Some thoughts on 'speedy" electrolysis

[raiddrten]

I have cleaned several motorcycle tanks and keep learning new stuff along the way. The good news is that the GL1000 style tanks are among the easy ones to clean. The electrodes need to be in the line of site to work, and the Gold Wing tank is wide open in this reguard. Also good news is that much of the time, much of what people think is rust is really just old fuel that is dried to crystalline form and not rust at all. All can be handled if logic is applied and your goal is a spotless fuel tank without the use of rocks, BB"s, or anything else to rattle about in your tank.

First, we need to get at the dried fuel, and then any corrosion will be removed by electrolysis. On a five gallon Gold Wing tank, you need to buy three 40 to 48 ounce bottles of Pine Sol cleaner. Yes, they sell cheaper versions, but this stuff is strong and has the power to cut through dried gas gunk. you need to remove that gunk because it is almost like paint that prevents the Electrolysis method from working. Remove the fuel sending unit from the tank and cut a round piece from a motorcycle tube and replace the keeper. Pour two of the Pine Sols in the tank and turn it over every 10-15 minutes while working on other stuff in the shop or drinking beer. Using the ten of fifteen minutes to drink a beer might not work out the best as a timing device because you might eventually forget what the heck you are supposed to do to the tank.

Keep up this activity for at least a couple of hours and there should be a noticeable amount of gundge that gets loose in the tank. It is your call how long to continue. At some point pour and save the Pine sol/ gundge mixture in a bucket. Rinse the tank and dump the contents many times and see how much stuff comes out. You can then repeat the steps and perhaps add the third bottle of PS cleaner. i like to dip the used PS cleaner out of the bucket with a coffee mug or something to avoid putting the solids back into the tank.

the reason i think some people claim the electro process does not get great results is the coating of fuel residue not letting the solution penetrate to metal. Hopefully we have fixed that. So let's get going. And lets get some faster results.First , we need a large diameter electrode to speed up the process. Once the rust starts to attach itself to the electrode, there is only so much that comes off until the electrode will hold no more. A piece of black iron pipe or a one inch bolt has about 4 times the surface area of the same length of a half inch rod. Use the bigger one. Better yet, use a jumper wire and put a second bolt into the second hole [filler hole and fuel sender port] . If you place wedges under the tank, the 'ceiling' of the tank will get full contact with the solution and get de-rusted as well

I just use the three bottles of cleaner and add water to fill the tank. Pine sol will probably conduct electricity, but you may need to add some washing soda to make the bubbles happen.Everybody always warns you about explosions and such happening, but as the little foam bubbles burst one by one and the tiny amount of hydrogen gas gets released and floats to the ceiling, I certainly do not get too concerned. Your call on whether or not to do it outside.

So anyway, my two electrodes are buzzing along at eight times the capacity of a half inch one and in two hours or so, the process stops. Now you go get your clean 5 gallon bucket and pour out the tank. Rinse the tank out and be amazed at all the stuff that comes out. A good blast from a garden hose or a small pressure washer can also yield even better results.REMEMBER-- the more solids you remove from the tank, the less work the electrodes have to do the next time Now go back to your bucket and dip the contents back into the tank with a coffee mug or something and use a funnel to return the liquid to the tank. The chunks of stuff left in the bottom can be strained out, or what I do is just lose a bit of liquid and add water to fill the tank to capacity. It yields much faster results blasting the solids out of the tank each time the electrodes gunk up. Of course you need to clean up the electrodes as well . Repeat the process until all the rust is gone. Once all the rust is gone, there may be just black slime that gathers on the electrode. this probably comes off the top of the tank where you cannot really see. Eventually, maybe in two cycles, this will come off as well.

I forgot to mention at some point you need to use the inner tube plug again to cover the fuel sending unit hole so the solution can get to the very top of the filler tube. Using just one electrode, the inside of the neck will become spotless as well. i just used sections of inner tube with an X cut to isolate the electrodes from the tank. My battery charger has strong clamps and was strong enough to keep the electrodes suspended in the tank

To finish off the process, I use a cup or so of rust converter and thin it down a bit with water and keep it moving about the tank on all surfaces. Once that is done, use a rag to get most of the moisture out. Follow that with a quart of gasoline and save it for proper disposal. Now mix a little gas and oil 50-50 to coat your tank and admire how clean it has become
The fuel sending unit is cleaned separately as are the pick up tubes to the fuel petcock.
For my situation, with a completely brown coated grungy tank, the process took 24 hours. also, there was one tank that had some black tar-like residue that only lacquer thinner or MEK would dissolve

I realize that there are some really good rust conversion products like Workshop Hero out there. Even if you chose to use them, the electrolysis process might be a part of that process so your more expensive products will not get used up as fast. The purpose of this process is just to show how to get it done much faster with thorough results.

[Rednaxs60]

Good write up - have it bookmarked. Just finished cleaning my fuel tank with Metal Rescue. Have the 98% solution. Did a good job, but as you say it is expensive. Most tanks after 30 odd years need some sort of cleaning. I also have the '85 LTD FI model, and changing the fuel filter every year or two is good maintenance, as with the carb models as well.

Cheers

[Oldewing]

I am really good at the "turn the tank over, drink a beer" part.....

[ericheath]

“Using the ten of fifteen minutes to drink a beer might not work out the best as a timing device because you might eventually forget what the heck you are supposed to do to the tank.”

Is this the voice of experience talking???

You can always start over, right?

[scootsx2]

+1 regarding "degrunging" the tank before electrolysis. The same caveat applies to removing grease/grunge/crud before using liquid rust removal products on hardware as well as tanks.

[pidjones]

I bought a GL1000 with a gas tank that had been electrolysis cleaned and "Kreem" coated inside. DON'T DO THAT! #1 - the coating also completely plugged the pickup screen. #2 - the coating did not evenly cover the top of the tank. #3 - the bozo had left the pickup in place, so that had to be redone. Luckily, Kreem is soluble in acetone (did you know that some additives have acetone in them?), so a couple weeks of turning the tank with several gallons of acetone exchanged ended up getting the inside cleaned, and soaking the pickup cleaned it up, too. I will NOT be re-coating the tank.

Maybe POR-15 is better, but I think I'll stay with bare steel.

[CYBORG]

I used Kreem on the tank of my 78 10 years ago.........still in fine shape,.......but I did it RIGHT. Don't knock the product. knock the installation.

[Whiskerfish]

Yep I had a tank professionally done with Red Kote and in 4 years it failed completely. Supposed to be the best product there is and cost me a bunch of money.