Internal rust in a petrol tank

[D.Attwood]

Quick question,
I have cleaned the interior of a petrol tank with white vinegar and then detergent/water, which removed most of the rust. Dried... the interior is prone to 'flash' rust. I have sprayed the interior with wd40 as a temporary 'sealant'. There seems to be commercially available tank rust protective sealants that seem to be quite expensive and have little evidence that it is resistant to the ethanol...we have to suffer as 10% of fuel.
Any recommendations or advice please

Thanks

[will_curry]

I wouldn't worry about the flash rust but I would fit a fuel filter.

What I do worry about is leaving both E5 and E10 in the carburettor.
I run the carburettor dry when I get home if the bike isn't going to be
used for the next day or more.

[JohnnyBeckett]

hi i use POR 15 tank sealer kit and i have no problems with e5 e10 or e15 if you follow the instructions i done my tank over 5 years ago i use it on all my motorcycles and classic cars etc and Customers cars and motorcycles etc

[rick king]

I think all the sealers will now be OK with ethanol.
The best of the ones I have used is the por15.

[ian williams]

if you are going to put a tank sealer in and have put wd40 in there i would make sure you fully clean tank first with gunwash , cellulose thinners , so its oil free and make sure its dried out .

i have used carswell in a fibreglass tank which was good and still is good 5 years after but i must admit this sealer needs to be put in when the weather is hot , 70degs is better as the epoxy is quite thick compared to other sealers sold , it also takes some time to coat the inside of tank with it , typically turning tank every 5 minutes for an hour or so .
make sure you drain it off via the fuel tap hole though as in my ariel NH tank it has a lip below the filler cap and if you turn tank upside down to drain the excess sealer it will all collect at top of tank behind the lip and form a slab of resin .

it took me 2 weeks to clear a tank out of a previous sealer that had been put in by someone who tried draining it via the filler and got a 1/2" thick slab of resin there .

i have also used POR15 , this is much like using paint like hammerite and is very thin , it will however cover the whole inside of tank with very little reqd , it does take some time to dry off and also needs draining off for a while as it will drip for some time after coating tank with it , works well though , although por15 comes in a small tin , there is more than enough in it to do a large tank .

im my NH tank i used SLOSH from draganfly , it is one part liquid reacting with air , easy to use and is quite cheap compared to some other sealers .
let it drain the excess off via the fuel tap hole and make sure you have no puddles inside bottom of tank otherwise it will foam up if the thickness of puddle is thicker than about 3mm , best to take care to fully coat inside tank and then manipulate it so that the excess liquid can flow to the tap side of tank and out into a pot .
the slosh sealant wont go off if its kept in the tin , it only goes off when exposed to the atmosphere .

plenty of other makes of sealer if you want to look at them , entirely up to you but i wouldnt put one in unless there is a reason for it in first place .

i am currently using an indian made tank i painted and am using without any sealer in but my original NH tank had a leak which i soldered the hole up but i have put slosh in it as a precautionary measure so the tank will last a while after it had been re painted as well .

my main issue with the modern fuel is that of it staining the paint on the tank , you need to have 2k laquer on the paint which seems to be resistant .
cheers
ian

[D.Attwood]

Thank you very much for your informed opinions Gentlemen, very much appreciated, thank you

Regards David

[JohnnyBeckett]

hi David, if you use a POR15 kit it comes with a degreaser and a cleaner and prep ready to take the POR15, if you do what it says you will have no problems

[MikeCrook]

Just a thought, would it be of any benifit running a 4 stroke with a very weak 2 stroke mixture ?
I was interested in the comment Will made about emptying the carb after a run because of the Ethonol added to petrol and general , as well as I understand not very efficient lubrication .

[JohnnyBeckett]

hi i use a additive to protect the carb and and valves etc from the E10

[D.Attwood]

As far as I am aware, the ethanol can attack various seals and fuel pipes depeding on their composition. I use an additive in my older car as it is borderline ok with ethanol, being fuel injected I didn't want to risk the seals in the pump etc.
Talking of additives, I would have thought the valve seats on the NH have not been replaced with hardened ones to allow use with unleaded fuel. Any recommendations for an additive to improve valve seat lubrication.

As to using a weak 2 stroke mix, sounds good for preventing rust but, would slightly affect the jetting in the carb (due to slightly less fuel passing through it) ? ....maybe increased carbonisation in the cumbustion chamber..Thoughts ?