Painting a Tank

[marchand]

I was talking to a guy at the dive site a while back and he painted his tanks with this "cocktail" that they paint oil rigs with. It was tough as nails, much tougher that the paint on a faber tank. I'm not sure what is in the cocktail, but it might be worth looking into.

 

[jswan]

What about AL tanks .... can they be painted?

If so, is there anything differnt from painting a steel tank??

Aluminum is a LOT harder to get coatings to adhere to. Aluminum naturally develops an aluminum oxide (corrosion) layer over it very, very quickly when exposed to air. This coating, while excellent at proctecting the aluminum itself, it doesn't allow a coating such as primer to stick to the aluminum. This is why aluminum is either anodized, electroplated or coated using a charged powdercoat.

You can try it if you'd like, the chemical paint removers won't harm the material, but there's no guarantee that the paint will adhere to the tank or if it will peel off of the tank the first time you take the tank straps off.

I hope this helps...

 

[jswan]

I was talking to a guy at the dive site a while back and he painted his tanks with this "cocktail" that they paint oil rigs with. It was tough as nails, much tougher that the paint on a faber tank. I'm not sure what is in the cocktail, but it might be worth looking into.

Never heard of anything like this, but if it involves any sort of epoxy, stay away from it. Epoxies, when scored, will allow water to get under the coating and 'blister', which could cause the tank to corrode from the outside, while not showing any signs of damage. Also, the expansion and contraction of the tank during pressure changes will cause an epoxy to crack, further allowing the same conditions to occur.

Again, I don't know what's in this cocktail, but if you find out, make sure you look into all of the ingredients carefully...

 

[Spimon]

I'm sure there's plenty of cocktails that people swear by, but maybe worth looking into something like the products available from MCU Coatings. They're used on ships, offshore structures and general industrial structures. I'm not sure what the hardness is, but probably not too hard to find out.
Unfortunately they only come in 5L or 15L cans and I'd imagine it'd be pretty expensive and I have no idea where to get it.

MCU-Coatings: Moisture Cure Urethane Protective Coatings, Industrial Coatings, Marine Coatings

 

[4sak3n]

Hi Phychotics, I have sprayed by steel tanks with Dulux Duco. It is a quick drying spray paint in a 300 ml tin. It looks great. My cylinders are sprayed the normal grey on top and the rest yellow.

I have learned, many years ago, that legislation requires that the colouring of cylinders containing pressurised breathing air shall be canary yellow body with a grey shoulder.

I know this post is old but I just want to point out that this colouring only holds in South Africa where pressurised cylinders fall under SABS legislation.

In America, where cylinders fall under the jurisdiction of DOT, there will be different legislation. As far as I am aware, there is no such limitation on paint colour in America.

If the OP were asking about repainting his cylinder in SA, this would hold true. But he isn't.

 

[widdahbruddah]

Waaayyy too cool, odessa.dk!
This has got me thinking about painting my aluminum 80s. A simple google search turned up Ron Joseph, Paint Consultant at rjoseph@exponent.com. Here's a link. Best of luck, and let me know how it goes! Painting Aluminum Aircraft, Outboard Motors, Decks, Houses, Etc.

 

[diver35]

Al tanks can be painted just make sure that you use an adhesion promoter or an aluminum etc. most body shops will know of this.

Steel tanks that are galvanized should also have an adhesion promoter applied to make sure that the finish does not lift. Don't go cheap on the clear coat! that is what is going to protect your paint job and/or art work. I you are going to paint it doing something with it. art work etc. We do custom artwork on tanks all the time. airbrushing to pinstriping. and man it will blow your friends away. Looks real cool underwater as well.

 

[crlavoie]

Al tanks can be painted just make sure that you use an adhesion promoter or an aluminum etc. most body shops will know of this.

Steel tanks that are galvanized should also have an adhesion promoter applied to make sure that the finish does not lift. Don't go cheap on the clear coat! that is what is going to protect your paint job and/or art work. I you are going to paint it doing something with it. art work etc. We do custom artwork on tanks all the time. airbrushing to pinstriping. and man it will blow your friends away. Looks real cool underwater as well.

Correct. Once the tank is stripped, you would need to use an acid catalyzed, vinyl "Wash Primer" which is used to etch the surface. It is intended for use on aluminum but can be used on galvy as well. It's a very thin film product (around .4-.7 mil per coat). Sherwin Williams makes one (P60G2 is the model). It also must be applied with a sprayer to control film build. After that, you "can" go straight to a 2 part polyurethane topcoat on Aluminum (it should be an isocyanate catalyzed urethane). However, on steel, you need to use a 2 part epoxy primer between the wash primer and urethane top coat.

 

[NAM001]

beware about painting al tanks in a shop they heat to cure the tank was hardened at 180-200 degrees. your paint shop exceeds theis temp and structurally the metel is weakened. steel temp is much higher say 500. when they cook at 400 you are well over the safe temp of al . that is why many al tanks are failed..... because of the shop repaint jobs. go talk to psi folks about dos and donts on refinishing tanks.

 

[NAM001]

What about AL tanks .... can they be painted?

If so, is there anything differnt from painting a steel tank??

if the paint is baked on the steel can handle it where the al can not with out weakening the metal.