Stripping & painting AL Tanks

[scubaspider]

Does ne one know which method is best to paint a tank and would it harm the tank?? I was considering powder painting my tank which involves baking the tank in an industral type oven designed for such. Of course I wouldnt do this w/ the valve in place but would the tank be ok if exposed to a high amount of heat for a couple of hours???



:spider:

 

[ScubaPete]

You could always try to rattle can it.:bonk:

If it doesn't stay on long you could change you tanks "style" for cheap:flusher:

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

Let me stress this.

NEVER BAKE A TANK!

Let me repeat that

NEVER, EVER, BAKE A TANK!

High temps will destroy the tank and cause it to explode by weakening of the material. There should be a label on your tank detailing specific instructions for heat damages among other things.

If you are wanting to paint a tank then consider some epoxy type paint that does not use heat. There are plenty out there. Also look at airbrushing and some clear epoxy coating for protection.

Ed

 

[chsmoke3]

Bad idea if you are thinking about doing this to an aluminum tank!!! Luxfer says that any of their tanks must be condemned if they ever reach a temperature of 350 degrees F. Are you planning on powder coating steel or aluminum tanks? I am no metallurgist, but baking aluminum would be a bad idea. I'm guessing that it would anneal the metal making it soft. As far as steel goes, I don't know for sure, but probably the same case. Anyone else have a method?

 

[pasley]

One of the reasons cited for tanks failing and exploding is a change in the comosition of the AL alloy caused by the heat generated by overfilling the tank.

This of course is a lot less than you are planning to do. Baking the tank can potentially change the charateristics of the alloy the tank is made of with potentially deadly results.

http://www.scubabomb.freeservers.com/

has a nice article on a guy who was injured getting ready to fill an in VIS (2 months before) and in hydro tank that exploded to do failure of the alloy.

NO EXPERT, but that is my $0.02 worth.

 

[Gilligan]

Don't even think about heating up an aluminum scuba tank. There is a photo on this site that will give you some idea of the damage an exploding aluminum scuba cylinder can do:
http://www.scubabomb.freeservers.com/Scubadag.htm

 

[Rooster1]

Does anyone know how hot a down draft paint booth gets when you bake the paint?? I am certain it is not 350 degrees which is the annealing temperature on an aluminum alloy scuba tank. There has been many tanks painted in down draft booths and then baked. I have been in these booths and can tell you from experience that the inside of your car and especially your trunk in the summer months when you are hauling your gear or leave one tank in the trunk while you do your first dive is just as hot or hotter then the heat that I have been in when in a paint booth.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Powder coating may be an option on steel tanks, but you'll need to see how compatible it is with a galvanized finish. If you have a galvanized steel tank, just leave it that way - much less work in the end as the galvanized finish is much more durable. Getting paint to stick to a galvanized scuba tank is a problem even with a primer made for galvanized metal, but under no circumstances do you want to remove the galvanized finish. The average tank takes a lot more abuse than the average car and the paint tends to chip.

With an aluminum tank (as pointed out above) you are limited in the amount of temperature that can be used to cure a two part or epoxy paint. This can make the finish less durable than desired.

Also you need to be aware that a lot of dive shops (the smart ones) will require a new hydro on a newly painted aluminum tank before they will fill it. There have been cases of tanks being baked in the painting process and there have also been cases of tanks being repainted after being in a fire. So new paint can make a dive shop nervous and you may want to wait to paint the tank until it's due for a hydro anyway.

 

[blacknet]

Rooster1 once bubbled...
Does anyone know how hot a down draft paint booth gets when you bake the paint?? I am certain it is not 350 degrees which is the annealing temperature on an aluminum alloy scuba tank. There has been many tanks painted in down draft booths and then baked. I have been in these booths and can tell you from experience that the inside of your car and especially your trunk in the summer months when you are hauling your gear or leave one tank in the trunk while you do your first dive is just as hot or hotter then the heat that I have been in when in a paint booth.

Hello,

Getting a fill, throwing the tank into your trunk then driving to a dive site can be enough temp to condem your tank(s), easily.

Ed

 

[Rooster1]

blacknet once bubbled...


Hello,

Getting a fill, throwing the tank into your trunk then driving to a dive site can be enough temp to condem your tank(s), easily.

Ed

do you know if this has ever happened? The reason I ask is because I have picked up some very hot tanks from vehicles and from a fresh air fill. In fact I remember last year on a couple of occasions picking up a couple of my tanks that were just filled at the lds and I was amazed at how hot they were, how ever if the heat you are talking about from the tanks in the trunk while getting to a dive site, if they as you are saying can be easily condemned then wouldn't almost ALL scuba tanks get condemned as almost ALL of them will reach hot temperatures in trunks and during fast "HOT FILLS"??