"Ignoramus10998" wrote(clip) The jerry can did not explode, as I filled it with water almost to the
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I did that once with a Harley tank. It had some small cracks around the fuel valve on the bottom, so I filled it with water and placed it on my bench, bottom up, and started to weld, Unnoticed by me was a tiny stream of water coming out the gas cap vent hole, so the water level was slowly dropping. I was also oblivious to the fact that gasoline was collecting on the surface of the water, just below where I was welding. When it blew, the cap came off, followed by a stream of water something like a fire hose in action. The tank didn't rupture, but I got really wet.
In order to finish the job, I put the tank, full of water, in a 55 gal drum, also full of water, with only the part I was welding above the surface. That worked. Live and learn.
No kidding. They had to bering crews from 15 states after the last hurricane, and it took over a month to restore power to all homes, and another year to replace most of the damaged poles that didn't fall. The last damaged pole near her was replaced a few weeks ago. ice storms can snap lines from the extra weight. There is no way in hell they can be repaired in a few days. They had six inches of snow in SE Alabama in the '72/'73 winter season that took out a major power line, leaving people without power for up to three weeks. It was the main feeder for the entire area from a new power plant. Ft Rucker was on a different feed, and wasn't affected.
Iggy thinks he knows everything, and that is a good way to kill yourself. Anyone who thinks that stockpiling a month worth of food is 'wasted' is a fool. In fact, with food prices always creeping up you save money by buying at today's prices instead of next month. It also allows you to take advantage of sales and special purchases. I shave about 25% off my food costs that way. Let him find out the hard way, then the city can sell off all his toys for pennies.
So, take the tank outdoors. Gas cap off. Put a hose on the shop vac to blow, and blow fresh air into the tank until it stops smelling like gasoline. No water to end up in your gasoline later.
That was my standard test back when I frequently welded on motorcycle fuel tanks. Clean them out well, leave them open for days if possible, then stick a torch (arm extended) into the filler hole. Often a little whoosh. Leave open during welding, occasionally an additional smaller whoosh. No big deal.
About 20 years ago I needed to weld an additional port on a 10,000 gallon surplus underground fuel tank that had very small vents compared to its surface area. Filled with water above where I was welding, and added dry ice. Welded on my fitting, then used a hole saw to bore the opening.
Iggy, let me give you a tip about Mr. Mormon. He's challenged. He top posts little short replies which are sometimes Tourette's syndrome spews. He has very little experience or skill. Just wants to post his church's URL in the sig line. And top posts every time so that it is prominent. I see you're catching on to him. Half his stuff is bullshit. 25% is intelligible. The other 25% is just ootsie cutesie responses.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I have been told that you can run a hose from a small engine exhaust into the tank. Let it run for an hour or so, which will not only displace the air and gasoline vapor, but fill the tank with CO2. It's so logical it must work. (I haven't heard from anyone who died from doing this.)
Steve, you know, I try not to get into personal stuff, but I think that there is a bit of knee jerk reaction when people mention "welding" and "fuel tank" in the same sentence. But the key here is that the tank I had, was full of water that displaced almost all air.
I would agree in general that welding on tanks requires very careful consideration.
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