OzVMX Forum
Clubroom => Tech Talk => Topic started by: Doc on November 10, 2008, 05:29:19 pm
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You can get the dents out of the tank by filling it with water and sticking it in a chest freezer ..... you don't have to fill the entire tank ..... just make sure the part with the dents is below the water line .... the same method can be used for getting dents out of pipes ......
hmmm..you can????..sounds easy E'nuff..came across this today while grazing the internet..has anyone tried this method? I'm about to so I was sort of wondering if I'm wasting my time and precious water :D only a small dent in an RM50 tank and not creased so will let you know the results ;)
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in theroy it should work just makesure the tank is air tight
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in theroy it should work just makesure the tank is air tight
I would agree ,but it doesn't do it with milk in 2lt plastic.good luck
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But why will it only expand at the dent,and not over the whole tank? Try it on an old tank first,I think this remedy is a bit of an old wives tale...
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i will be very surprised if this works well, if at all. if its that small and you dont mind the loss of a few mls of fuel capacity i would just use filler or 'bog' there are high quality fillers out there these days, that are very good. the one i use is a Ktech brand which is what the professionals panel/crash shops use, well actually these days on cars they just replace the whole body pannel with a new one! at work we will knock the really big dents out though the filler or tap hole or if really need we cut the whole base of the tank out to get the dents out.
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what about straightening the tuffs on your bmx after a stack? isn't the freezer good for that too?
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yup but that's plastic wheels Mainline, I be/they be talking steel tanks and steel chambers..I've been pondering this all afternoon and even though I have 2 souces of the same information I am still highly dubious of the any results excepting a very cold fuel tank with a chunk of ice stuck inside I'll have to wait 8 hours to defrost and by then surface rust will have reared it's ugly head and I'll be most distressed. I meant to do it tonight to an old tank but I forgot to take it as the freezer size I need I don't have here. Tomorrow morning I'll pop it in and by tomorrow night I should have some ummm..I'd like to say results but I'm leaning towards reporting zac ::) will see
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i hope someone trys its and sees if it really works
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hasnt this been mentioned before and it blow out the seams cause it expanded in every direction ? spliting the tank to leaK.
If i remember it was said to only work when you where able to control the freeze and the tank was tightly strapped ( as in covered with tie downs, so it couldnt expand anywhere other than where the dent was.
From memory the only dents they got to work where low shallow dents or more like press in's, Dents that where deep and small diameter held more strain and didnt pop back instead the seems and other low load areas blew out and the tank went into a balloon shape and went oval out of its original curves.
also the fuel tap rings a bell like it needed to be removed, i also heard air preesure pops the same shape dents out.
be wery wery wery careful ..doc
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good thinking freaky. we shall see. i certainly wont be offering up any tanks to be potentially sacrificed though ;D
whos game enough to try this?
ice sure wouldnt work on dents with a sharp edge, but shallow maybe.....
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remember alloy soft drink cans when left in the freezer for too long that popped their ends ?why not try heated water that can be controlled and cooled quickly if required or water pressure released by the fuel tap,the heat source can be gas torch or heat gun
TT5 Matt
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I'm not really out to fix a tank I just stumbled across this and thought it may have some merit and maybe worth a go on shallow uncreased dents like knee indentations. I normally putty up the ding if it's a little ugly and looks like it'll be a problem. Easiest and quickest method I know but for tanks of polished alloy type I thought it may have been worth something ;) will try on a shit tank anyway and see what happens. I reckon you'd need to check every 10 or 15 minutes once it starts to freeze so as it doesn't go all pear shaped.
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im curious if this work because my 125a tank is too good to respray but it has a few dints
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I like to use ice when repairing chambers, it works a treat.
I put it in my Bourbon & coke while I use heat & pressure to remove the dents.
;D
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Bourbon and Coke works wonders on all types of repairs.
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only if one drinks it ;) personally I don't touch the stuff..my world is already too distorted :D
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burbon mmmmmmmmmmmm ;D
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Used ice to reduce and soothe lumps on thick head before .... nearly the same thing sorta ? maybe? On petrol tanks etc bull..............
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I just tried using ice to remove dents, ended up talking no stop to the tank for a few hours, did a bit of dancing and then punched on with the mig welder ;D ;D
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Give to the myth busters ;D. I vote no ;).
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A mate filled his WR450F header with water (that had a big dent) and after leaving it in the fridge overnight came out good. Doen it again and nearly all came out.
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It does work buttt, only for small pressure dents that air will pop out faster.
tried it on a chamber once . In the chest freezer over night and some of the dents popped out before it blew the plugs out.
Water expands as it freezes then contracts as it gets colder. Bit is, you have little or no control over the ice method where as with air you have a bit more control and add heat and u can remove larger dents
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This works but you cannot seal the tank or pipe, leave one end of the pipe uncapped or the tank vented, fill it completely full stick it in the freezer. If you complete seal off the unit when the ice expands
it can pop the welded seams
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mmm, I reckon it will work too Ossa. I wouldn't think sealing the tank would be in the best interests and the control of this method could be had by controlling the amount of ice within and the directional forces it applies by the way the tank is positioned in the freezer. I still haven't got around to trying it ::) an RL tank is much longer than I'd anticipated ::) one can imagine what a crumpled mess the tank would look like if it were sealed and the ice allowed to melt :o oops :'(
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Dont do it Doc................. Totally f*&ks the tank. I have a CR250m tank some clown tried this with. Damn thing wont even sit down over frame. Oh yeah it looks good and straight. Just useless except as a wall mounted display peice. It all puffed up. The passage in centre of the tank where frame sit has closed up a fair bit. It also leaks petrol around the welded seams.
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The correct way to remove dents with ice ;D ;D ;D
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a393/gmcloa/Ice001.jpg)
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a393/gmcloa/Ice014.jpg)
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What's the coke to bourbon ratio, looks slightly richer than the recommended 20:1 :o In a schooner glass ??? I suppose church and school is out so it about that time.
;D
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The ratio is always a hard one to nail, it always seems to get richer as the night goes on ;D
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Hey Geoff, was the coke used to polish the header pipe after the dent came out???
Rob
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No way rob, it's too expensive. I know Mythbusters did a show on this but it's much cheaper to clean things with petrol as it's cheaper than coke & bottled water (go figure).
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and not to mention by far more abrasive than most care to realize ;)
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Ice, too smaller freezer and coke,bourbon aside.....
GMC how do we get the dents out of the TM pipe ?? Need a 11 day cure fast :P
cheers TM west crew
same technique ?
quote:Avoid pressureising tanks to remove dents as it can destroy a good tank.
The pressure will spread the sides outwards, & at the same time the underneath will close in making it hard to fit back over the frame, & every slightly flat part of the tank will become rounded. This sort of damage is hard to reverse.
Best thing is to cut a small hole underneath to get some dolly bars in then weld the hole up later. The size of the hole depends on the size of the dent & how many dents. Sometimes a 1 1/8" holesaw is enough, sometimes a slot 3"-4" long will let you get at lots of small dents all over. Cut the hole in the underneath part where it won't be seen easily & usually, depending on the tank & how carefull you are at filling welding the hole back up it can be smoothed over so as not to be seen at all. If you have dents both sides then you will have to cut holes both sides of the tank.
I do however use a very low pressure to test the tank. Fit the fuel tap to the tank & turn it off, then fit the cap with the vent hose & fit an air blower to the vent hose, turn your regulator right down to 3-4 PSI (5PSI max.) & then spray with "spray & wipe" or similar & look for bubbles. Test the tank all over as I have had some tanks that have had cracks away from the dented/ repaired area
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be aware also that a dent actually stretches the metal so will not come back into exactly the same possie again - or at least the paintless dent removal man told me!
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The best way I know is to de-gas the tank ,take it a panel beater who [after you can convince him that it IS degassed] can pull out the dent with a system called an easy beat. This can also be done by self by 1] degas the tank, 2[ bend a flat washer "ell" shaped, bronze-weld it in the middle of the dent, and pull it out with a slide hammer. On a larger dent obviously you need to do this several times. Then putty it up with a quality body filler. The easy beat kit does this very fast with a series of spot welds. personally I just fill 'em up with splonk ready for the next one myself!.cheers wally.
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Ice, too smaller freezer and coke,bourbon aside.....
GMC how do we get the dents out of the TM pipe ?? Need a 11 day cure fast :P
Pipe repairs behave differently to tank repairs.
Pipes you can pressurize as they are round so the pressure won’t transform the general shape where as tanks are odd shapes and the pressure will push out in the weakest spots changing the general shape of the tank.
An 11 day cure? Well if you’ve not played with pressure and heat before and you don’t know anyone on your side of the world then Express post it over and I will sort it out.
General questions are…
Has the pipe been repaired before, as in large lumps of welds or, gasp, bronze?
Does it still fit the bike okay, engine spigot still at the right angle to fit etc?
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Ice, too smaller freezer and coke,bourbon aside.....
GMC how do we get the dents out of the TM pipe ?? Need a 11 day cure fast :P
Pipe repairs behave differently to tank repairs.
Pipes you can pressurize as they are round so the pressure won’t transform the general shape where as tanks are odd shapes and the pressure will push out in the weakest spots changing the general shape of the tank.
An 11 day cure? Well if you’ve not played with pressure and heat before and you don’t know anyone on your side of the world then Express post it over and I will sort it out.
General questions are…
Has the pipe been repaired before, as in large lumps of welds or, gasp, bronze?
Does it still fit the bike okay, engine spigot still at the right angle to fit etc?
Hi GMC - Steven here. I have played before with heat but not so much the pressure. The dents are not major and the pipe still fits fine, It was more of a case of tidying up. I will exercise my patience a little tomorrow and make up a better plug for the air inlet and have another go. Thanks for the offer of repair service anyway
Why is a bike sits idle for 12 months then we get a mad rush of poo to the head and decide to try and get not one but three bikes going in two weeks and all with there own issues.
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Steve - don't panic - as long as they are a goer for Wandering you'll be right ;D