Repainting tank

[Tom from MA]

Hey folks!

Not long ago I picked up a used pair of white Faber 120s. They’re in fantastic shape and have served me well thus far, but have one small issue—the previous owner painted his lobster license # on them in giant black numbers. Now that I’m about to start taking lobster again this year, I need to either paint over them, or at least cross them out and use a tank tag. Any advice on what paint I should use/general best practices for painting a steel tank?

 

[Galt]

You should be able to take off whatever paint he used with some solvent. Not much sticks well to the factory coating. I would start with rubbing alcohol, and if that fails go to a more aggressive solvent to see if you can get it off that way.

 

[W W Meixner]

Hey folks!

Not long ago I picked up a used pair of white Faber 120s. They’re in fantastic shape and have served me well thus far, but have one small issue—the previous owner painted his lobster license # on them in giant black numbers. Now that I’m about to start taking lobster again this year, I need to either paint over them, or at least cross them out and use a tank tag. Any advice on what paint I should use/general best practices for painting a steel tank?

As Galt said...

Start with a small area first to ensure you're not dissolving the factory finish...

Try one of those ''magic'' scouring pads...moistened with a little dish detergent...

To replace the numbers...suggest adhesive backed number/letter stickers...DGX (Dive Gear Express) has what you need...

Looks far more professional...and easy to change/remove...some dive shops frown on any painted over-finish when it comes to cylinder servicing...

Best...

Warren

 

[runsongas]

if you do decide to strip the tanks, consider going with zrc cold galv instead of repainting. protects the tanks better.

 

[Rred]

The white Fabers should be EPOXY coated, not regular paint IIRC. And there's all sorts of paints and solvents. The odds are the last owner used something like a half-pint can of Rustoleum either water based or alkyd paint to paint those numbers. You might want to check at a good hardware store, but I'd start with mineral spirits, and work my way up to the professional grade goof-off(? small metal tin like lighter fluid) which is an acetone and something else mixture, very aggressive on paints.

The "miracle sponges" are melamine foam that is about equal to a 3000-grit abrasive, which is similar to a white car compound. White compound with a polishing wheel also probably can take that off without damaging the paint on the tank. You might find a local auto body shop that will take a look at it and say "Sure, we can polish that off, hold on a minute" and be happy for $20-30? and do it right the first time.

Repainting will extremely unlikely to give you the look of the factory finish, and it is very hard to cover black with white unless you prime everything with opaque primer first. LOTS of work.

 

[BradMM]

On a related topic, I'd like to simply mark my Faber steel tank to identify it. A painted on dot would suffice. Special paint?

 

[Rred]

A little coarse sandpaper (80-120 grit) to roughen the epoxy surface, then a dab of Testor's hobby paint, which is a good enamel paint in a small bottle, or any evil solvent based paint should do. Punch or cut a circle in a piece of masking tape if you want a neat "spot".

If you see a tank that says NOT YOUR TANK on it, that one's mine. I wasn't sure anyone could read dots.

 

[BradMM]

THX Rred

 

[Nathan Doty]

Hey folks!

Not long ago I picked up a used pair of white Faber 120s. They’re in fantastic shape and have served me well thus far, but have one small issue—the previous owner painted his lobster license # on them in giant black numbers. Now that I’m about to start taking lobster again this year, I need to either paint over them, or at least cross them out and use a tank tag. Any advice on what paint I should use/general best practices for painting a steel tank?

Throw a sticker over it, done. Or grab some white plastidip. If your dive shop has issues with it being 'painted' you can just peel it off in about 10 seconds.

Throw a sticker over it, easy peasy.