Touch up paint for AL tanks

[captndale]

I have a razor thin nick that goes partly around my AL14. Some moron used it as a jig to cut his drysuit seal. I even put some paper between to prevent cutting the paint, but I used a little too much pressure with the razor in some spots.

Anyhow, I was wondering what people would recommend for some touch up paint- it's a painted Luxfer AL14. I was thinking either a thin smear of epoxy or polyurathane of some sort, but I didn't know if this would bond to the paint or interfere with stripping the tank later on.

I'm not terrible concerned about the nick- it isn't deep and I dive in fresh water, but fixing it will help me sleep at night. Otherwise, I'll have nightmares of water creeping under the paint. Thanks for any suggestions.

Tie a ten foot rope around the neck of your tank. Tie the other end around your bumper. Now, drive a couple of miles down a gravel road. There you are, your tank looks like it has been used a couple of times.

 

[Hoosier]

Hey Hey Hey,

He said, " but fixing it will help me sleep at night." He has to do something to sleep... LOL~~~

 

[do it easy]

I wasn't planning on stripping or sanding any paint to get to bare aluminum. The scratch is barely noticeable- it's looks more like a papercut. I guess I'm really making a mountain out of a molehill here. I'll just leave it as is. Thanks for all the advice, I'll keep it in mind for later on down the road when I get to my AL80s.

 

[MSilvia]

I'll just leave it as is.

One thing you might or might not want to try:

Since it's a small scratch, you might try giving it a wipe with Goof-Off multi-purpose adhesive remover. Based on my experience, it will start to strip the paint, then evaporate off quickly. If you wipe on a wet application and let it dry, you might find that the thinned paint runs into the scratch and fills it. Then again, maybe not.

 

[RonFrank]

I wasn't planning on stripping or sanding any paint to get to bare aluminum. The scratch is barely noticeable- it's looks more like a papercut. I guess I'm really making a mountain out of a molehill here. I'll just leave it as is. Thanks for all the advice, I'll keep it in mind for later on down the road when I get to my AL80s.

My advice on getting AL80's... buy em used. My tanks are so scratched up, with the paint worn down (from having double tank bands), that I could care less about anything but good hydro, good vis.

Actually I borrowed an AL80 from a friend at the hole in December that was just BEAT to HECK! You know what, it dived just like the pretty new AL80's my buddy rented for the trip.. go figure

BTW, I have a neck seal that needs triming... where's that pony tank again?

 

[do it easy]

BTW, I have a neck seal that needs triming... where's that pony tank again?

It really works great, but a coffee can would work better. Unfortunately, I don't drink coffee by the can.

I put few layers of paper around the tank/can, then slid the seal on top of that, more paper around the seal, and then I secured everything with a hose clamp. Be careful about tightening the hose clamp- it doesn't have to be too tight- just enough to keep everything still. I ripped off the excess paper off the top layer so that I could see the seal and make sure it was square. I then ran the razor around the tank, using the hose clamp as a guide, and I had a well cut neck seal.

The paper was there to protect the tank and also keep the hose clamp from biting into the latex. I guess it would help to make sure the underside of the hose clamp is smooth.

 

[oly5050user]

I would recommend leaving it alone. Alum does not rust easily. A LOT of AL tanks are not painted at all.

If it's really bothering you, my suggestion is to strip the paint off the tank. I also liked the sticker idea.. out of sight, out of mind.

In any event, I'd be unconcerned that your paint issue will compromise the tank, it will not.

alum does not rust it oxidizes--think of the oxidation as a scab wound..it does no damage on exterior..as noted there are plenty of tanks with no paint on them they do fine