Scuttle fuel tank repairer request.

[Duncan Grimmond]

I do not have any information on the tank and radiator repair company in Hartlepool that you mention.
I'd suggest that the irons you have are a little on the small side. You will need to use them in tandem, one in your hand and the other reheating (at the other side of the workshop away from fumes!). La-Co flux is good but the most important thing is cleanliness before you start.
As has already been said, tin the area and well beyond before you start trying to apply a tinned patch to it.
Most solder jobs which fail do so due to lack of cleanliness, poor fit and insufficient heat, in that order.

[Ivor Hawkins]

The last scuttle tank I repaired, I poked the exhaust pipe of my Austin Ruby into the filler and left the car ticking over for five minutes...it didn’t go bang when I sparked up the torch!

I’m not sure what the chemical explanation is but I was recommended to do it after thoroughly cleaning out the tank to eliminate the risk of an explosion.

[Duncan Grimmond]

Excluding oxygen by replacing with non-combustible carbon monoxide is the chemical explanation.

[Jack in the Box]

I was surprised that I was able to resolder a patch on one of my fuel tanks recently using a hot air gun on “high”. 
This was after the detergent wash and rinsing treatment. Alan

[Dave Mann]

    Naked flames and petrol tanks can be quite explosive, I still recall a talk by somebody who frequents this site on improving the performance of your motor he started by explaining that pound for pound petrol is more explosive than dynamite. I heat my soldering iron on a camping gaz stove well away from the tank. Like some things in life the bigger the better when dealing with soldering irons.

[Ivor Hawkins]

Excluding oxygen by replacing with non-combustible carbon monoxide is the chemical explanation.

Thank you Duncan, I thought there would be a simple explanation, either way, it worked and seemed a lot easier than filling the tank with water.

[Duncan Grimmond]

That tank pic came from me! I had offered to repair the leak but he did it himself and was very lucky not to end up wearing it!
Still, I got the job of making the replacement.

[andrew34ruby]

Excluding oxygen by replacing with non-combustible carbon monoxide is the chemical explanation.

Thank you Duncan, I thought there would be a simple explanation, either way, it worked and seemed a lot easier than filling the tank with water.

Filling the tank with water has been my preferred method when welding many tanks. The advantage is that whatever happens the tank will not jump up and bite you. Weighed down by water means that any explosion would have a much reduced effect.

[Howard Wright]

Hi All

The problem with filling a tank with water is that water is a superb heat sink.  Getting the repair area up to temperature with a copper solder iron is almost impossible. It’s a blunt tool but I’ve found a heat gun with a cone on the end works quite well.  Be careful though the element in my gun gets cherry red and occasionally emits a spark!

Cheers

Howard

[A G Wood]

Excluding oxygen by replacing with non-combustible carbon monoxide is the chemical explanation.

Thank you Duncan, I thought there would be a simple explanation, either way, it worked and seemed a lot easier than filling the tank with water.

Not wishing to impugn the knowledge and empirical experience of long-time and esteemed contributors to this forum, but I need to mention that carbon monoxide, despite being toxic to air breathers, is actually combustible. It was in fact the major constituent of coal gas [the sort produced at the gasworks] and the gas produced by automotive wood gas generators of the WW2 era. We were taught the best safe purge for hot work [i.e. open flames] on containers which have held flammables is nitrogen, and even then care is needed to make sure all traces of flammables have been removed.