welding or soldering on a fuel tank

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cobrafreak

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Feb 16, 2011
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My petcock broke so I purchased another one and I over-tightened it and broke off the silver soldered thread that it attached to. To keep the fuel tank from blowing up when a flame is used to fix the tank dry ice is put into the tank to create an unfriendly environment for combustion. Here is a video that I made.
 
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curtisfox

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Dec 29, 2008
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Thats one i haven't seen yet KOOL!
But the truth is that a full tank will never blow even if its full of gas. I knew a welder that used to weld cracks in tankers with fully loaded with gas. ( that would be scarry He died of old age) but if you just fill with water it would do the same. i even used a vacume cleaner to blow the fumes away while welding. But it also blow the weld away if you are soldering or torch welding. Gas itself does not burn thats why a flooded engine is so hard to start, its the feums that burn.
Sorry to here about you tank just when the going get good something happens. Love your bike....................Curt
 
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cobrafreak

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Feb 16, 2011
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curtisfox said:
Thats one i haven't seen yet KOOL!
But the truth is that a full tank will never blow even if its full of gas. I knew a welder that used to weld cracks in tankers with fully loaded with gas. ( that would be scarry He died of old age) but if you just fill with water it would do the same. i even used a vacume cleaner to blow the fumes away while welding. But it also blow the weld away if you are soldering or torch welding. Gas itself does not burn thats why a flooded engine is so hard to start, its the feums that burn.
Sorry to here about you tank just when the going get good something happens. Love your bike....................Curt
Click to expand...
If I was welding it I could just fill it with water. But with solder I need to heat the metal so the solder flows. If any combustion is to occur you need heat, fuel, and an oxidizer (oxygen). The dry ice method is safe because it eliminates two of the three things needed. The dry ice is super cold and frost developes on the outer skin of the tank. No heat. And it floods the insides with CO2 to eliminate the oxidizer. If you can't just fill with water this is a great way to go. I wouldn't put flame on a full tank. It just seems tempting fate.
 
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rustycase

rustycase

Gutter Rider
May 26, 2011
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Yup.
Like Curtis said....
I've tig welded cracks on aluminum diesel fuel tanks while still mounted on the truck.
They gotta be FULL !!!

It's the fumes that go bang! lol

Gasoline is far more treacherous.

On mc tanks I just flush em a couple times with the hose, then pop em with the torch before welding on the outside of the tank.
Pass the torch flame at the open cap now and again while doing the work.
All the gas is never gone, completely, so it's best to set it off before too much accumulates.

lol
It's actually a pretty good way to get larger push-in dents out of a tank.
Best to strap the tank, because a saddle type tank will spread out when it goes POP.

And ALL this is FAR from SAFE, should NOT be advised to those prone to injury or unable to accept periodic injuries of the working man... lol

NOT for the osha bunch!

Never ran the car exhaust into a tank, but that sounds like a great safety idea...

Dry ice?
Gosh, that's just not available in my little two horse town!

Y'all big city fellers got all the kool stuff!

Best
rc
 
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cobrafreak

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Feb 16, 2011
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Guys, walking on the wing of an airplane can be done, but just because you can doesn't mean you should. I want to avoid death as long as I can :)
 
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