CLR for tank cleaning??

I searched the archives a little and found some info but I was wondering if anyone has used CLR cleaner for cleaning tanks? I would like to know what your process was and how well it worked. Did you use it straight or dilute it? I have a tank with some light rust in it and am thinking of trying CLR.

Thanks

This is the stuff.

A chemist i work with said this would work great for cleaning tanks.
Must be someone whos tried it

Post edited by: harm, at: 2007/07/12 18:47

I've never used it on a tank, but is sure cleans the rust off of plumping fixtures. It may be worth a try at least it shouldn't hurt any thing. Just be sure to rinse it out good and then give the tank a heavy dose of wd40 as a rinse to stop any flash rusting, fill it with gas ASAP.
Ride safe

Use Home Depot concrete etch and cleaner(think it's behr brand).has phosphoric acid in it.cheap(about $15. a gallon last I bought it)and it'll leave your tank clean as a whistle after a few swishes,dump through paint filter,swish,etc etc,then rinse with water.After I did my H2 tank I put a few ounces of 2 stroke in and swished till I filled with gas.

Home Despot Concrete Etch

Post edited by: KZCSI, at: 2007/07/13 23:26

I used it straight and was unimpressed. It may work for very light rust but not for anything heavy.
I used straight phosphoric acid from Home Depot, I left it in for about 2 hours and the tank looked great. After that I neutralized it with baking soda, rinsed tank with water, rinsed with isopropyl alchohol and then coated with 2 cycle oil

My experience with Concrete driveway cleaner and Etcher from Home Depot was exciting. I used the gallon and 2-3 gallons of water in the tank, went inside for a few and when I came out I had a volcanic spewing mess all over the garage floor and running down the driveway, bleaching everything as white as can be. I guess it got clean.

djfisher22 wrote:

Use Home Depot concrete etch and cleaner(think it's behr brand).has phosphoric acid in it.cheap(about $15. a gallon last I bought it)and it'll leave your tank clean as a whistle after a few swishes,dump through paint filter,swish,etc etc,then rinse with water.After I did my H2 tank I put a few ounces of 2 stroke in and swished till I filled with gas.

I've had great luck with etch as well.

If you're feeling up to it, there's also the sandy water option. No explosive results, no concerns about damage to finish or surrounding materials. But it takes some time and patience. Dump a few handfuls of course sand in, add a 1/3 tank of water and go at it. Shake shake shake till you want to cry.. When you're satisfied, rinse....rinse....rinse....rinse....rinse....rinse....rinse....rinse....rinse....rinse.......you get the idea (you'd be amazed how much rinsing it takes to get every piece of sand out of there)

Post edited by: Virii, at: 2007/07/13 11:13

Mmmm sand would work but why use it....just because you can doesn't mean it's a good idea. I can't see ever getting it all out.

The first tank I cleaned I used a piece of swingset chain with phosphoric acid (grout and tile cleaner from Home Depot), and fished it out with a coat hanger. Easy as pie.

OKC_Kent wrote:

Mmmm sand would work but why use it....just because you can doesn't mean it's a good idea. I can't see ever getting it all out.

The first tank I cleaned I used a piece of swingset chain with phosphoric acid (grout and tile cleaner from Home Depot), and fished it out with a coat hanger. Easy as pie.

No no, I entirely agree. I did two tanks with sand. One because I was desparate and didn't have a nickel to spare but already had sand on hand and the second for a friend who was more concerned with maintaining the finish than anything else and didn't want to do risk that precious coat. I'm never doing the shake again. Felt like my arms were going to fall off.


I'll say this, though. The inside of those tanks were smooth and shiny like you wouldn't believe.

Thanks for all the replies:) That is what is so cool about KZR, there are a lot of different ideas out there

I just used the POR-15 system to clean and seal a very rusty tank and I'm very happy with the results. The kit comes with a cleaner/degreaser, metal preparation solution and the sealant. I modified the cleaning step a bit (split the solution into thirds, diluted 4:1 with water and ran three clean/ rinse cycles instead of one) and used the exhaust from a vacuum cleaner to dry out the tank (3 hours) before sealing. I also let the tank sit for over a week before adding fuel. The interior of the tank looks great - no leaks!