Re: gas tank welding- fill with water?

Posted by NC Wayne on September 22, 2005 at 23:35:14 from (152.163.101.7):

In Reply to: gas tank welding- fill with water? posted by LK on September 22, 2005 at 12:38:38:

Water works great if it is completely full so there isn't an air pocket at the point your applying the heat to. The gas molecules get into the metal so it doesn't matter how much you clean and flush and let the tank "air out" you'll never get all of them out. Using shop air to "vent" the tank is just asking for an explosion. With a constant source of fresh air, which coming from most compressors also contains some oil vapor as well, going into the tank there is no sure way to know that the concentration of fuel vapors won't get large enough, when you start heating, to utilize all that fresh air and oil vapor to create a MASSIVE BOOM. The safest way I know of, if you don't like the water idea, is to use dry ice. Get a pound or so of pellets and drop them into the tank. Once the pellets sublimate and fill the tank with CO2 vapor you can start your work. Using dry ice has several advantages. First the CO2 displaces the oxygen and any fuel vapors so it won't support combustion and explode, second it provides a cooling effect on the tank, third it is good for repairing a tank with a leak on the bottom because being dry you don't even have to remove the tank from the machine, and finally it's a "clean" fill so it leaves no residue or moisture inside the tank. I've seen and heard of many of tanks being repaired using this method, including tanker size tanks where the welder had to be able to access the inside of the tank (with breathing gear) to perform the repair. Good luck.

Follow Ups:

• Re: gas tank welding- fill with water? Kevin Bismark 16:57:28 09/23/05 (0)
• dry ice! now that's a clever idea LK 09:39:15 09/23/05 (1)
  • Re: dry ice! now that's a clever idea doogdoog 12:07:07 09/23/05 (0)

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