Propane condition concerns

[Jason Worman]

Hi Everyone,

So I crawled under the rig to look at the propane tank condition. I have attached a couple of pictures. Is this amount of rust a concern? Does anyone have suggestions to refinishing it? Thought about sanding off rust and spray painting it for now.

Thanks
Jason Worman

[Jason Worman]

Oops
Here are the pictures

[LaMonte Monnell]

I am following your question as I have a bit of rust on my 2001. Looking forward to the answers you get!

[Joel Ashley]

You might give these guys in McMinnville a call and see if they’ll advise:  https://mcminnvillegas.com/?_vsrefdom=adwords&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7qn1BRDqARIsAKMbHDbAvoJ2d6TvlSZtbevO91dvbaCtvbMUODsZaidz_dcpq6WV9f3NE3MaAjjEEALw_wcB

Joel

[Lee Welbanks]

That tank looks like it has some deep rust on it, you need to get a propane dealer or ASME tank inspector have a look at it. They might want to hydro test it. It may need replacing if it is rusted too bad.

[Jason Worman]

Lee,

Thank you, any idea what a replacement tank would run? It is a 35 gallon tank.

Jason

[Mike Shumack]

If the rust is just on the surface (no structural weakness) with minor pitting, I would sand it down by hand and paint the tank with POR15 https://www.por15.com/POR-15-Top-Coat-DTM-Paint

I've used this product on my truck chassis (black color) and I painted my outside metal patio furniture (in white) over 15 years ago. This is tough paint. You would want the "direct-to-metal" product (no primer needed).

[Jason Worman]

Mike
What you use to sand it with? I have read people recommend, sandpaper, wire brush and steel wool. Thanks
Jason

[Eric Maclean]

Jason
The POR is a great product I would use it or just plain old Tremclad clean the surface up with sand paper it doesn't have to go to bear metal with the Tremclad.
Look your pitting over to see how deep it is first these tanks will eventually rust through but they usually develop small leaks at the worst rust Pitts soap and water to test .
The pressure in these tanks is approx 120 PSI dependant on temp so there is very little chance of tank failure .
The problem with taking a tank in for inspection is that it is impossible to give a definitive answer on how bad the rust Pitts are or how deep they are and because of liability reasons most dealers will opt to just sell you a new tank ( that and there's no money in telling you to clean it up and paint it) lol
If it where me I'd soap test it sand it up with 80 or 100 grip and paint it .
I used to work on propane powered school buses in the 80s here in Canada that had tanks with far more rust than that we used to just spray undercoating on them and carry on.

One thing to check as a weak point in any of these tanks is the fuel gauge block ( the square aluminum piece located near the fill port with the wires on it.
If the vehicle has been driven in salted road conditions which by the look of that tank it probably has these gauge blocks get rotten caused by a reaction between the aluminum the steel and the salt water, resulting in a white powder corrosion where it mounts as this corrosion gets bad enough the aluminum will crumble.  there is an O ring on which it mounts and seals the corrosion with eventually cause a leak at this O ring ( again soap and water to test)
If it is leaking there the tank can be emptied and the 4 machine screws removed ( very carefully they break) take out the gauge block clean up the tank mounting area and replace the block and O ring with a new one.

In the end it's your call
Hope this helps
Eric

[Jason Worman]

Eric,
Thank you for the advice, the rust makes sense from past available service records, this coach spent much of its life in Idaho where the roads are salted. I am going to do the soapy water test and if no issues, sand and repaint it. Just trying to decide if spraying or rolling would be the better technique.

Thanks,
Jason

[Eric Maclean]

Jason
I used a 4 inch foam roller and a 2 inch brush to get into the tight spots
Eric

[Joel Ashley]

I’ll back up the recommendations for POR-15 paint.  I use it on any outdoor steel projects and it is tough stuff, some of mine is 20+ years old.  I put it on welded wire mesh fence panels staked in the garden for training vegetables on.  They can stay out year round without rusting.  The paint will grey in sunlight and can be top-coated in that exposure, but the graying doesn’t affect its halting of rust, and sun isn’t an issue of course in your situation.  I’ll use it to renovate my battery tray when I replace batteries soon.  It’s especially useful in coastal areas.  Only the loose rust needs removing because the stuff works best reacting with residual rust.

You’ll need to order their cleaner (or maybe use at least Simple Green) and Metal Prep... they sell a 3-step “kit”.  But I learned to get the 6-pack of 4oz cans because once opened they dry out easily.  I’d just use a brush, not a roller that absorbs and wastes a lot of this expensive paint;  but that’s your choice.  The kit may be fine if you calculate the tank’s surface square footage;  the 6-pack can mouths may be too small for a brush the right size, and emptying several into a larger container may waste paint... again that’s for you to choose.

https://www.por15.com/

They occasionally have sale promotions.

-Joel

[Jason Worman]

Hi everyone,

So after a days worth of scraping, sanding and testing, the tank wedas not nearly as bad as I thought, looks like at some point the tank has been painted I ordered Por15 3-step kit and another quart of the paint. Thank you everyone for your advice with this. Now just need a couple of days of dry warm weather.

Warmly
Jason

[Lee Welbanks]

Good to hear the tank is not rusted too bad, a bit elbow work and paint will do it justice.

[Jason Worman]

Hi Lee
Can you call me real quick my number is
541-707-7415

Jason Worman