when your aluminum waste tank starts to leak??

steve g · Aug 26, 2014

after 12 years electrolysis has finally caught up to my waste tank. now I have a tiny leak somewhere in the bottom of it. years ago we used some jb weld and fixed the holes but it was pretty much a bandaid repair back when I worked for another company on one of their old units. short of getting a new waste tank, I am cheap. any ideas on a cheap solution to keep the tank going?? is there some sort of epoxy that could be put on the entire bottom??

Chris A · Aug 26, 2014

I experienced something similar this week on my 7 year old c.d.s. luckily it was in a spot where I could locate it easily and goob it up with some epoxy and she's good to go. I think Bryan recommended welding a new tank lid to the bottom of you're old tank, that's my plan if mine ever rots out on the bottom

Desk Jockey · Aug 26, 2014

We had one welded a couple of years ago and it has done well. Just required a little paint and you'd never know.
Search Ebay, I often see them listed there. What size and what unit does it go to?

Steamin McFadden · Aug 26, 2014

I have your solution.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOBKR6j2V8

Steamin McFadden · Aug 26, 2014

I offer repair service, check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CwE-gMCRIQ

Desk Jockey · Aug 26, 2014

Were you born in Texas? :winky:

Here is a small one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Carpet-Clea...344?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f3ba29cb8

steve g · Aug 26, 2014

pretty much any of the prochem tanks will work because I have about 2 feet between the tank and the machine to play with. John, I need to get down and see you guys any old tanks laying around out in the back.

Loren Egland · Aug 26, 2014

Fiberglass has worked for my son in law.

Ron Werner · Aug 27, 2014

what about LIneX on the outside? Saw them drop an egg off a roof and survive. Would it stand up to vacuum from the pinhole?

Louis · Aug 27, 2014

One guy here mixed fiberglass up and poured a gallon of it in the bottom of his tank. Lasted for over 2years. I pulled mine and had it welded. I sleep better that way.

Larry Cobb · Aug 27, 2014

Louis has the correct solution.

Pull the tank and have new bottom plate put on.

Larry

dgardner · Aug 27, 2014

Chris Adkins said:
I think Bryan recommended welding a new tank lid to the bottom of you're old tank, that's my plan if mine ever rots out on the bottom

Do you mean putting the lid over the old bottom? If you do that, you'll trap moisture in between, and the new bottom will corrode much faster. Much better to cut out the old bottom first.

steve g · Aug 27, 2014

is welding in a new bottom very expensive. I know prices varies just a guess would be helpful.

Desk Jockey · Aug 28, 2014

I paid $600.00 and the put a new bottom and up the walls about 2-ft.

I thought it was high but a new one would have been much more.

JS41035 · Aug 28, 2014

Is it leaking on the welds or has it actually corroded completely? If it is on the welds that's a lot easier to fix. If you have a pinhole leak on a stainless tank you can hit the spot with with a small punch and hammer. It will Smash the metal together. Not as easy to do that with aluminum. But every leak I've ever had on an aluminum tank has been on the weld. If it is on the welds. Wire brush the paint off the weld and completely clean the tank before you take it to a welding shop. It will save you some money and guarantee a better job.

John Olson · Aug 28, 2014

Yes I have tanks. Several that will work for your blazer

idreadnought · Aug 28, 2014

Welding a new bottom on or getting a new tank is the best solution however... I have had success with a product called coal tar epoxy paint. it is very nasty stuff but has good adhesion, resists alkali and is more flexible than other epoxy paints. I used it on a hydromaster tank one time that you could actually see a hole in the top 6 inches of the tank. I cleaned the tank really well then sprayed oven cleaner in it to etch the surface. Then followed it by several coats of coal tar epoxy paint. Lasted 4 more years till I sold it. amazing stuff.

John Olson · Aug 28, 2014

Steve if you clean it up would could just spray it. Didn't even think about that but hell I'm positive it will work. We should be spraying a couple of trucks next week we could spray that then too if you have it sanded and ready to spray about $150 maybe

Captain America · Aug 28, 2014

steve g said:
after 12 years electrolysis has finally caught up to my waste tank. now I have a tiny leak somewhere in the bottom of it. years ago we used some jb weld and fixed the holes but it was pretty much a bandaid repair back when I worked for another company on one of their old units. short of getting a new waste tank, I am cheap. any ideas on a cheap solution to keep the tank going?? is there some sort of epoxy that could be put on the entire bottom??

I had the same problem with a 10 year old aluminum tank this year....
I pulled the tank washed it out and found the 2..3 leaks...called a number of people...
They said use jb weld for water leaks...the white stuff....
The tank had a number of little pin holes that had been welded earlier......so I sanded those out..put in the white stuff from jbweld not thinking that it would really work...but it has worked great. No problem..I believe it will work better than welding as aluminum is hard to weld
Did all the work myself..just cost about 10$ for the jbweld
Cap

SamIam · Aug 28, 2014

Ya I did an old PC150 tank with JB weld it held for a few years tell I sold it to my cousin.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

NobleCarpetCleaners · Aug 31, 2014

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oNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w

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ontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> Ya might do some homework on Alumiweld Rods. Used them many times and yep they work. Just drill a few small holes in some same thickness material and practice. Plan on removing the tank for this. If yer unsure exactly where the hole/s are try this:

Get your tank suspended in your shop with the suspected areas down. Spray some aerosol foot powder on the outside of these areas. Even with no tank pressure you've got a great chance for them showing up.

I would consider prepping the areas with something like Alumiprep No. 33 before the Alumiweld. At least brush the sh… out of them with a stainless steel brush.

If you're successful with Alumiweld you might consider pressure washing the inside of the tank, treating with Alodine1201 and paining the lower 1/3 of the tank with something like Sherwin Williams Dura-Plate. I personally seen this stuff hold up against sea water for 6+ years.

dgardner · Aug 31, 2014

NobleCarpetCleaners said:
Ya might do some homework on Alumiweld Rods. Used them many times and yep they work. Just drill a few small holes in some same thickness material and practice. Plan on removing the tank for this. If yer unsure exactly where the hole/s are try this:

Get your tank suspended in your shop with the suspected areas down. Spray some aerosol foot powder on the outside of these areas. Even with no tank pressure you've got a great chance for them showing up.

I would consider prepping the areas with something like Alumiprep No. 33 before the Alumiweld. At least brush the sh… out of them with a stainless steel brush.

If you're successful with Alumiweld you might consider pressure washing the inside of the tank, treating with Alodine1201 and paining the lower 1/3 of the tank with something like Sherwin Williams Dura-Plate. I personally seen this stuff hold up against sea water for 6+ years.

If anyone decides to go the Alodine route - for goodness sake read the MSDS and wear proper PPE - it's nasty stuff. Contains chromic acid, is absorbed through the skin, especially damaged skin, and is a carcinogen.

Leftover Alodine is also considered hazardous waste.

gimmeagig · Aug 31, 2014

I have done this to my tank. It works.

My tank is getting a bit long in the tooth and I am also wondering if there isn't some kind of coating that I could spray in. A mechanic at the shop where i get my truck worked on was talking about something called 'Alumalloy" I don't know anything about it.

shadygrady · Sep 1, 2014

My aluminium tanks were originally powder-coaated on the inside?outside. Thast along with the neutral/low PH cleaner that we use has led to extremely long life span for them. The fresh/vac tanks were originally bolted together with regular washers and ss nut&bolt combo, but I repaced the washers with aluminium stud-backer washers. They are slightly cupped, and hold a little dollop of silicone snugly to seal properly.Solved the rust problem of the regular washers. The instaaler probably ran out of SS washers and took the easiest way out.

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