2 ways to clean rust from gas tank

I'm cleaning my rusted tank insides and found 2 chemicals:


1) Phosphoric acid -- it's the stuff that the Kreem product uses to clean the tank. It's supposed to be the 'right' way to go because: "This type of acid does not attack and errode the metal, but instead converts the rust back into metal, and then leaves the surface coated with a phosphate ion so it will not corrode again."


2) Hydrogen Chloride -- this is toilet bowl cleaner -- a buddy of mine showed me a before/after of his gas tank. It was definitely rusty before. IT WAS BRAND-NEW LOOKING AFTER! He poured in straight toilet bowl cleaner whose main ingredient is Hydrogen Chloride (the product is called "The Works Disinfectant Toilet Bowl Cleaner).
He positioned the gas tank on one side for 10 mins., then repositioned the tank on the other side for 10 mins., and so on until the cleaner had touched all 4 sides of the inside of his gas tank -- the cleaner sat on the 2 side surfaces of its insides, and then sat on the inside top and bottom for about 10 minutes each, then he flushed the gas tank out with water, and flushed it with gasoline, then filled it with gasoline, SPOTLESS.


WHICH IS THE BEST MOST EFFECTIVE PRODUCT? My tank is MEGA-RUSTY !!!!!! on the inside.

Thing is, I *know* the Hydrogen chloride solution works! I saw my buddy's gas tank insides before the toilet bowl cleaner treatment, and then after -- wow what an improvement!

But I've never seen, firsthand, this 'phosphoric acid' work.
Thanks.

I have used the Kreem and it works well but if you have bad scale rust you better get a package of BB's and roll that tank around in the dryer for a half hour or so before treatment. Plug up the holes in the tank pour in the BB's and then stuff it in the dryer with blankets, towels, bubble pack. Run the dryer with no heat. Turn the tank the opposite way and run it again. Now do the treatment to get into the corners. If you run out of treatment you can re-do with white vinegar. Not as strong but effective.
GLuck!

Depending how bad the tank is, be ready. This might open pin holes but better to find out with these than a tankful of gas.

A short piece of small chain works better than BBs. Easier to remove.The best kind is the kind used for swing sets.

I used this stuff called Evaporust on a CB tank that was really rusty and it worked great. Ended up using 2 gallons and had to fill it and leave it overnight soaking for each side. I believe it was around $22/gallon from O'Reilly Auto. The nice thing is that you can reuse it which I did with various bolts, etc...

pjed wrote:

I used this stuff called Evaporust on a CB tank that was really rusty and it worked great. Ended up using 2 gallons and had to fill it and leave it overnight soaking for each side. I believe it was around $22/gallon from O'Reilly Auto. The nice thing is that you can reuse it which I did with various bolts, etc...

I'll try it! Thanks.

Thanks for the chain tip also!

How much total time do I shake the tank with the chain inside? Is 1 hour enough (with breaks to rest my arms)?

Also: do I put the chain in with the Evaporust, or do the chain treatment first?

I'll get the customer support number for Evaporust when I get home and post it. When I called them they were very helpful.

Do any of these chemicals attack paint? Should care be taken to keep them off?

Sonny

Evaporust customer support number is 1-888-329-9877

www.evapo-rust.com

I suppose the articles are a bit removed. In any case take a look at this:

kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_content...view&id=22&Itemid=11

KZCSI

KZCSI wrote:

I suppose the articles are a bit removed. In any case take a look at this:

kzrider.com/index.php?option=com_content...view&id=22&Itemid=11

KZCSI

Wow man. Thanks. That will come in handy bigtime!

The only step I've taken so far is to find a source for the gallon-size jug of Evapo-Rust ($19.99 at Harbor Freight Tools).

A buddy of mine gave me a huge bag of 'tumbling media', which is basically rocks of some composition with sharp edges all around. I decided to toss those into my empty gas tank and shake it around to free up the loosest bits of rust.

I have gotten lots of good tips here -- I found a plumbing stopper at OSH that neatly seals my gas cap hole when I screw in the stopper's butterfly nut to expand its rubber gasket into the gas tank hole.

So I'm a-shakin and a-shakin my tank with the tumbling media inside, like a crazy damn monkey in a zoo cage and a mental problem from being stuck in a cage too long. Shakin-and-a-shakin. When I look inside, out comes a bunch of rust dust, which is cool -- I'm gettin' somewheres. I like that sense of progress, shake some more.

And now with Mr. KZCSI's help I have an excellent path forward, and thanks to all -- I feel pretty good just now about getting this rusty tank innards cleaned up!

I'll post the progress, thanks!

Easier to get something magnetic out of the tank then rocks