I need help with a vinyl Coated Tank

[Paintballpsyco2369]

Well, back again... I wont bother reposting the previous stuff from this thread. Mainly because I cannot find any of it. But here is an update anyways....


I went to the LDS a few weeks ago to take care of some stuff, and I was talking with one of the guys there, and he suggested the wire brush on a wheel. So when I got home, I went out to the garage and gave it a shot. TO my surprise, it worked rather well. So for the last week, every couple of days I go out, and strap it down to a wooden bench, and go at it with the wheel. All I have left to remove now is a 3-4 inch band across the lower part of the tank, and some small touch ups or what I missed with the razor blades. Oddly enough I found a stamp on the very bottom of the tank that said 160. Any idea what that means? I am planning to go tomorrow to get the cold galvanizing, then from there coming home, finishing the tank cleaning, then I will start to galvanize it. One question though still remains. Is there anything I should do after I finish removing the vinyl and surface rust that has formed, before I put on the cold galve? Or should I just use the air compressor to blow it all off? Please let me know as soon as you can. Thanks again to those of you who helped me with the previous thread...


Paint

 

[Paintballpsyco2369]

UPDATE: All the Vinyl is gone! It took several hours in total, but with the help of a power drill, and a wire brush wheel, it is now all gone. AS soon as I go and pick up some cold galvanizing, I will give it a final brushing to get rid of all the small vinyl spots I missed when using the razor blade, and to clean up all the light surface rust that formed while it was sitting once I got the coating off. Then on the recommendation of a person at a LDS, and a good friend of mine who used to run a dive shop, I will give it a light sanding with a very fine grit sandpaper, then rub it all down with some paint thinner. I will make sure to get it all off, and make sure it is very dry. Then I will put on the cold galvanizing. I do plan to put on at lest 4 coats of the stuff so it gets a good coating and will last a long time. I will be sure to update as I go, and post pictures of the finished product. Thanks again all, hope to talk to you soon on here.

Paintball

 

[Gil57usa]

If you are talking about the cold galv that comes in a spray can, don't expect it to last a long time. We use the stuff on welds we do on galvanized metal. It's fine for a surface that won't see much movement or abrasion, but doesn't last long when exposed to friction of any sort. Frankly, I would reccommend a good quality enamel paint like Rustoleum.

 

[Paintballpsyco2369]

I really did not plan to use the spray on kind, however that seems to be the only kind I can find around me. The nearest other store that might have it in a quart would be Lowes or Home Depot which are both about 30 mins away. I plan to get up there one of these days and look though. As for the Rustoleum, we had a long discussion about materials in this thread before it got deleted when the site was down. WE ended up determining that the Cold Galve would be best. However, I was looking at my other tank, which is even older than the one I am working on now. All that tank has on it is a good coating of Paint (rustproof I assume). It is an old U.S. Diver's Co. Tank from 1960, which I still use. It passed hydro and is still good. I am wondering now if I could just do that and be ok. Just get a good anti-rust paint and put a few coats of that on the tank. Again it sounds like a good idea but so did the vinyl coating at the time. If I could just do the rust proof paint, and then keep a close eye on it and in the event of a rust spot, just clean it off, and add more paint; that would be much easier for me, and a lot cheaper too. I can also find very very good rust proof paint here. 90% of the people I ask by me have never heard of cold galve anyways so... The only question on that note, would it be safe for the tank to do that, or would it be better to just cold galve it? Or I know we had been discussing marine epoxy in the other thread. Wouldn't it be the best option to just use that on the bare metal so I could see the steel, then if there is a rust spot it would be seen way before it becomes a problem, and much easier to touch up. So should I still even bother with the cold galve, or just use marine epoxy? Let me know your opinion, and the other guys who were helping out, let me know your opinions. Thanks again.

Paint

 

[DennisW]

If you keep the surface covered with the cold galvanize, your tank should last a long time. You will have to touch it up from time to time, but it works. I have one and it is fine.

 

[Paintballpsyco2369]

Well, I still have not had any time to finish up that tank, however I did just get another older tank that is galvanized underneath. IT seems to have some kind of rubber or latex or possibly Teflon coating on the outside. I already have most of it off (this stuff just peels right off) but some of it is sticking rather well. I am not sure who made the tank yet, however I do see a mark of "HJ". I am not sure if that is a manufacturer, or possibly the previous owners initials. I will know more on that note once I get the rest of the coating off. I do also know that it was pressurized when store, as it was full when I got it. I drained it, and the valve came right off. I have yet to put a light inside it, however it does kind of smell like rubber, so I fear it has an internal coating. Again, I will know more once I check it out. If anyone has any ideas on the "HJ" name, please let me know. AS for the other tank, I might be able to get to that this weekend, and finish off that little project. Thanks again.

Paint

 

[captain]

HJ, Heathways

 

[kiwi_diver]

If the HJ is followed by a space then a 6 digit number, that's a Norris Thermador tank. HJ was a serial prefix from the early '70s. I have two in this range, HJ 225084 from 02/71 and HJ 244991 from 06/71. By '79 they were using the HM range. Norris tanks have a three character code on the very bottom too. The Norris logo is an N inside a diamond and appears very close to the first hydro stamp.

Ray.

 

[Puffer Fish]

Well, I still have not had any time to finish up that tank, however I did just get another older tank that is galvanized underneath. IT seems to have some kind of rubber or latex or possibly Teflon coating on the outside. I already have most of it off (this stuff just peels right off) but some of it is sticking rather well. I am not sure who made the tank yet, however I do see a mark of "HJ". I am not sure if that is a manufacturer, or possibly the previous owners initials. I will know more on that note once I get the rest of the coating off. I do also know that it was pressurized when store, as it was full when I got it. I drained it, and the valve came right off. I have yet to put a light inside it, however it does kind of smell like rubber, so I fear it has an internal coating. Again, I will know more once I check it out. If anyone has any ideas on the "HJ" name, please let me know. AS for the other tank, I might be able to get to that this weekend, and finish off that little project. Thanks again.

Paint

Would not be Teflon, as an actual teflon coating takes very high temperatures and it would mess with any hardening. But nylon would be fairly common to use and melts at around 360 F.

Note: Putting Teflon in a coating is not the same as a teflon coating.. one is slippery the other has lots of neat properties and takes around 800 F.

 

[Paintballpsyco2369]

I found some cold galve at Home Depot, and got a 20 oz Rustoleum can of it for $4.95. Just curious, I figure I should get about 2-4 coats out of the can, would this be a correct assumption? Also about the Teflon thing, I realized that it was rubber. Maybe nylon, but I am pretty sure it was just rubber. Only a very, very small patch is left, and that is incredibly hard to get off. I have been using the edge of a painter’s tool to get it off, very slow. Remaining patch is only about 3 inches by maybe 2.5 inches. Might just leave it for now, I need to get one last opinion from a 3rd shop on if the tank will be good or not.


On Another note about tanks, took the boot off my old 1960's tank in the shop the other day, and there was some rust underneath it. So it was highly recommended to me that I repaint that tank as well. Now it will be getting a coating of the original yellow paint (was told it was sunflower yellow from home depot). What I am wondering is, as an extra layer of protection, should I use an epoxy base, or an epoxy top coat? Also, being that the tank is as old as it is, there is still the original sticker on it. I would like to preserve it if at all possibly, and not remove it. Is there any way to do this, or should I just get a new replacement sticker, and completely strip the tank, wire brush the rust, and then do the coating whichever it may be (epoxy, paint or paint then epoxy)?

Thanks again for all the help. I should be posting some more pics soon of the one being galvanized, and I will post links to pics of the other tanks if anyone is interested. Hope to hear from you guys soon.

Paint