Tank Scouring/Tumbling/Washing

[Michael Guerrero]

So I was thinking I should start cleaning my tanks out a bit when I O2 clean my regs/valves, particularly the smaller tanks. I don't have one of those tumblers from Global that cost $1K retail, and I'm an individual so don't have access to the secret society of keyman pricing. The brushes you can buy from scuba retailers are pretty expensive too, and some are steel and some are a plastic with some kind of grit attached to them.

How do people clean the insides of their tanks without tumblers?

I'm thinking of making a steel whip that I can hook onto a drill, running it gently around the sides and on any rust spots for my steel tanks, and just lightly around my aluminum ones, then rinsing with Crystal SG and hot water, and blow drying dry using a hairdryer.

Any links to useful products, pics of homebuilt tools/rigs, or thoughts/suggestions on materials or approach?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[tbone1004]

I still prefer tumbling, and if you have access to a treadmill you can use the treadmill for your tumbler by building a very simple frame that sits on top of it so it is non-destructive.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

I have a treadmill sitting behind me. That's a pretty great idea actually, hadn't thought of that.

 

[guruboy]

Instead of a hair dryer, blowing it out with air from a LP hose works a lot faster.

I cut the end off an inflator hose and stick that in the tank.

 

[tbone1004]

google "treadmill tank tumbler" and you'll see a bunch of inspirational pictures and links to various threads on doing it without permanently modifying the treadmill.

regarding the hose, I just use a regular regulator hose without a regulator on it, don't ruin a good hose that way

 

[rjack321]

Instead of a hair dryer, blowing it out with air from a LP hose works a lot faster.

I cut the end off an inflator hose and stick that in the tank.

a BC nipple by itself is perfect. With the tank upside down, feed the hose up into the tank a little ways then crack the valve. All the liquid water will get blown out the bottom and the scuba air is much drier than anything else you can make at home will evaporate the rest.

 

[nadwidny]

a BC nipple by itself is perfect. With the tank upside down, feed the hose up into the tank a little ways then crack the valve. All the liquid water will get blown out the bottom and the scuba air is much drier than anything else you can make at home will evaporate the rest.

I take the 2nd stage off a reg hose and stick that in the tank.

 

[JamesBon92007]

So I was thinking I should start cleaning my tanks out a bit when I O2 clean my regs/valves, particularly the smaller tanks. I don't have one of those tumblers from Global that cost $1K retail, and I'm an individual so don't have access to the secret society of keyman pricing. The brushes you can buy from scuba retailers are pretty expensive too, and some are steel and some are a plastic with some kind of grit attached to them.

How do people clean the insides of their tanks without tumblers?

I'm thinking of making a steel whip that I can hook onto a drill, running it gently around the sides and on any rust spots for my steel tanks, and just lightly around my aluminum ones, then rinsing with Crystal SG and hot water, and blow drying dry using a hairdryer.

Any links to useful products, pics of homebuilt tools/rigs, or thoughts/suggestions on materials or approach?

Thanks,
Mike

I have a steel rod about 3 feet long to which I attached two lengths of steel cable about 10 inches long each, opposite each other. I used epoxy and #24 (I think) copper wire to attach the cables to the rod. I also have a PVC threaded, 3/4 inch adapter that the rod fits through and is slightly threaded into the tank (the threads are not the same). It stays in place well enough to protect the tank threads while using the whip. At slow speed in a VSR drill motor it will clean the bottom thoroughly and at higher speed will clean the sides.

After it's done i rinse the tank thoroughly and blow it out with compressed air and dry it in the sun upside-down.

I have only used this whip on steel tanks. Personally I would not use steel cable on aluminum, but perhaps nylon cable ties might work if they don't wear out too quickly. I arrived at the two steel cables by trying other arrangements including four cables. Two seems to be all you need.

I'd send you pictures but I'm just getting ready to leave for Playa del Carmen.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

So I spent about $6 at Lowes and made two tank scrubbing whips for my steel tanks. They work OK, but there are still some small superficial rust spots inside. I'm not particularly worried about it, and they did clean up the bottoms of the insides of the tanks well.

Then I swished around some crystal simple green in hot water inside the tanks, and thoroughly flushed them out. For the first tank, I used straight hot water from the tap, and noticed that the tank felt pretty warm to the touch. I dried it with warm air and it came out looking nice inside, without flash rust.

For the second tank, I didn't use as hot water, just warm water this time, to flush out the simple green, and followed the same drying process. However, I noticed that the second tank did have some flash rust in it after drying.

I was wondering if this was the result of using warm instead of hot water when I did the rinsing.

Anyone have experience with this?

 

[guruboy]

How does the warm air get in the tank? Hair dryer method?

Maybe the hot water dried faster and wasn't able to rust as much.