Rust on steel tanks

[jefffalcone]

How big of a problem is surface rust on the outside of steel tanks?

How can you remove it and/or prevent it from spreading?

 

[captndale]

How big of a problem is surface rust on the outside of steel tanks?

How can you remove it and/or prevent it from spreading?

As long as it is not badly pitted it is not too much of a problem.

Scrape it off and paint the bare steel with Rustoleum.

 

[jefffalcone]

Cool. Thanks. About what I figured.

I just bought 4 PST LP 95s for $100 a piece. 2 of them have some minor rusting. They all need to be hydroed, but the guy will refund my money if they fail.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Why rustoleum as opposed to a galvanizing spray paint?

 

[roakey]

Back in the day when people actually used the search function to kept discussion of a particular topic in one thread so the board was easy to use and reference, we had this all-inclusive, very informative thread:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ta...rnal-rust-stripping-painting-steel-tanks.html

Roak

 

[jefffalcone]

Back in the day when people actually used the search function to kept discussion of a particular topic in one thread so the board was easy to use and reference, we had this all-inclusive, very informative thread:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ta...rnal-rust-stripping-painting-steel-tanks.html

Roak

If the search function worked, I would use it. Unfortunately everytime I try I come up with a hundred unrelated links. At some point you get sick of trying when all you have is a simple question that you're sure dozens of people can answer in a matter of seconds.

Thanks for the link.

 

[roakey]

If the search function worked, I would use it. Unfortunately everytime I try I come up with a hundred unrelated links. At some point you get sick of trying when all you have is a simple question that you're sure dozens of people can answer in a matter of seconds.

And establishing yet another base note simply contributes to the hundreds of links that come up when you do a search.

Don't become part of the problem.

How I found the link: Advanced search, limit the search to titles, narrow it to the Tanks, Valves and Bands forum, search for "rust" and look for a post with a good title and lots of replies.

Yhea you have to learn how to use the search function effectively and even then you have to do some "due diligence" because of all those that came before you that decided to post, yet again, because it was "a simple question that you're sure dozens of people can answer in a matter of seconds."

You also get better, more complete answers if you go searching because a lot of people, especially the ones with a lot of experience and have been in here for awhile have answered the question already a dozen times, and won't bother to answer it yet again. So the quality of answers to new, but repeated, posts on this board degrades with time.

So your choice: New post, incomplete answers or using the search function and finding literally years of good, detailed information.

Roak

 

[jefffalcone]

Thanks again. I appreciate the advise.

On the other hand, I was just looking for a quick answer. Not really looking to weed through years of good information.

I wasn't aware that asking questions that have been asked before bothered people. Thanks again for the advise.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

I wasn't aware that asking questions that have been asked before bothered people.

Are you kidding me? That and DIR/notDIR are like the only two things that really get people going!

This evening I wanted to find a post by Netdoc reccomending a dive shop here in Orlando that he liked. I could have posted again the Florida Conch's section with "need help finding dive shop in orlando" but I didn't feel like wasting server space. I took me about 20 minutes to find the thread, using various search terms to find Netdoc's exact post.

It doesn't take very long to use the search function at all, especially for a simple thing like rust on steel tanks, which is a relatively common topic. You can find a thread that answers your question in 5 or so minutes most likely. If you had been asking about the effects of long term exposure of a steel scuba tank originaly made in 1913 with the older tapered valve to high doses of gamma radiation....well that's a pretty rare question, you might have to make a new post for that one It's not like you need to be shot or anything, but it does get old when you see the same topic over and over again, when it has been answered with much more indepth and precise answers inthe past.



Just to make my post more useful, since Roakey pretty much told you what you need to know to use the search function, the linked to topic mentions the fact that spraying with paint can actually hide future rust underneath the paint. If you plan to paint the tank, you need to first spray it with a galvanizing (zinc) compound or something like Rustoleum's "rust inhibitor." That should protect the steel from rusting away underneath your paint. Personally, I'd just hit it with some of the silver galvanizing spray and leave it...tanks aren't meant to be pretty.

 

[captain]

Better to roll on the galvanizing type paint (ZRC Galvalite) than using a spray can. The spray coverage is not thick enough and coverage tends to be uneven and porous. Roll on 3 coats with a foam roller.