Oxalic Acid Rust Removal On Gas Tanks(Found On the internet)
Just ordered a few pounds of it this morning, it "should" remove the rust in my Kaw tank and it's great for removing rust on shop tools or whatever too.
I used this stuff while I lived in Florida where the humidity usually averaged 100% and it saved me a lot of labor ... it's Eco friendly too. Our humidity here in Alabama is just about as bad as on the gulf coast ... so even if it won't completely clean the tank rust out ... and I truly believe it will ... I can make good use of it
Don't know why I didn't think about it sooner, mixes with tap water, flushes out easy, it won't harm paint, plastics, aluminum or anything of that nature ... just kills the rust and leaves the metal coated to help prevent future rusting.
The guy's name is Gregg and he has a ebay store but you can buy directly from him, send payment by check or paypal. I talked to him yesterday and told him there would probably be more folks from the forum inquiring about it. He said to have whoever calls or emails to remind him they're from the forum.
It sells for $4 a pound and he can fit 4 pounds into a flat rate priority mail package and ship it for $4.95. So 4 pounds should go along way since it can be used over and over again. $20.95 for 4 pounds shipped isn't bad at all in my opinion. The only way he's making any profit on it is by buying LARGE quantities and selling small.
I'm probably going to set up a large vat to soak tanks and tools in.
This stuff will eventually turn black after heavy use but it still cleans good and washes clean with tap water.
He claims he's had several people use it for cleaning rusty tanks with great results and I know I had good luck with it before too, just never used any on a tank ... but will soon.
Here's his info: Best to try his cell first.
Gregg MacEllven
Sea Shield Marine Products (sales rep)
Mac's Pacs; teak/mahog plugs, flax, oxalic, etc.
macspacs@sbcglobal.net
310-547-2687 (home)
310-547-2606 (fax)
310-721-9667 (cell)
Late yesterday afternoon I mixed up a batch and put it inside my original KZ tank.
The tank had what I would call a medium overall surface rust throughout the inside and a fairly heavy rust build up along the entire bottom surface.
The instructions suggest warm water but I talked with Gregg and he said it wouldn't really matter as long as I wasn't looking for INSTANT results and let it soak so I used unheated water from the hose and about 8 heaping tablespoons of Oxalic acid and let it soak for 24 hours.
I just drained the tank and the water was colored kind of a light brown, I flushed the tank with clean water twice and looked inside as far as I could see with a strong miniature LED flashlight and NO RUST was present ANYWHERE including the bottom surfaces.
The Oxalic acid left behind a off white colored protective coating on the metal surface just like Gregg said it would
Once I got the tank dry I saturated a shop rag with gas and rubbed the white coating with it and the coating stayed put.
But ... I will highly recommend you folks give this stuff a try because it sure takes the work out of removing rust from our gas tanks and it did not faze the paint either where I overfilled it.
This old tank will get repainted and used now that the rust is gone ... but for you folks that have internal surface rust on tanks that still have good paint on them, don't worry ... this is the ticket right here !
I can tell you right now that it works very well, the tanks I cleaned back in November have sat in my shop until I decided to tag & drive my 78 KZ a few days ago.
I looked at all 3 tanks & they still looked rust free inside other than a small haze which may be simply what the metal looks like after sitting so long after being treated. I thru a 1/2 gallon of gas in it, sloshed it around, poured it out, installed the tank with clear gas line & the fuel runs out CLEAN ... no rust deposit showing up in the filter either !
Oxalic acid WORKS better than anything I've ever tried in 30 years of wrenching. Use hot water, mix it up double or triple strength, fill the tank to the rim and let it sit overnight. If you don't get the results you want, do it again, this stuff is cheap and WILL clean the rust out of tanks without harming the paint even.
I kept several gallons of used mix in a large plastic container & constantly throw stuff in it like a set of rusted boat trailer wheels, impact sockets etc. & it cleans them like new, may take a while but it works.
Some tanks may require more acid to do the job but this stuff is cheap & easy to use, won't even burn the grass when poured out.
I did a Honda tank for a buddy that had some ridiculous rust along the inside bottom flat areas & top part of the hump. I tripled the recipe & let it sit a couple of days and it came out CLEAN.
Would rather NOT use a tank liner product that may or may not peel away ... oxolic axid won't hurt the paint either, so that's a huge plus.
1982 GPZ1100 B2
General Dynamics/Convair 1983-1993
GLCM BGM-109 Tomahawk, AGM-129A Advanced Cruise Missile (ACM)
