Propane Tank too Ruster?

[soohma]

I don't know whether to be scared or reassured reading all these posts.



Here's what I decided to do. I got under the RV and washed it, just soap and water, so I could see the state of the rust better. (Got a nice bath myself.) Mostly it appears the rust is superficial. There's one place on the front that appears to have a bit more rust.


I'm going to put rust remover on the tank, covering as much as I can, wash it off. Let it dry and paint it with silver paint. (I think one of the first responses suggested this, so thanks.)


As a precaution, the next time I drive it into town (I'm quite a ways out), I'll stop at the RV place and have him look at the fittings and hoses. Anything that looks sketchy will be replaced.


That way I think I've covered all my bases. And here's a tremendous shout out to all of you who gave such wonderful advice.

[skiMore]

Originally Posted by soohma

I don't know whether to be scared or reassured reading all these posts.



Here's what I decided to do. I got under the RV and washed it, just soap and water, so I could see the state of the rust better. (Got a nice bath myself.) Mostly it appears the rust is superficial. There's one place on the front that appears to have a bit more rust.


I'm going to put rust remover on the tank, covering as much as I can, wash it off. Let it dry and paint it with silver paint. (I think one of the first responses suggested this, so thanks.)


As a precaution, the next time I drive it into town (I'm quite a ways out), I'll stop at the RV place and have him look at the fittings and hoses. Anything that looks sketchy will be replaced.


That way I think I've covered all my bases. And here's a tremendous shout out to all of you who gave such wonderful advice.

I don't know anything about propane tanks and don't want to offer an opinion on your tank, but if you are planning on having an expert look at it wouldn't they be able to see it better before you paint it and cover up the evidence?

[soohma]

That's a thought. Thanks.

[BBQ]

.

Got this off the web.

The front of the tank had some surface rust... but the back . . .


.

[soohma]

OMG! Mine's nothing like that. That's scary!

[avanti]

Originally Posted by soohma

I'm going to put rust remover on the tank, covering as much as I can, wash it off. Let it dry and paint it with silver paint.

I really would consider a rust reformer like POR-15 rather than rust remover--far more effective. You can put the silver paint over that.

If you do use rust remover, be sure to prime with a 'rusty metal' primer before the silver coat.

[BBQ]

.

Here's another one.

This guy is trying to refurb the tank.

I would think the cost and effort far outweigh the price of a new tank.

[ChicagoTom]

Good to know that you know more than the gentleman that's been doing this for a living, for a best guess 40 years or so. He worked on my tank, and I'll go with what he quoted me.

[soohma]

I'm using Naval Jelly and it does say prime it first. Thanks for the reminder.

[Boxster1971]

In addition to POR-15 - Rustoleum makes a rust conversion product called Rust Reformer. It available at HD and Lowes.

Works like POR-15 to chemically convert rust to a hard oxide coating.

[soohma]

UPDATE: I bought naval jelly. Tried 6 minutes on, then washing off. No deal. Then tried 15 min. same result. Finally put on for 1.5 hrs. and it worked. Got all the rust off. Spray painted with silver Rustoleum, 2 coats, and it looks like new. Still have to get the hoses checked, but they filled it when I asked.