[Kreylyn]

Extremely interesting read, thanks for sharing! Please keep up with the pics and updates. With all the vintage we have around here this may be helpful in the future to know & try. So do I take it you do not recommend nor use Kream Coat? Being of old school myself, this was the only way I knew of, just wondering what your thoughts were.

Thanks for the kind words. I'll throw out a quick update for today.

I noticed after 3 days the water has become very grungy, and the amount collecting on the anodes has reduced alot. So, I flushed everything and started with fresh water. After 3 hours, I was getting 4X the amount of material as I did on the previous 12 hour run with the used water. So it looks like it does make a difference, and probably should be flushed every 2 days or so for the process for best results.

As for Kream Coat... Based upon what I have seen so far with Kream, and the problems I have delt with, I would definately recomend staying as far from kream coat as possible. The issues are... it's not a permanent fix. Gas does break it down, and when it does it mixes with the gas and will collect in the carbs causing all kinds of issues. It does not bond with the metal, so it will allow the tank to continue to rust under the coating. It's a pain to get it all out of a tank when you need to clean it for redoing it.

Por-15 bonds with the steel so it won't rust under it, and is impervious to the gas. It's a permanent fix. It's about equal in cost to doing the Kream, and pretty much as simple to do. I can't see a single reason to pick it over Por-15, but I can see a lot of reasons not to use it.

I would be done with this process days ago if not for the kream coating that was put in it. Bare rust spots disappeared with in 18 hours.

Krey

[Wild-Bill]

Been following this thread since you started. Fascinating! I'll definitely have to remember this for my next project bike whenever I get another one. What sort of ion concentration are you using?

[Kreylyn]

It's 1/3 to 1/2 cup of washing soda (sodium bicarbonate) per 5 gallons of water.

You can get alot of it for pretty cheap at most large grocery stores or walmart. Locally, I can get a box with 5.5 cups for around $2, enough to make around 80 gallons or fill the bin I'm using almost 3 times.

Krey

[Londob5]

It's 1/3 to 1/2 cup of washing soda (sodium bicarbonate) per 5 gallons of water.

You can get alot of it for pretty cheap at most large grocery stores or walmart. Locally, I can get a box with 5.5 cups for around $2, enough to make around 80 gallons or fill the bin I'm using almost 3 times.

Krey

Increasing your ion concentration above that should increase the speed of your electrolysis. I'd go even a cup per 5 gallons...remember the ions are only completing the circuit to maintain the electrolytic conduction. The greater current that can be carried ionically, the greater the amount of metal that will plate at the anode...up to a certain point...perhaps about 80%-90% of total charge.

As for changing the water, either keep your ion concentration at the same level and change the water daily or raise the concentration to double that of current concentration and change it every other day.

Krey, I really like the work you've done so far because it actually makes some of the chemistry I learned make practical sense....and I love practicality (I hate theory, too boring)...Will you show pics of the tank once you're done?

Been following this thread since you started. Fascinating! I'll definitely have to remember this for my next project bike whenever I get another one.

You should be able to use this process on almost any rusted piece of steel or iron, including parts of the katana frame...basically any good Fe2+ source.

[Kreylyn]

Increasing your ion concentration above that should increase the speed of your electrolysis. I'd go even a cup per 5 gallons...remember the ions are only completing the circuit to maintain the electrolytic conduction. The greater current that can be carried ionically, the greater the amount of metal that will plate at the anode...up to a certain point...perhaps about 80%-90% of total charge.

As for changing the water, either keep your ion concentration at the same level and change the water daily or raise the concentration to double that of current concentration and change it every other day.

Krey, I really like the work you've done so far because it actually makes some of the chemistry I learned make practical sense....and I love practicality (I hate theory, too boring)...Will you show pics of the tank once you're done?



You should be able to use this process on almost any rusted piece of steel or iron, including parts of the katana frame...basically any good Fe2+ source.

I'll do a test this time and add more washing soda to see the effect once things start to slow down in a day or so (if it's not done by then).

I plan on using this for several more parts. Cleaning hard to reach spots just became alot easier I think. For parts that are just rusted, I think it will go alot faster.

More pics are definately on their way. I took some just before swapping out the water. I'll take more tonight as well. Should have them posted up soon.

Krey

[Kreylyn]

I'll be leaving early in the morning to go out of town for 3 days. So this evening I'll be finishing up this process, rinsing out and taking an assessment of the tank. I'll get pics and post them up before bed. The last time I looked over the tank (last night) the Kream coat was still holding out in spots, especially around the top of the inside tank and fill hole. My dis-taste for Kream coat has grown a great deal with this, because I know the rust would have been done a long time ago, if it wasn't partially covered by this crap.

Krey

[steves]

I'll be leaving early in the morning to go out of town for 3 days. So this evening I'll be finishing up this process, rinsing out and taking an assessment of the tank. I'll get pics and post them up before bed. The last time I looked over the tank (last night) the Kream coat was still holding out in spots, especially around the top of the inside tank and fill hole. My dis-taste for Kream coat has grown a great deal with this, because I know the rust would have been done a long time ago, if it wasn't partially covered by this crap.

Krey

The POR tank strip should remove anything that remains (I think it's *designed* to strip Kream).

Question: Is their a risk of flash rust occuring due to the process?

[Kreylyn]

The POR tank strip should remove anything that remains (I think it's *designed* to strip Kream).

Question: Is their a risk of flash rust occuring due to the process?

It might work if soaked for days, but 6 hours of the marine clean didn't touch the kream in another tank. But the gas turns the suface layer into a nice goo that gums up the carbs.

I'm thinking of actually trying aircraft stripper on it to see if it does anything.

That aside, I'll be rinsing the tank with hot water and then using 1/2 cup of aceton on the inside. It will be dry before the flash rust can occur of any qty.

Krey

[steves]

http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/motorcycle/how_to/mc_tankrust.html

I would think it's the metal ready that removes the previous coating.

[Kreylyn]

http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/moto..._tankrust.html

I would think it's the metal ready that removes the previous coating.

The metal ready primary cleaning agent would be phosphoric acid. Acid can remove it, but I'd be back at the hours of soaking it, and the acid etching the rest of the metal as well after the amount of time it would need to soak. I was trying to avoid using any acids to get this stuff out of the tank, and when I did use it, as a short duration surface prep only.

Well, the long overdue update on the process. I think I'm mostly done with this tank for the process. I might try another tank that is scrap just for testing, but I'll need to get some free time and motivation for that. Too many projects starting to pile up atm.

Here is the tank removed after what, 6 or 7 days? I've lost count. It was taken out on the 2nd of April. I used a small wire brush to do a quick outside scrub, nothing heavy at all, and only about 3 minutes worth.





So, it will remove paint... somewhat. With the amount of pains we go through to keep auto paint on when applied, I can see why it is not what I would call a primary paint removal system.



Inside of the tank. Not bad at all compared to what it started out as. I think for a tank with just rust to deal with, this process could be completed in a much shorter time frame than it took me, and work great!



And here is a partial pile of the crap that came off the tank. Mostly "rust" it looks like, but there is some of the other stuff like paint and kream coat mixed in. Ignore the wire in the middle, it was just discarded and I didn't notice it when taking the pic.

So, final thoughts...

This is a great, mostly safe, enviro friendly, and inexpensive way to clean out rust from just about any non stainless steel item. It worked great for the gas tank, and over all I'm pretty happy with the results.

Next step for this tank, is to see if a pressure washer will help to remove the last little bits of kream that are still holding on in a few spots inside this tank.

Krey

[md86]

Yeah , but it takes FOREVER . Hell , I almost wanna do it myself now .

[97-Katana600]

Great write up. Thanks for taking the time to document this. I am having tank\rust issue and may have to look into this.

[Trackerrrr]

I would've chucked the tank into the scrap bin myself and got another from here or ebay. Nice work tho.

[fox24086]

well i'm glad i read this. i was going to pain a guy to redo my tank cause the kreem kit didnt work very well or we just go to drunk and screwed it up dont remeber but any way i think i'm going to do this. did the whole tank dip screw up any of the rubber gaskets and would it screw up bondo?

[Kreylyn]

well i'm glad i read this. i was going to pain a guy to redo my tank cause the kreem kit didnt work very well or we just go to drunk and screwed it up dont remeber but any way i think i'm going to do this. did the whole tank dip screw up any of the rubber gaskets and would it screw up bondo?

No issue for rubber at all, unless you count cleaning it...

Bondo would not fair well in this at all... If you have bondo or paint you don't want to be effected, do not do the full dip. Put the petcock in, put the fuel sensor in, and fill it only from the inside and do it that way.

Krey