muriatic acid?

[dreadhed]

I got some today & I am wonering if I should dilute it? It only 40% acid in the bottle, it's for ph in pools. It is bad to let it sit in the tank over night over night? Also can I reuse it? I have a funnel with a filter that would get out most of the rust as I poured it back.

[team-red-rider]

it would eat *Edited**Edited* tank

[Dammit!]

I mixed it about 50/50 with tap water when I did mine and it still ate the rust pretty rapidly. I don't think you'll want to leave it in there more than an hour but yes you can re-use it.

[dreadhed]

I mixed it about 50/50 with tap water .
Was the acid you bought straight acid or was all ready dilluted & you dilluted it more?
Thanks

[Dammit!]

I'm not actually sure. It was left in my house when I bought it (for the pool). I started to poor it in straight and the reaction was strong enough that I grabbed the hose and put some water in there. Strong stuff.

Just poor it in and have the hose nearby so you can top it off if you need to. Also remember to have a big box of baking soda on hand to neutralize it.

[dreadhed]

If it was for a pool then it was dilluted. Ya it has a heck of a reaction. I was using it earlier to day to eat some thread sealnt & it bubled like crazy on every thing I dropped it on. That is when I thought "What a dumd@$$, I should get the baking soda incase I get it on me or some thing else I shouldn't".

[Bryan Raffa]

do not get it on alum. as it will eat it alot faster than anything else.

[ClayW]

I use straight muratic acid on tanks all the time. Eats the hell out of the rust quick. Dump a gallon or 2 in there and let it eat for 5 to 10 min. Muratic acid is already duluted some where around 50/50 acid and water. Its not straight acid. Hydrochloric is straight acid. Leave it in there for that time and dump it out in to a plastic bucket. Look in the tank and see if its a nice dull gray. If it is, even down in the bottom seams your good to go. If its not pour it back in there for a few more minutes. When its good and gray, wash it out with a water hose. Fill it up with water, then just stick the hose down into the bottom of the tank and let it run for a couple min. The water dilutes the acid down to nothing. If your still real worried throw some baking soda in there and wash it out. Either way its good to go. To get the water out, use acetone, laquer thinner or something like that. It will evaporate off fast. I have done about 10 tanks this way. If you have a pin hole thats about to surface the acid WILL find it and eat thru it. This is a good thing. That way you know where they bad spots are and can address them properly. It would suck to redo a tank and then have a spot puff up.

Clay

[Erics350x]

alum. will cause a bad reaction with alot of smoke, leave the cap off or it will explode. be carefull thats bad stuff.

[ClayW]

Yeah dont leave the cap on for sure. Its tough stuff, but its not that bad.

[dreadhed]

I'm glad you guys told me about the alumiumn guys. I did not know that. Thanks for the little write up clay.
Gabe

[Dammit!]

I assume you're going to be coating the tank with something afterwards? It will flash rust as soon as you drain the acid. I used Red Kote with very good results.

[dreadhed]

Ya I got some sealer(can't rember name) I use but I am not sure if I am going to use it or not. I may just keep the tank toped off. I going to use some acetone to help with the flash too. I just have not used acid befor.

[Dammit!]

I had the same plan. It doesn't work. It will rust almost instantly.

[mark38090]

Hey dammit... what do you use to seal it afterwards... I have an 86 250sx I just picked up for $50 and the tank is full of rust. We rebuilt the carb today but I don't want to ruin it by using an ill prepared tank.

[Erics350x]

Check out POR15 on ebay . Work great on my tank , even seals pin holes and seam leaks.

[InPiEcEs]

Make sure you take the fuel petcock off the tank before you use the acid. You will end up with junk if you forget.