Tank Rust removel with nice paint/how to

I usually shy away from posting replies to forums because someone always thinks that they know all there is to know about a given subject.
I can assure that I will never tell you something to be a fact unless I know it to be true. If it is only my opinion, I will state it as so.
I didn't get a college degree, but I do know that rust is iron oxide. Rust cannot form or continue to grow without oxygen. How about the following explanation? Surely, even an Okie can understand this.

Rust is the common name for a very common compound, iron oxide. Iron oxide, the chemical Fe2O3, is common because iron combines very readily with oxygen -- so readily, in fact, that pure iron is only rarely found in nature. Iron (or steel) rusting is an example of corrosion -- an electrochemical process involving an anode (a piece of metal that readily gives up electrons), an electrolyte (a liquid that helps electrons move) and a cathode (a piece of metal that readily accepts electrons). When a piece of metal corrodes, the electrolyte helps provide oxygen to the anode. As oxygen combines with the metal, electrons are liberated. When they flow through the electrolyte to the cathode, the metal of the anode disappears, swept away by the electrical flow or converted into metal cations in a form such as rust.

For iron to become iron oxide, three things are required: iron, water and oxygen. Here's what happens when the three get together:
When a drop of water hits an iron object, two things begin to happen almost immediately. First, the water, a good electrolyte, combines with carbon dioxide in the air to form a weak carbonic acid, an even better electrolyte. As the acid is formed and the iron dissolved, some of the water will begin to break down into its component pieces -- hydrogen and oxygen. The free oxygen and dissolved iron bond into iron oxide, in the process freeing electrons. The electrons liberated from the anode portion of the iron flow to the cathode, which may be a piece of a metal less electrically reactive than iron, or another point on the piece of iron itself.

The chemical compounds found in liquids like acid rain, seawater and the salt-loaded spray from snow-belt roads make them better electrolytes than pure water, allowing their presence to speed the process of rusting on iron and other forms of corrosion on other metals.

This is a fairly simple explanation, but maybe you can get the picture.

I've cleaned a couple of tanks by pouring in a box of lead pellets for a pellet gun,some solvent & shaking till my arms got tired,took a break,shook some more over and over till it looked good to me.

I used to use Oxolic acid to clean rust out of carpets, never tried it on a bike though. Actually I don't even know where you could buy it other than an industrial supplier or professional carpet cleaning supplier. Could try www.JonDon.com
My.02



Post edited by: Aric, at: 2007/12/24 14:08

I shook a soda bottle once. It made a lot of bubbles.

I just did mine. It was pretty rusty.

I bought 1000 BBs for around 4 bucks. I filled the tank with them, then put the tank in the dryer, surrounded tightly by old towels and blankets. I ran the dryer on no heat for about an hour. it got all the rust out.

A few of the BBs were a little tough to get out, so I bought a small mechanic's magnet for two bucks. Got 'em right out.

Never thought to use the dryer. My arms sure wish I would have thought of that.:woohoo:

1982KZ1100D1 wrote:

Never thought to use the dryer. My arms sure wish I would have thought of that.:woohoo:

Listen, give yourself a little credit.

You thought of the BBs. For a Texan, that's pretty good!

seanof30306 wrote:

Listen, give yourself a little credit.You thought of the BBs. For a Texan, that's pretty good!

:woohoo: :side: :laugh: