Fuel tank sealer

[Spitfiredriver71]

Has anybody used POR15 tank sealer?

I have spent the last 2 days cleaning and prepping my tank with the supplied degreaser and metal prep but after spending many hours cleaning and rinsing. I dried the tank with a heat gun then left it over night to make sure it was completely dry. I put the sealer in and slowly rolled the tank but after draining the excess out, the coating went from being smooth to having lots of bubbles in it.This progressed to large blisters in the coating. Not sure what to do now. It has happened on the underside of the POR15 lid so  it's not contamination. I did not really stand a chance the product seems terrible. Any ideas?

[Guest]

Hello.

I have carried out this fuel tank sealing process with POR15 and found it to be excellent, with a 100% positive result. As such I am sorry to hear that you have encountered a problem. I did not do this job on the Vitesse fuel tank but on my Sunbeam Alpine which has twin tanks.

There is no doubt that the 2x super critical requirements are absolute cleansing with fresh water and equally the drying process. If one or the other is not 100% then you will suffer issues. I think one of your processes has not been 100% and hence you have encountered an issue. If I was going to suggest a possible cause I would say it is the final drying time after flushing the rust treatment out - basically insufficient time to complete that process.

I wrote an article about the sealing process for a club magazine and I have supplied an edited version here so you can cross check your process against mine.

Can I ask where you purchased your kit from and did you purchase it as a kit ??

Additionally has the sealer formed a solid coating within the tank, despite it being slightly lumpy, or is it pealing ?? If solid then I would say you are probably okay because this sealer sticks to anything and forms its own layer even if cosmetically it looks unsightly. If the answer is opposite then you will need to rinse the tank fully with fresh water and leave it to dry obtaining a "Sahara" level finish. Once and only once you have achieved that level of dryness can you treat the tanks again. I can see no other alternative as you CANNOT clean the tank of sealer - once in it is in; the fact it is fuel proof that should say all.

Good luck.

Richard.

TSSC - POR15 - Edited Version.odt

TSSC - POR15 - Edited Version.pdf

Edited August 28, 2017 by Guest
Added a PDF of the ODT file

[Paul H]

Hi - Ive used POR15 tank sealer on my Vitesse tank and no issues at all and would recommend the product - What condition is the excess which you poured out - does that have bubbles ? - Im also a big fan of the POR15 Paint ( apart from the price !!! ) I have had bubbles in the paint - The website says this 

Quote

POR-15 is cured and strengthened by exposure to moisture and will dry faster under extreme humidity, but moderate to dry atmospheric conditions are most desirable when applying this product,because extreme humidity may cause an immediate surface cure, trapping carbon dioxide gas below the surface. When this happens, bubbling may occur. 

Whether the same applies to the tank sealer I dont know . From what I remember its not possible to apply a further coat - I bought my "kit" from Frosts and that would be my next port of call Hope this helps

Paul .

[Paul H]

Richard - can you upload a PDF version of TSSC - POR15 , currently its a .ODT which requires Word to read 

Paul 

[Guest]

Hello Paul.

Outlets such as Frosts and Demon Tweeks (got mine from there as cheaper at the time) are spot-on and of course you know their products will be fresh.

I have suggested you can repeat the treatment - I'm pretty sure that is correct; BUT that is from memory and I do not have a tin to hand to confirm. Apologies if that is incorrect.

As you say, POR15 is excellent and although the price can be a tad high it really is cheap in the long run as no further treatments are required for such applications as their underbody paint.

Regards.

Richard.

 

 

[Guest]

Hello Paul.

I do not have Word, so I use Apache Open Office.

Kevin R, the top administrator did a tweek on the old Forum to allow access so hopefully the same can be done again. In the meantime I have pasted the article.

Regards.

Richard.

With the tanks drained of remaining fuel and removing the other fuel tank components, the first step was to thoroughly clean & degrease the tanks. You will see in the first photo some sediment which was caught on draining the tanks, the second photo shows what the cleaner degreaser removed on doing its job. The black patches are parts of the tank lining which in time to come will disintegrate further and perhaps cause problems with fuel delivery. The photo shows a sample but not all of the dislodged lining !! With the cleaning process done, having spent about twenty minutes sloshing the solution about each tank, it then requires to be rinsed thoroughly and allowed to fully dry. I used the airing cupboard indoors, that did not go down too well, but they were in there before Kathryn got home and discovered them – advance placement is 9/10ths of the battle !! You can also speed the drying process by using a paint stripper hot air gun on low or a hair-dryer; I decided to quit while I was ahead by not using the hair-dryer option !!

The following day with the tanks fully dry they were treated to the metal prep. This neutralises any rust and forms a base to which the sealer will bond to. Of course throughout the process the outlets on the tanks requiring sealing and I used Gaffer tape – you will get some leakage but only minor if sealed properly. Once again the tanks were subjected to twenty minutes of sloshing about and rinsed out. The requirement to dry the tanks this time is super critical and they really must be bone dry. The only place to get that done is back in the airing cupboard, of which they stayed for about four days before moving on to the final process. By the time I removed the tanks form the airing cupboard they were Sahara Desert dry and I had completely run out of Brownie Points !!

On ordering the sealing kit I went for the tin that does 4.5 gallons even though my two tanks take 11 gallons. The rationale here is that you are not filling the tanks only lining them and as such that is plenty; in fact I had a fair bit left over which I used for a couple of other tasks.

The sealer gets the same sloshing process as the previous stages and once completed I allowed the sealer to drain in to another receptacle for coating the metal balancer pipes which had also been subjected to the complete fuel tank treatment.

The tanks once treated require to be angled so that any residue of sealer can be drained fully, you do not want a puddle of it laying in the fuel tank. Once dry which takes about 24hrs, I left mine for 72hrs, the sealer provides a silver ceramic type coating that is glass-like to the touch. The drying process can be done naturally, so no airing cupboard required !! The fuel tank(s) are now completely sealed and it has even coated the original liner if still in situ. Some classic car owners who use this process also put nuts & bolts in the fuel tanks or a handful of gravel when conducting the first two stages which helps get rid of any suspect original lining. It's a personal choice.

Of note the cleaner degreaser can be diluted prior to application, however once used it has to be disposed of, with the good news that POR15 products are environmentally friendly. Metal prep on the other hand can be reused for other jobs involving POR15 treatments; which is exactly what I have done on sealing the underside of the front wings of the Alpine with POR15 Rust Preventative Paint – a future article. Each stage of POR15 processes are described clearly with instructions on the relevant containers. The job although time consuming (drying time) is very straight forward.

 

 

[Paul H]

Just found the Frost PDF Instructions which should help - Its does say re applying is not recommended

Paul 

 

por15 tank sealer.pdf

[Guest]

Hello Paul.

Thanks for clearing that point up.

Hopefully Spitfiredriver71 will have a sealed tank albeit not cosmetically beautiful.

Regards.

Richard.

[Spitfiredriver71]

Thanks for the responses. I bought the kit from JJC race and rally as I ordered from Frost and they canceled my order saying that they did not have any stock.

The tank was brand new as I am converting the car to an in tank fuel pump. I Wanted a fit and forget solution which this product has certainly not supplied. I followed the instructions to the letter and spent many hours cleaning to be on the safe side. I doubt the tank could be damp as after drying with a heat gun and leaving overnight it was then in the sunshine for 3 hours. It was more than 50 degrees C before I moved it to the shade. The bubbles  are like little blisters. I tried cutting open the one in the lid and it is completely hollow with no covering on the lid.

I have a feeling that the kit may have been an old one as it set far too quickly, either that or the humidity in Basingstoke yesterday was far too high.

It does look like gas trapped in the bubbles.

[Paul H]

Old stock looks like a possible answer - I do know there has been a shortage of supply of POR15 and could be the reason why Frost has launched their own brand of ME2 products .

My guess is that as your tank is new you will be ok though not the protective covering you were expecting and paid for 

Paul 

[Guest]

Out of interest 50 degrees ?? !!!!!!!!

Additionally out of interest, how hot was the tank when you poured the sealer in ??

I ask this because if the tank was anything other than normal room temperature that is going to have an affect on the setting properties of the sealer - trapped air OR could it be the tank was affected by the high temperature on the day and allowed the sealer to set far too quickly ??

Regards.

Richard.

 

[Spitfiredriver71]

The surface temperature was that high in the sun to make sure it was completely dry. I believe it was 25 degrees yesterday afternoon when I used the sealer. The tank was in the shade at the time so 25 ish.  The bubbles started to appear about 30 minutes after draining. They then developed into blisters.

Feeling very disappointed as I have spent a lot of time making the adapters and welding. I bought the TIG welder for this particular job and it has all been ruined by the tank sealer. I hope that POR will tell me what the batch code means. 341609. I bet it is old stock. Many hundreds of pounds and weeks of work down the drain.

[KevinR]

I've just loaded the ODT file into word and then saved it as a PDF, which I've then inserted into Richard's original reply.

[Guest]

Many thanks Kevin.

Regards.

Richard.

 

 

[Spitfiredriver71]

I have done some tests on the part of the tank I cut out. The bottom is no de greaser. Top left is metal prep but not rinsed and top right is applied at 27 degrees C. Looks like it should not be applied on a hot day. I also tried a sample with spraying it with water and nothing made a difference apart from being too warm.  

[Guest]

I think the temperature on the day, as mentioned, has played a significant part and affected the process; it appears you have visual proof.

Personally, I would run with what you have - especially as Paul has confirmed that resealing is not recommended.  

Other than that, I cannot see what logical option is open to you.

It's mega disappointing that is for sure, but you might just get away with it. Who can tell ??

Good luck.

Richard.

[Paul H]

If you fit a filter after the tank this will give you the teltale info if the surface lining is breaking away. My guess is that it wont

Paul

[ahebron]

Had no luck with that stuff on my Mk1 2500PI .

It came off in sheets.

The salesperson at the car body shop supplies told me if the moon is right and you hold tongue in the correct place then yes it will work beautifully.

 

Adrian