fuel tank thickness

[caterpillar guy]

Do any of you guy have your tanks checked for thickness as they age so they don't go to leaking before the leak starts. Reason for asking is one of our tanks dad told me grandpa got when he was about 8 years old and he's now 92. So that tank is 84 years old or so. This all leads to talking to my fuel guy about old tanks and leaks. I was telling him about this one and that I wanted to check it before there were any leaks on it. Dad agreed that it probably would be a good idea . So he got a hold of his furnace guy that can check the thickness of the wood boilers for rust through. He is going ro come check them when we have them up enough to reach under them to check. And all of our tanks are pretty old. Yes we could just replace them if needed just didn't want to have to find a new tank and all the EPA junk that goes with it now days. And even if you get one of those fancy EPA tanks with thew leak catch basin to them who says they will not rust through as soon as the tank does? I'm looking to prevent the problem rather than have to act after everything is filled and no place to put the fuel with a leaking tank. I did have 500 gallon delivered and can move it if needed and it is in 2 separate tanks so both not likely to leak at the same time. Do you guys just change tanks out or how do you deal with this.

 

[Stephen Newell]

All that would be affected by the tank thickness is the thicker it is the tank would be harder to dent and would take longer for it to rust through. I'm surprised they don't make tanks out of stainless steel. You can prevent a tank from rusting by cleaning the rust off the bottom and then put a fuel tank liner in it. Red Kote will last about a decade before it will start to fail. Then the tank can be cleaned out with acetone and coat it again.

 

[cjunrau]

Do any of you guy have your tanks checked for thickness as they age so they don't go to leaking before the leak starts. Reason for asking is one of our tanks dad told me grandpa got when he was about 8 years old and he's now 92. So that tank is 84 years old or so. This all leads to talking to my fuel guy about old tanks and leaks. I was telling him about this one and that I wanted to check it before there were any leaks on it. Dad agreed that it probably would be a good idea . So he got a hold of his furnace guy that can check the thickness of the wood boilers for rust through. He is going ro come check them when we have them up enough to reach under them to check. And all of our tanks are pretty old. Yes we could just replace them if needed just didn't want to have to find a new tank and all the EPA junk that goes with it now days. And even if you get one of those fancy EPA tanks with thew leak catch basin to them who says they will not rust through as soon as the tank does? I'm looking to prevent the problem rather than have to act after everything is filled and no place to put the fuel with a leaking tank. I did have 500 gallon delivered and can move it if needed and it is in 2 separate tanks so both not likely to leak at the same time. Do you guys just change tanks out or how do you deal with this.

never heard of any tank leaking unless someone ran into it or knocked it off the stand. My tanks are very old and have been repainted once on the outside. I have cut some open that I bought on auction. used them for culverts. I was amazed at how nice the inside looked compared to the outside. A couple of them had no noticeable rust inside at all, looked like a real nice paint job. kinda amber color. i just assumed it was some sort of epoxy coating and wished I would have kept it as i am sure the ones I use aren't that nice.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Just was thinking that a tank of 80 plus years might have numbered days and don't want a leaking mess to deal with. Cheaper to avoid than to deal with.

 

[504]

I have seen 30 year old tanks rust out under ground. But I have know idea what was used to build tanks out of in the 30 years ago

 

[showcrop]

Anyone in the fire service knows that fuel tanks rust and fail all the time. Not hearing about it doesn't mean that they don't. I just replaced mine two weeks ago, because I was changing companies and the new one wouldn't deliver to it, and I knew that when selling our home it would be a strong negative. Mine looked old when we bought the place 35 years ago. Once I got it out and cut in two, and the sludge cleaned out, I was surprised how nice and clean the steel looked, except in three small areas where there were DEEP pits. It looks like it may have been good for another week or two.

 

[joeysmith]

Im curious how they check them

 

[Jim.ME]

Im curious how they check them

Search Non-destructive Ultra Sonic tank testing

 

[DoubleO7]

Search Non-destructive Ultra Sonic tank testing

Thirty years ago I had an old Top Fuel dragster that had to have the chassis re-certified to run NHRA. The inspector came to my garage and used a hand held electronic gizmo about the size of an old portable transistor radio. Had a wire with what looked like one of those telescoping wands with a little disc magnet on the end (used as a small parts pick-up stick). Rubbed it around on all the tubing to find I had to replace four short vertical tubes with thicker wall tubes. Deep rust pits might be found by concentrating the search in the lowest areas first.

 

[showcrop]

Thirty years ago I had an old Top Fuel dragster that had to have the chassis re-certified to run NHRA. The inspector came to my garage and used a hand held electronic gizmo about the size of an old portable transistor radio. Had a wire with what looked like one of those telescoping wands with a little disc magnet on the end (used as a small parts pick-up stick). Rubbed it around on all the tubing to find I had to replace four short vertical tubes with thicker wall tubes. Deep rust pits might be found by concentrating the search in the lowest areas first.

Yes, the pits in mine were very close to the lowest point. Because of course water is heavier than fuel.

 

[1948CaseVAI]

Im curious how they check them

Similar to a car dealer using a device to check the paint to see if there is more than one layer.

 

[Red Dave]

Do any of you guy have your tanks checked for thickness as they age so they don't go to leaking before the leak starts. Reason for asking is one of our tanks dad told me grandpa got when he was about 8 years old and he's now 92. So that tank is 84 years old or so. This all leads to talking to my fuel guy about old tanks and leaks. I was telling him about this one and that I wanted to check it before there were any leaks on it. Dad agreed that it probably would be a good idea . So he got a hold of his furnace guy that can check the thickness of the wood boilers for rust through. He is going ro come check them when we have them up enough to reach under them to check. And all of our tanks are pretty old. Yes we could just replace them if needed just didn't want to have to find a new tank and all the EPA junk that goes with it now days. And even if you get one of those fancy EPA tanks with thew leak catch basin to them who says they will not rust through as soon as the tank does? I'm looking to prevent the problem rather than have to act after everything is filled and no place to put the fuel with a leaking tank. I did have 500 gallon delivered and can move it if needed and it is in 2 separate tanks so both not likely to leak at the same time. Do you guys just change tanks out or how do you deal with this.

I know that the required periodic inspection here in PA for above ground tanks requires ultrasonic thickness testing. You didn't say, but I'm assuming you are referring to above ground tanks.

Find a storage tank inspector who is certified in your state and ask them if they can perform that testing.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Dad's furnace guy is going to check them for us with his. He checks those outdoor wood furnaces with it. I just need to have room under it to get the tool in there if not enough clearance under them. I'm going to adjust them so there is more clearance under them when we do it . Yes it is an ultra sonic deal.

 

[Stephen Newell]

Im curious how they check them

Depends on how the tank is configured. Sometimes you can empty them and just look inside with a flashlight. If the bottom is caked with rust you can figure they are close to rusting through.

 

[Phill Tibbetts]

Same type of system they do baby ultrasounds with.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

In our state about 10 years ago we had to decide to either get a double wall tank or build a containment solution or the coops wouldn’t fill it

It was a good excuse to upgrade we did a double wall

Neighbor put a grain bin ring around his and called it good. Don’t know that I’d want to test it.

The other neighbor had a truly interesting solution he put the fuel tanks over the old hog slurry tank that had a roof. He actually had 2 of the 500 gallon fuel tanks up on bridge plank and then below he had his 32 tanks about 5000 gallons worth it was a big old square pit but they just barely fit. The only reason I knew about it was I had to fill the 32 tanks it looks pretty slick you would never know any of it is there. The day a fuel tank pops and your 32 tanks are waste deep in fuel would be a bad one but hey it’s contained.

 

[caterpillar guy]

That is exactly what I didn't want to get into with double the cost for it. We have not had any leaks like that so wanted to prevent them. Seems like the prudent thing to do . And yes they are above ground tanks. We have kept the water drained out of them as we drain them each fall before winter so they should not have had much of any water in them .Just more concerned about the oldest one. I suppose while they are empty I could tip them with thew loader to look at the bottom of them if they looked good then not worry about it much.

 

[1948CaseVAI]

That is exactly what I didn't want to get into with double the cost for it. We have not had any leaks like that so wanted to prevent them. Seems like the prudent thing to do . And yes they are above ground tanks. We have kept the water drained out of them as we drain them each fall before winter so they should not have had much of any water in them .Just more concerned about the oldest one. I suppose while they are empty I could tip them with thew loader to look at the bottom of them if they looked good then not worry about it much.

There are many choices on Amazon for 'ultrasonic thickness guage' $89 and up.

 

[buickanddeere]

Im curious how they check them

Eddie currents , ultra Sound or magnetic resonance . Sometimes x-rayed by using cobalt 60 as a source .