Ascalon Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 Inspired by Gary in the mag, I had an old ZXR J tank that was full of rust, but not leaking and was cosmetically OK. I charged up an old battery, got a mild steel nail, gave it a good brush with a wire brush and set it up as per Gary's instructions. That said, the bag of soda crystals was a fair bit cheaper that what he paid I set it up, saw some bubbles and thought, Bob is indeed my inlaw. Then I whipped it out to see if it was really working, and this was the result: So, that's a yes then. Took it out about six times like this and on the last extraction, there was only a very light fur on the nail. I then rinsed the fucker four times with clean water and siphoned 99% of it out. It is now drying in my utility room. I'll give it a rinse with some petrol before I use it, but all in all, I was impressed. Cheers Gary! A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanWinkle Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 Probably sounds like a daft question, what is it you were doing?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ascalon Posted March 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 Probably sounds like a daft question, what is it you were doing?. Reverse electrolysis to remove rust from the inside of mild steel petrol tank. I used a solution of 500g washing soda to 12 litres of water, 12v motorcycle battery and a six inch mild steel nail. Connected negative pole of battery to tank, positive to nail. Dangle nail in solution inside tank taking care not to touch the tank sides, removed every hour to so, to find pictured level of rust and gunge on nail. Remove, repeat, till only light deposits left on nail. Rinse with clean water till all residue of soda crystals is gone. Dry thoroughly, then rinse with petrol before refitting. Job, jobbed. A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanWinkle Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 sounds a pretty clever idea.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ascalon Posted March 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 sounds a pretty clever idea.. It's bloody magic! I'd have been burned at the stake for it A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rompy McPoot Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 Who'd have thought chemistry* would ever actually be useful! * It *is* chemistry, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorenzo Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 I did it on the bros tank. It's good but don't be fooled by the shit that ends up on the sacrificial metal lump, most of that is the lump rusting away. The other thing is you once treated tank is going to be back down to fairly raw metal, and will probably rust like a motherhumper, so I'd have a look at some kind of treatment. POR15 do a kit that specifically designed for bike tanks. The other, slightly trickier to work out element of this, is when do you stop? If you've got holes in your tank that are being plugged by rust, then you might be adding to your problems as much as you're resolving them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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