Who has tank tumbler

[andrewy]

have 5 tanks to tumble any one has one?

 

[Kiwi303]

make your own, one of theother hydro/tumbling threads had a nice picture of a tumbler, and frankly, I oculd put one together with what is just lying around in the shed here on the farm... McMaster Carr has everything you would need in the US, and here I'd be visiting Blackwoods Paykels NZ.

 

[lordhelmet]

I have to ask being new and all. What is a tumbler and why would you do it to tanks?

 

[CuNanoTube]

It is too bad you are not in Ontario. I work at a place where we do a large amount of cynidation on a bench scale.
Long story short we have rollers used to tumble bottles that could easily fit upwards of 15 tanks at once.

 

[Kiwi303]

I have to ask being new and all. What is a tumbler and why would you do it to tanks?

A tumbler is used to remove rust and other contaminates from the inside of a tank, say the tank fill place didn't check their filters properly and drain the condensate, so you have moist air in your steels which condenses on the sides of the tank and causes rust. A tumbler is a motor fixed to a roller with another free wheeling roller next to it, the tank gets filled with enough abrasive media to come 2/3rds of the way up the sides when the tank is laid on its side, and placed on the rollers. as it turns the rolling motion causes the abrasive media to scrape all the crud off the inside of the tank, leaving it nice and clean and shiny.

A clean tank is a healthy tank.


check out here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/tanks-valves-bands/374288-how-much-rust-after-hydro-acceptable.html it covers tumbling.

 

[Peter_C]

I have one...except it is still a little red fire truck car for kids and an electric motor. It's future is written though.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

If there's water in the valve when you fill the tank, the water gets
pushed into the tank by the fill. Always crack the valve to blow out
any water before you hand the tank to the shop.


Chuck

 

[adelman]

have 5 tanks to tumble any one has one?

If you decide to go the "make one" route, you're also going to need:

Tumbling media (around 20-30# per tank, depending on the size and media). This is a lot cheaper from a metal finishing place than from GMC. You can speed up the process by adding some garnet grit to the mix. Believe it or not, Sears.COM has a good price on this due to their free shipping if you order over $50. In Mexico, they use smashed up ceramic tiles. I would recommend 1/4" or 3/16" ceramic balls; they are easy to get in and out of the cylinders.

Plugs for the cylinders. If you have the 7/8" thread, you can use PVC 1/2 NPT plugs; they fit well enough (but they are the wrong thread; use *PVC* plugs so they get damaged rather than the tanks!!!!). 3/4" thread plugs can be made if you have some of the caps that come with new cylinders; just remove the desiccant.

A way of getting the media into the cylinder. I use a funnel with the bottom taper cut to the largest possible size.

A way of getting the media out of the cylinder. I invert the cylinder over a bucket and tease the media out with a piece of 1/4" tubing adapted to a garden hose. This is much harder on the smaller-necked cylinders.

A way of rinsing the cylinder. Invert, spray water.

A way of drying the cylinder. If you're tumbling steel cylinders, an anti-rust additive like Compound O helps. If you're planning on your tanks being Oxygen clean for partial-pressure mixing of Nitrox, plan on an Oxygen-safe rust inhibitor. I use a rig I made that connects a heat gun to 1/2" copper pipe with holes drilled in it. Other choices include blasting with scuba air from another cylinder, or using an air-conditioning vacuum pump to boil the water out.

This presumes you're tumbling wet. I do, but there are advantages and disadvantages to either way. The problem with dry is that you get electrostatic adhesion of the media dust to the walls of the cylinder which can be difficult to blow out. The problem with wet is the mess, and some claim slower cutting action.

Oh yeah. Almost forgot -- dirty cloths and patience.

 

[Peter_C]

^Good points.

Someone with 5 tanks probably has an old useless yoke valve laying around to use for an end plug. I hear of people just using gravel for media. There are some good threads on The Deco Stop regarding tumbling.

 

[zinmaker]

I have one...except it is still a little red fire truck car for kids and an electric motor. It's future is written though.

Hey, don't trash the firetruck too much, I might want it for my chickens to jump around on inside of the coop! I'll give you a couple dozen eggs.