preventing fuel tank explosions

/wwwthreads_images/icons/frown.gifYes it works BUT..............
1 we always let them run for 4 to 5 hrs to "dry" them too
2 you have to hav a good clean running eng.
3 we always tested them first w/ a 20 ft. pole with a fire on the end standing behind a block wall
4 WHY tanks are cheap now.......yor life isn't
I fixed tanks for over 10 years and thats how we did them. I will never put a torch to another. My time was going to run out one day.
MOST OF ALL never fill one up with water to keep it from blowing up!!!!!
It more than likly will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After all I said and all I've fixed don't do it at all it's just not worth it.
I know at least 6 professional people that were seriously hurt doing this.
This included everybody where I worked except me. Even after they had been "cleaned" and tested they can still go off!
Kinda like (not) NIKE "JUST DON'T DO IT"

Wider is better but taller is cooler!

I've never personally brazed a tank, but if I absolutely had to I think I would try cleaning it out very well and then fill it with argon from the tig bottle. The thing is though that any tank worth saving can be repaired with JB Weld instead and you have zero risk of explosion. I have used JB Weld on a few tanks, diesel and gas, and had great results.

I guess I could relate the story about my uncle Jimmy. Jimmy used to run "tankers" (the southern boys know what I mean) in the form of Ford LTD's. Well, Jimmy gets a hole in his fuel tank. The car being his living he has to fix it and he can't very well take it to a mechanic or a welder. So he drops the tank, "cleans" it with a garden hose and gets to it. Jimmy, being the inteligent southern gentleman that he is, grips the tank between his thighs and commences to braze the hole up. Jimmy was VERY lucky, the tank did not explode. The fumes ignited and the tank launched like a rocket. Jimmy's legs got torn up pretty good, but he wasn't hurt too bad. The tank was a total loss.

4 Wheel Parts Wholesalers are a bunch of F-in' crooks and need to be run out of business.