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Leaking tanks water and diesel


jenevers

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I've read that a quick, temporary fix for a small leak in a diesel tank is to rub a bar of soap (!) into the area where the diesel is weeping. Right or wrong?

Which of the many proprietary brands of sealants on the market, could anyone recommend as a good sealant, to use on a leaking water tank, that would adhere to WET metal, if such a product exists?

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I've read that a quick, temporary fix for a small leak in a diesel tank is to rub a bar of soap (!) into the area where the diesel is weeping. Right or wrong?

Which of the many proprietary brands of sealants on the market, could anyone recommend as a good sealant, to use on a leaking water tank, that would adhere to WET metal, if such a product exists?

It is not clear to me the source of the leak. If it is a leaky weld then the epoxy is a good idea and probably permanent, but if the tank is rusting from the inside out then epoxy is a good quick fix but the tank will continue to rust so you will need to get in there and have a good look before you get a bigger split.

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A boatbuilder I know of claimed he fixed leaking diesel tanks with a welder and "blobbed" a lump of weld on a pinprick hole, which sounds "interesting"

I used to watch (so I know it happened) a friend of mine weld up leaking petrol tanks on cars, without bothering to purge them first.

 

He would simply empty the tank then weld away WITH THE FILLER CAP OFF.

 

Every so often there would be a loud pop as the residual fumes in the tank exploded!

 

George ex nb Alton retired

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Yes but a guy died a year or so ago cutting up an empty 45 gal drum to make a barbecue. Gas air mixture inside reached explosive proportions and off it went.

Be very careful! As already implied, the danger is when there is a gas filled void with fuel and air mixed.

As an aside, flammable dust is as bad as fuel vapour, hence the explosions that occur in flour and textile mills now and then.

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As I recall he was reportedly using a cutting torch, but I'd personally be just as worried using a disc cutter or angle grinder given the sparks they make.

 

Some of the incidents in mills and grain silos have been put down to electrostatic sparks, so it doesn't take much in some circumstances.

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If you want to see how flour explodes try sucking up some into a drinking straw and then gently blowing it across a candle flame. When Nescafe came in tins with steel lids this was one way - there many others - of blowing the lid off. Sadly it doesn't work with the plastic lidded ones. In fact any fine organic powder can cause an explosion - coal dust for example.

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If you want to see how flour explodes try sucking up some into a drinking straw and then gently blowing it across a candle flame. When Nescafe came in tins with steel lids this was one way - there many others - of blowing the lid off. Sadly it doesn't work with the plastic lidded ones. In fact any fine organic powder can cause an explosion - coal dust for example.

 

Sounds like you had a fun Physics teacher like ours! His big thing was a treacle can, with a hole in the top, filled with gas from the bench bunsen burners. Light the hole, 20 seconds of ever-diminishing flame and the POP!

 

The lid blew off the can, and Johnson dropped his trousers.

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