Any experience with fuel tank holes?

[akroyaleagle]

Well guys,

One of my helpers drilled 2 self tapping screw holes through the new metal on the back of the rear bay and into the fuel tank today.

I know, I should have been watching. But I gave them the correct screws and told them to use only that size. yada, yada, yada. They decided to use a couple of longer screws.....

I made rubber gaskets and screwed some heavy duty self tappers in the holes and stopped the leak.

I've repaired a lot of gas tanks with JB Weld and they held. I want to clean this area up and make a patch out of JB Weld or some other high adhesive to cover the bolt heads and the area around them. There is no chance of anything hitting this area to dislodge the patch. The metal on the tank is rust free, sanded and painted with POR-15.

Do you think this would work on the front of the tank behind the rear bay? My fear is if it doesn't, and leaks later, it would require removing the entire contents of that bay, (Usual tanks, batteries and propane) along with all plumbing and plywood and insulation to repair. Think of the mess in some RV park!

I know the correct way is to drain the 100 plus gallons of fuel out, remove the tank, fill it with water and weld it up. But MAN that's a lot of work.

I'm asking for how any of you have repaired this in the past. Don't tell me none of you have done it!

Is there a product that any of you have used that would bond to the metal of the tank and give you a warm fuzzy feeling?

Thanks, Joe

[luvrbus]

Joe, your not the 1st the way I did mine was to flare a 3/4 in copper water line cap and sliver solder it to the tank over the screw head did that without draining the tank never leaked.
I used a mapp gas torch it won't burn a hole in the tank  


good luck

[akroyaleagle]

Clifford,

That was discussed by a friend and I but we were unsure if we could get the tank hot enough for the solder to hold with the fuel in it above the leak hole.

Did you do this below the fuel line?

I think its a great suggestion and will add it to my bag of tricks.

Let's see what information others contribute.

Here's a great chance for some of the "newbies" to teach us seniles something.

It is my belief that everyone has an area of expertise and can contribute to these discussions.

C'mon guys, I know some of you are in the leak stopping business and know of the latest products.

Joe

[JohnEd]

Joe,

I have repaired fuel tanks by cleaning the area around the hole, gooping a sheet metal screw with JB weld and screwing it in the hole.  It doesn't have to be all that tight....The JB does all the holding stuff.  Held for years without any sign of a leak.  I did motor cycle tanks that cracked at the seam and they never failed.  In the 70's they came out with the first epoxy glues that caught my attention.  In the USAF we got the stuff supplied to us and it had a two letter name but it wasn't JB and the stuff was formulated to repair steam lines plus anything else.  I used it to repaid radiators and fuel tanks with great success.  For steam lines you had to "cure" the epoxy at 20 degrees above the working temp so the stuff stayed "hard" up to the working temp.  I don't think JB is rated for anything above a couple hundred degrees but I bet it would serve well on a radiator also.

John.

[robertglines1]

have used the JB weld on the bottom of a MCI 8 tank and it worked well.The big factor is to get it clean,ruffed up,no fuel or oil present.

[pvcces]

In my experience, epoxy has held even though applied to oily surfaces and gas tanks when there was still fuel in them.

I would think that the cleaner the better.

Tom Caffrey

[John316]

Bummer, I just typed a long response, and it just got lost.

Here is the jist of it.

I just went through the two self tapping screws ordeal. It was very rough. I had about 200 gallons to pump out of ours, and it wasn't easy. I looked into a lot of options, including a new tank for 4500. I figured that was way too much to spend on an aluminum tank. We pulled the tank (which was a little tough), and then we had it Heli-arced.

We had it welded simply because of peace of mind. We didn't want to be on the road somewhere, and have a problem. Since I wasn't 100% sure that the JB would hold, I decided to have it fixed right. Now I KNOW it won't leak.

I don't know whether Cliffords way would work. It sounds like it would because it is solder.

Since ours was on the bottom of the tank, I couldn't stand a chance of it starting to drip, a month into one of our trips.

Also remember that this is a bus, not a small car fuel tank. Things are very different.

YMMV FWIW

God bless,

John

[m-werx]

napa sell gas tank repair, its a two part puty about $6.00.

[RTS/Daytona]

here ya go - fast simple - cheap

expandable WELL nuts (not weld nuts as originally stated - sorry) (used for rv tanks probes to drive indicator panels) - I understand they are also available in nylon plastic ??

http://www.amazon.com/8-Pack-of-Well-Nuts/dp/B001N12FUS

Pete RTS/Daytona

[muddog16]

Hey Joe, there are some good idea's above, here is another to think about!  When I was still in the working world, I used a product called Belzona E Metal to repair some really large electrical transformers when the cooling fins sprung leaks.  I'll post the link at the bottom, cleaning was a key factor, what we did while the transformer was on line was to pull a very small vacuum to stop the leak then cleaned the area and used the E metal.......this stuff was terrific and lasted for years!  Just another thought! I'm not sure where the leak is on the tank (top or bottom) but its food for thought.....! Good luck


http://www.belzona.com/prod1k.aspx