Ceramic Tumbling Media?

[Luis H]

The lead would be in the glaze, I guess. I have no idea. Just out of curiosity, why are you tumbling AL tanks? Have you thought about an abrasive whip? Some folks have made some good ones.

You are not supposed to use stainless steel wire whip on aluminum tank. It clearly warns you against it on the commercially sold whips and I think I have seen it on the PSI/PCI book.

I also wonder why would the OP want to tumble an aluminum tank.

The only reason that I can think of for tumbling an aluminum tank is if there is some contamination, not to remove any aluminum oxides. Aluminum oxides will always form on the surface and protects from further corrosion.

There may be oxide stains, specially if some salt water got in the tank, but all you need to do is rinse the inside tank several times, but there is no harm from the actual stains.

Rinse off or blow off any loose aluminum oxides, but again that doesn’t require tumbling.


I have heard of some divers tumbling their aluminum tanks with detergent and very mild clean abrasives (for a very short time) to O2 clean their tanks, and I can maybe see that reason, but even that seems like a bit of an overkill.

 

[randy88k5]

I need to tumble the tanks because of excess corrosion. A few years back, I got a good deal on a bulk buy of decommissioned rental AL80s. When I took them to my LDS, I was told that most had corrosion in them, but were passable. They were not O2 cleaned. I am trying to O2 clean several of them for nitrox and trimix use, and it seems the corrosion has gotten worse on the heavier used ones (which might have come from salt water contamination from filling on-board boats).

I made a whip from weed-eater cord, and that worked well for some of the tanks. A few will require tumbling, at least so I can reliably measure the corrosion.

 

[Superlyte27]

It's a lot more then $10. And that's *IF* you can find anyone who can be bothered to do the work.

We charge $15 to VIP and fill a tank. We add $10 to tumble it. I know, we're doing it too cheap. It takes a few hours.

 

[halocline]

You are not supposed to use stainless steel wire whip on aluminum tank. It clearly warns you against it on the commercially sold whips and I think I have seen it on the PSI/PCI book.

I was thinking of some strips of abrasive cloth attached to a rod that would be spun in a drill or something similar. Isn't something like that available? It could be used to knock off loose contaminants and deposits.

 

[oldschoolto]

You are not supposed to use stainless steel wire whip on aluminum tank. It clearly warns you against it on the commercially sold whips and I think I have seen it on the PSI/PCI book.

I find that funny.... We only use stainless steel wire brushes to clean aluminum when weld it... The brush can never have been used on any other metal than aluminum Or it will contaminate the weld .... I would like to know the reasoning behind not using a stainless steel whip in a tank..?

You can get tumbling medium from a few place for not to much money... I use Metalworking Tools - Drills, End Mills, Taps, Machines, Measuring Tools, Abrasives, Power Tools and MRO Supplies | Travers Tool For my metalworking tools and supplies....

Jim....

 

[Bigd2722]

Is the whip material stainless steel? Doesn't look like it to me.

 

[elan]

As we were told in the PCI class you do not use ceramic media in al tanks as its too harsh. If you want to clean the tank from contaminants use glass beeds or alu oxide media.
Gravel should be good for tambling the only thing its hard to ensure its clean from contaminants.

 

[halocline]

As we were told in the PCI class you do not use ceramic media in al tanks as its too harsh. If you want to clean the tank from contaminants use glass beeds or alu oxide media.

I think that's what abrasive cloth is impregnated with, right?

 

[elan]

I think that's what abrasive cloth is impregnated with, right?

Possibly, I wish I knew The media itself looks like pices of oxidized aluminum to me

 

[Captain_Bob]

sorry for thinking this was a joke. I have heard of people using gravel to clean their tanks, its not what I would do but to each their own. But smashing coffee cups to put inside your scuba tank, to clean it, really? All to save a buck or two? There is the cost of these mugs that you should consider. To tumble a tank you should fill it at least half way up, thats a lot of mugs. Then there is the whole lead thing. But what about the sharp edges of the shattered ceramic? That will leave scarring inside your tank, good place for corrosion to start. Good luck