it alone
I HAVE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE. Went to home depot and picked up some metal working solder. Tank has been sitting wide open for days now, but I filled it with water and turned it upside down, leaving hole where petcock goes unplugged. Basted on some flux that came with a propane torch that I had previously used and I heated it up and blobbed on copious amounts of the solder.
Good/ bad news -
Good - I didn't explode anything, still have all my fingers and no metal in mah face \m/ and 1 of the studs is leak free
Bad - one of the studs on the front of the tank still has a pin hole. Not leaking like it was at all but still leaking
I'm still left with questions - like can I grind down the ugly, or should I leave it alone
If you were successful with the other three studs and you feel confident that they aren't leaking, go back and repeat your soldering process on the leaky one. Use a paste flux, like Nokorode' and watch your heat. Get it just hot enough for the solder to flow (liquid) and fill your pin holes. Too hot and the solder won't stick. Too cold and it won't flow where it needs to go. You should be good to go. Now, don't over tighten your fasteners.
Tom
Thanks tom - I still have no idea what I'm doing and the blobs of solder are a bit on the super ugly side- if I grind (sand) them down will I mess it up.
I'm not sure how this works. Is the solder filling the gap or just covering it up. Does the flux make it go into the crack, or is it just so it sticks to the metal
I'm not sure how this works. Is the solder filling the gap or just covering it up. Does the flux make it go into the crack, or is it just so it sticks to the metal
The flux helps clean the metal for a better adhesion. But even with it the metal needs to be clean. Sand the areas where you want the solder to flow/stick to so you have clean metal. A stainless steel brush will be helpful for very small, tight areas.
If you're getting "blobs" then the area isn't heated enough. You want the solder to go liquid and flow around the base of that stud to fill any gaps/pin holes/cracks.
I'd suggest a solid core solder as opposed to a flux core which is really made for electrical connections. Nokorode is a brand of soft solder flux that has been around for ages and is still one of the best for use with lead based solder. I'd ask for and use solder termed 95/5 which you might not find at the local hardware store but can be purchased at a plumbing or air conditioning supply outlet. It is harder and less susceptible to vibration than 50/50 or 40/60 (used for stained glass work) but requires a little more heat.
Practice on some scrap metal to get a feel for how much heat to apply to get that magic flow temperature needed.
Good luck.
Tom
Ok so super failure on me soldering. Still leaks not as bad but still leaking. New gas tank from bikeberry arrived and I quickly mounted it up. Used inertube as a "rubber mount" and worked great.... Untill today. Its not me tightening it too much. I've not had a single leak untill I went on a longer ride. I suspect vibration to be the cause. Is there a way to make studs stronger.
I'm soooooper irritated I've trashed another tank. Finally a nice day and I go for a long ride and bam! Leaking like I've got an open hole. Limped it to the house and drained the gas and removed the tank. One of the studs looks like is about to fall out completely. I'm wondering if I can't maybe thread a nut onto the stud and weld the nut around the bottom of the tank. Ill be letting it sit and air out for a few days untill I start my vacation next week.
I'm soooooper irritated I've trashed another tank. Finally a nice day and I go for a long ride and bam! Leaking like I've got an open hole. Limped it to the house and drained the gas and removed the tank. One of the studs looks like is about to fall out completely. I'm wondering if I can't maybe thread a nut onto the stud and weld the nut around the bottom of the tank. Ill be letting it sit and air out for a few days untill I start my vacation next week.
Wow that sucks. I wonder if there is a bad batch of tanks out there. Do you have a picture of the tank after it failed but before you removed it from the bike? That might help to figure out what is going on. Maybe it was still overtightened?? Very strange.
I don't have a picture of before I removed the tank but I do have a picture of the damage. Studs were strait and not bent at all and when I mounted the tank I first laid innertube folded 3 times. Then I set the tank on top and put the straps on with the nuts only a few threds. Then I tightend each nut a little at a time in rotation till the tank would not twist left/right. Was deff not super tight and I want to stress no stud was bent at all. Also nuts were not tight. I could literally still turn them by hand only thing keeping them on was locktite.
When I went for a ride today tank twisted to the left side and started to pour out gas. I thought at first was just petcock leak so I rolled tank back to center, and took off for the house. When I rolled the tank it made the leak worse. lost about a half a gallon in les than 5 miles. As soon as I got to the house I drained the remaining gas and unmounted the tank to find 2 of the 4 studs cracked around the base.
When I went for a ride today tank twisted to the left side and started to pour out gas. I thought at first was just petcock leak so I rolled tank back to center, and took off for the house. When I rolled the tank it made the leak worse. lost about a half a gallon in les than 5 miles. As soon as I got to the house I drained the remaining gas and unmounted the tank to find 2 of the 4 studs cracked around the base.
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Someone told me to apply JB Water Weld around all the studs before mounting the tank. I've done that to all three of my tanks and never had a leak, but "correlation does not necessarily imply causation".. so I don't know if it's been helping or if I've gotten some prime quality tanks from China.
I do have pictures of the tank before I took it off (thought they didn't come out showed black screen when I tried to look erlier) one side looks fine but I assure you it is leaking. And the other on the stud on the left you can see a drip forming. I think imma have to just fork out the cash for the sportsman tank I wanted in the first place. I like everything about that tank from looking at the pictures. Bonus it comes with layback seat post which I have wanted to do since first building my bike. Only thing I don't like is the $150 +shipping price tag -ouch
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With the luck you've been having with the tank I think I'd spring for the Sportsman Flyer too. I have built 3 MB's with no leaking problems. I wonder how common this is?
I will say the first tank was probably my fault. The second tank, ok ill take responsiblity for that but 3 in a row. No fudging way. I was super careful when I mounted this last one. Made sure I didn't over tighten. I'm almost 100% positive the vibration caused the studs to fail.
I do however really dig the sportsman tank. I especially dig how it clamps to the seatpost and there is no way mounting it can cause it to fail. I do wish it held a full gallon tho. I like to go on longer rides since everything is spread out where I live.
I do however really dig the sportsman tank. I especially dig how it clamps to the seatpost and there is no way mounting it can cause it to fail. I do wish it held a full gallon tho. I like to go on longer rides since everything is spread out where I live.
log121980, it didn't look like you had over tightened the nuts. the thin straps where still straight. at this point , try some jb weld =reg. slow cure
Yeah..... I've had less than satifying results with jb weld. I've let it sit for days and the gasoline just eats it till it leaks again. I wonder if I can use a tank sealer without having to take my tank off. Bigbutterbean has suggested one called kream but I think you have to remove the tank to use the product.
Edit:
I have also tried everything that the autoparts store has as far as epoxy goes. Even one that says its specifically for gas tanks. Rusults are always the same - it works for about a day before leaking and eventually completly peels off.
Edit:
I have also tried everything that the autoparts store has as far as epoxy goes. Even one that says its specifically for gas tanks. Rusults are always the same - it works for about a day before leaking and eventually completly peels off.
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