For more intense tank cleaning, I made one of these.
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Cleaning rust from inside an Old Steel 72
- Thread starter JamesBon92007
- Start date
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Here's my bottom brush. It's just a wire brush I welded to a piece of threaded rod stock I had laying around.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg153/Deepsixdivegroup/04091101.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg153/Deepsixdivegroup/04091101.jpg
Tommymac
Contributor
Another tumbler plan. You can use a metal car creeper. Remove pads and attach a thick, and stiff board or cut up an old hardwood door for a platform. Rollers are 7/16 steel rods with rubber milking machine hose slipped over them. One is an idler, the other has a 4 1/2" pulley attached, the other end is a 1/2" pulley on the motor. Rollers mounted to platform with pillow block bushings. Uprights are to prevent tank from working its way into the motor or off the rollers. I used carriage bolts with pvc pipe slipped over them. Larger pulley needs a cut out on platform, thats why you need wheels on the platform... RPM of tank is good, but I'm going from memory on pulley sizes. No other reduction gearing is needed.
Admittedly, my whip didn't clean quite as well as I had hoped, as I mentioned in the thread. I still want to make a tumbler. If your tanks are 1/2" valved, I don't see how the cables can make the right angle turn along the shaft and still fit through the hole as per ZKY's description. Should work fine with 3/4" valves, and be more efficient than mine. I based mine on commercial whips, but do wish it did a better job of cleaning than it did.
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JamesBon92007
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First, I won't use chlorine. Thanks for that warning.
Right now I have a 6 VDC lamp attached to a small 6V battery and it is inedequate but I can see the flash rust. Somewhere I have a little mirror I made for inspecting the necks. I used a spot type flashlight with the mirror and could see clearly.
I have considered making a tumbler. I (somewhere) have a couple of rock tumblers so I'm familiar with the process. Can I use the same abrasive compounds? Obviously some kind of solid materials would need to be added. Rocks, perhaps?
I can't recall if I've ever inspected a tank after it came back from hydro testing to see if it had rust in it. They generally come back from the dive shop filled with air. I guess I'll find out soon. One used tank I looked at has so much rust I decided not to buy it but the one's I did buy only have a fine dusting of rust. I suspect they will pass hydro no problem.
Two of the tanks look like they were dipped in black plastic. Where the VIP stickers were attached the plastic has lifted and is easy to remove but tought to remove elsewhere. The galvanizing underneath is bright and shiny. I think I'll try some paint stripper.
Right now I have a 6 VDC lamp attached to a small 6V battery and it is inedequate but I can see the flash rust. Somewhere I have a little mirror I made for inspecting the necks. I used a spot type flashlight with the mirror and could see clearly.
I have considered making a tumbler. I (somewhere) have a couple of rock tumblers so I'm familiar with the process. Can I use the same abrasive compounds? Obviously some kind of solid materials would need to be added. Rocks, perhaps?
I can't recall if I've ever inspected a tank after it came back from hydro testing to see if it had rust in it. They generally come back from the dive shop filled with air. I guess I'll find out soon. One used tank I looked at has so much rust I decided not to buy it but the one's I did buy only have a fine dusting of rust. I suspect they will pass hydro no problem.
Two of the tanks look like they were dipped in black plastic. Where the VIP stickers were attached the plastic has lifted and is easy to remove but tought to remove elsewhere. The galvanizing underneath is bright and shiny. I think I'll try some paint stripper.
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