It's probably me but I'm having really bad luck with ZRC, but I'm also spraying over Zinc (I think). I'm pretty sure that the Fabers I have have a zinc coating under the paint. Sprayed ZRC over that and the ZRC comes off quite easily.
Has Anyone Stripped and Repainted Steel Tanks?
- Thread starter laughintom
- Start date
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FredT
Guest
ZRC needs to be applied to grease free bare white metal. As with any coating process the better you prep the surface the better the end result will be. Check to see if you have a semi-porus base coat still on the Fabers that is holding some unwanted chemistry. If so then remove it.
FT
FT
OP
laughintom
Contributor
After a ton of wire brushing and aircraft stripper failed to work in the old damaged galvinizing, I had them bead blasted. These things went from beat up junk to new looking tanks. I have applied the first coat of ZRC and they look great already. I am going to put on a second coat and then top with an aliphatic polyurethane. I will post photos of the completed tanks.
Tamas
Contributor
Please do! I am interested in the way they turn out.
mohave_steve
Contributor
Dave,
I would not be suprised at 180 after a good period in the sun. I have measured air temps approaching 160 in the cab of my truck after sitting in the sun for 7-8 hours.
I have also burned my hand to the point of blisters from grabbing a black door handle on the entry door to a local business. The owner has since wrapped the door handle with white nylon rope to prevent future injuries.
KOMPRESSOR
Contributor
Has anyone tried Hammerrite metal paint? Needs no primer, and comes in some cool "hammered" colors! I wonder if this could be suitable since I've used it to just about anything else, including painting old outdoor tools.
JohnBhutch
Registered
I can tell everyone that they should NEVER use "Aircraft Stripper" on steel tanks. It is meant for aluminum only!!!!! it can cause Hydrogen Embrittlement and cause a tank to rupture. You must use a stripper that is meant for steal.
scubadmike
Guest
Hi This Is "scubadmike" I Am A Truck Mechanic & Painter . Your Best Bet Is Go To A Auto Paint Shop ,tell Them What Your Doing..they Will Advise You ..i Used A da sander .then Spray A Rust Inhibeder,then I Spraded A Primer On The Tank. After That The Paint; You Can Add Metal Flakesto Bring Out The Luster ..the Paint Shop Can Advise On Ho-to Do All The Above 
Gilldiver
Contributor
Most of the "Aircraft Stripper" are usually a methylene Chloride based material. If so, it is safe on all metals including steel, aluminum, titanium, and magnesium.
If it has benzyl alcohol we do not allow for its use on high strength steels due to the potential for hydrogen embrittlement. But for tanks this should be almost impossible as you just don't have the soak time and the surface is easily cleaned. If you do want to avoid any possibility of hydrogen embrittlement you could do a post bake within 24 hours at 250F for 6 hours.
I do not recommend the use of any alkaline strippers for any tanks due to the corrosive nature of the sodium hydroxide chemistries.
"Klean Strip Aircraft Stripper" works fine to strip paint from aluminum and steel scuba tanks. It reportedly does not cause any problems of hydrogen embrittlement in that application.
Before I began stripping the paint off my aluminum and steel scuba tanks, I did quite a bit of research. That included reading about hydrogen embrittlement, reviewing quite a few references online and speaking personally on the phone with representatives of Luxfer, the maker of my aluminum scuba tanks, and Barr, the maker of "Klean Strip Aircraft Stripper".
Essentially, the metal's exposure time to the gel-type methylene chloride stripper is too short to create any danger of hydrogen embrittlement for either aluminum or steel scuba tanks.
High-strength aircraft aluminum had problems of hydrogen embrittlement primarily where the stripper was not effectively rinsed away, such as under rivets and joints, IIRC. That resulted in the higher military specification for strippers that avoid hydrogen embrittlement, I believe.
As far as stripping scuba tanks, methylene chloride works great, especially if the tank is warmed up first, such as in a hot tub of water (about 100F), to speed up the reaction. If the tanks are warmed, it usually only took two ten-minute sessions of stripping to completely remove the paint. At room temperature, it can easily take twice as long and possibly extra sessions.
I applied the gel generously with a brush to the surface of the warm, dry tank, and then immediately covered the tank with plastic wrap to reduce evaporation. Blistering of the paint would be immediate and rapid and taper off in about 5 minutes. After waiting another 5 minutes, most of the paint could be wiped off with a paper towel, but some required wire brushing or scraping and a small amount would require that second session.
When all the paint was gone, the tank was washed with soapy water and rinsed.
I've done three aluminum tanks and about a dozen HP steel tanks. I used the Low Odor Aircraft Stripper by Klean Strip.
I did not repaint because my preference is for bare tanks.
Here are some references.
Unfortunately, I can't provide corroboration of my phone calls to Luxfer or Klean Strip, but those were the most convincing about the suitability of using methylene chloride on both aluminum and metal scuba tanks, especially when one considers how overly cautious companies have had to become legally.
An article about using Zip Strip (methylene chloride) on aluminum tanks:
Sea Lancers SCUBA Articles
Zip Strip link:
702 Aircraft Paint Remover from Star Bronze Company
Klean Strip Aircraft Remover link:
Welcome to KleanStrip.com
That has a link to view the label, which states it's suitability for use on steel also.
Dave C
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