Scratched painted tanks

[dsteding]

Lynne,

I cleaned up the bottoms of those 98s I used to own, not that difficult. Sandpaper, steel wool, and once bright and shiny, I used a cold galvanizing compound followed by a top coat of grey.

That being said, those 98s had a bunch of paint taken off the bottom. Your Worthingtons seem to be in great shape, a few dings adds some character . . .

 

[TSandM]

Yeah, it's like my beat up dry suit and fraying wing, or Danny's suit that looked as though it had been dragged behind a truck. Worn gear is at least evidence that somebody has been diving!

 

[muddiver]

I notice a lot of people refering to cold galv paint. A better choice if you plan to apply a finish coat of matching paint, is to use a zinc rich primer. The zinc in the primer will prevent the steel from rusing through. Clod galvanizing paint is intended for finish applications and any paint you spray over it wont stay.

 

[oxyhacker]

It's very easy to get carried away, if you try to totally erradicate all the rust, and do more damage than you fix. Rust if it it totally dry and encapsulated is not going to spread, at least, not quickly.

I have a buddy who uses a phosphoric acid rust conversion treatment, and applies it to just the scratch using a Q-tip, rinses and dries well, then uses auto touch-up paint or model plane enamel and and artists brush to just fill the scratch. Seems to work pretty well, but with all touch ups, you got to keep an eye on the spot and retouch as necessary.

Another alternative, that is just one step up from the do-nothing method, is get a wax based rust proofer like Boeshield, and once or twice a year, when the tank is good and dry, saturate the scratch with it.

 

[Scared Silly]

After I got my wife's fabers back from hydro I cleaned up the paint that came off from the stamping - bare metal in this case. Because it was new metal I just washed the cylinders with hot water and an sos pad. That cleaned them up including the old paint dings. Then I painted them applicance white epoxy paint. Worked like a charm. All nice a purty again ;-)

 

[snepdiver]

Not trying to hijack here but it just seemed senseless to start a new thread when my question could fit in this thread. Hopefully Lynne will not be angry at me.

I bought some old rental AL80's and I am not fond of the lime green paint. My question is, Is it considered acceptable to paint them white? I know that O2 tanks have to be white, but is it OK to have a white tank that does not contain O2? LP and ST sell white tanks. Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[Stu S.]

Clay,

In the non-diving world, oxygen tanks are green. In SCUBA, the contents of a cylinder are designated by labels and stickers. You may have a tank any color you want.

There is a popular brand of cylinders that are white, and they happen to be O2 clean from the factory. That's just how they make them, and has nothing to do with the contents.

Stu.

 

[snepdiver]

Thanks Stu.

End hijack.

 

[Racket]

I'm really not concerned as much with how they look as with protecting the steel from rust. If the paint doesn't match perfectly, that's okay. With my blue and white dry suit and red-orange wing and bright orange gloves, I'm a walking Rule 6 violation, anyway.

You are sooo not going to get into the dork divers club.

 

[wedivebc]

I would suggest using a product containing phosphoric acid such as conquest to neutralize the rusted area then just paint over the treated area with a good enamel paint such as tremclad. It won't be the pretiest thing but it will stop the rust.