Re: Adding gas tank drain plug

[<62-65-mail-list-club@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Seems I recall "brazing with a brass rod" is one method used to "weld" these. But such gas tank work is very much a 
specialty. A welder's discussion forum talked about using inert gas etc. and the consensus actually leaned towards 
concluding such work is not for amateurs and that even many professional welders decline to work on them. For 
example. "My Dad (with 60 years of welding experience) told me [welding a gas tank is]...as close to a bomb as I'll ever 
have in my shop." 

https://forum.millerwelds.com/forum/welding-discussions/25770-welding-a-gas-tank

Here is a story from the 62-65 archive (2010) from a Rock Auto newsletter:

"A friend of  mine visited a car wash after  we had just upgraded the 
 exhaust system on his  1991 Dodge  Spirit R/T. The exhaust caught on the 
wheel  positioning guides  for  the automated carwash, pushing an exhaust clamp 
into the  gas tank and  puncturing it. In a matter of a few miles he went from a  
full  tank to barely  making it up his driveway before running  out of gas.

 My friend had  just purchased a MIG welding  setup, so we decided to fix 
 the hole by welding  it shut. We  removed the gas tank, filled it with 
water as  much as possible   using a garden hose, and rinsed it carefully. We 
couldn't  fill it  completely  with water due to the positioning of the fuel filler 
  neck, but figuring we  were safe, we settled down on his front lawn to  
weld  the hole shut.

As  soon as he pulled the  trigger on the welding torch there was a 
sound reminiscent of a  fighter jet blasting overhead just over the treetops. I 
had been standing, but when the noise stopped, I was laying on my back and  
 couldn't recall how I'd gotten there. My friend was also flat on his  
back,   welding torch still in hand, looking stunned. His  neighbors came outside 
and  were all looking around wondering  where the thunderous noise had come  
from.

Apparently  the small space in the tank that was not full of  water had 
  sufficient fumes in it to ignite causing the explosion. The 16  gallon  
gas tank  had emptied itself completely of water in a fraction of  a  second, 
leaving  only steam wafting out the filler neck hole.  It had also  doubled in 
size,  expanding like a balloon, but  fortunately hadn't blown to  pieces. We 
avoided  any injury  beyond the ringing in our ears and wounded  pride.

Needless to say he bought a new gas tank and we never attempted  to 
weld  a  gas tank again."

Thanks,
Gary H. 

>  -------Original Message-------

>  don't they do some trick like forcing an inert gas into a tank to push
>  oxygen out while welding? i thought I remembered seeing that
>  somewhere.
>  neal
...

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