Dogs breakfast

[yuflesh]

Good day everyone,
just a quick question. I got an oldish luxfer tank that is in great shape. Just got it hydroed and visually inspected. However, it look like crap.

Every time I take it to get it filled, I get a look. Tank itself is fine, but paint is peeling. Paint it bright red, and it tank is silver (aluminium 80 cu tank).


Any idea how to remove the paint and make it look just plain silver. Its esthetics I know, but it looks bad. I dont want to use chemicals etc, and wire brush doesnt seem to do the trick....

Any suggetions?

Thank you,

Marko

 

[Jimmer]

I've had a couple of my tanks glass bead blasted in the past. Crushed walnut blasting would be good too, as it wouldn't dig into the aluminum like sandblasting does.

 

[Scared Silly]

Did you do a search as this topic has been covered multiple times - aircraft aluminum stripper is what you are looking for.

 

[Graeme Tolton]

I have used furniture stripper. LePage Super stripper works great. Seemed to work best on days when it was hot and humid. Also, some pain is harder to remove than others... I had 2 al80's from the same mfg, same year, but different colors of pain. The yellow took far longer to remove than the green one did.. AND they both had a different finish under the paint. However, the above mentioned product worked on both. If you do end up using a chemical stripper, it should be done outside in a well ventilated area, I would imagine the stuff is pretty toxic.

 

[txapacheguy]

Did you do a search as this topic has been covered multiple times - aircraft aluminum stripper is what you are looking for.

Agreed. It has already been mentioned, but paint stripper is nasty stuff. (I used to paint planes once upon a time) Protect your tank valve and associated plastic and rubber parts from it. I think that I would wrap the valve with heavy plastic around the output and valve. I would then wrap that entire area down to the base of the valve with aluminum foil tape, sealing the whole thing with two to three layers of that tape (available at walmart or a home improvement store). Aviation paint stripper WILL cause corrosion on exposed steel, and WILL either melt or damage most plastic/rubber/synthetic substances it comes in contact with. It also smells bad and irritates skin, eyes, and mucous membranes. It works better when it and the workpiece is warm, and is easily neutralized with soap and water. Have some nitrile rubber gloves and a few scotchbrites to knock loose the stubborn bits of paint.

EDIT: Check out this link before you proceed with the paint stripper. It seems that Luxfer does not agree with me. I stand by my technique for use of paint stripper, but it may not be suitable for an aluminum tank.