How long to keep POR-15 sealant inside of the tank?

[Jenya]

Hello,

This is my second attempt to line my motorcycle's fuel tank.

The first time I kept swirling the tank with the sealant for too long, about 30 minutes, and when I opened the drain hole no excess had came out. The sealant had already solidified too much to drain out. However, inside of the tank a large blob of sealant had formed.

Now I have to strip the tank with POR-15 Stripper and start the relinning process all over again.

I was wondering if anybody could tell me the safe amount of time between the sealant going into the tank and it having to be drainned out.


Best Regard,
Eugene

[The Buddha]

Blob ... and what what ...
OK your problem isn't the fact that you're not swirling it too much.
I have done several tanks, and I never have any drain out when I stop and try to drain it.
I only put in enough to coat it though. ~8 oz or so.
Now you have some else going on in the tank.
Cool.
Srinath.

[Mandres]

I wouldn't worry about it.  A blob of hardened sealant isn't going to hurt anything.  I put the whole can in my tank and none came back out.  As long as the whole inside is well coated then you really don't need to strip and re-line. 

[Jenya]

Too late, I already ahd put the stuff in.

Even though on the can of their stripper is says to keep it in no longer than 1hr, I had it in the tank for 24 hrs now.

It does lift the layer, but very slowly. Still most of the tank is covered with the sealant. I think part of the problem is that I don't ahve enough in there. Their kit only included a quart of the stripper.

I am thinking about making a run to Home Depot and picking a galon of acetone and adding it to this stripper. It should hurt right?

I am also keeping the tank over a heater to speed up the reaction

Meanwhile the Summer is rolling away....
Jenya

[makenzie71]

1qt is about twice what you "need" to coat the tank.

What you're doing here is making the whole process way too hard.  It shouldn't be hard.  Stop it.  Just get the POR kit and follow the directions...even if there is still some sealant in there.  If you have no excess, or a blob, or if the virgin mary magically appears in there just leave it alone.

[The Buddha]

POR does not stick to old POR, POR needs to be sanded down, which you cannot do.
I dont believe acetone will do much, and I believe aircraft type stripper will also lift the POR but you have to scrape it off.
Basically POR removal is impossible unless you can scrape it off. I had enough trouble with Kreem.
You probably should get a hole cut on the underside of the tank, scrape it and once you get down to metal, paint POR's Metal ready on it, then paint the thing inside with POR, then weld it back in and use a long brush and paint the weld.
I had to mod the POR recipie so much its not even funny. POR has to be thinned with acetone (they dont recomend it ... but it does work) and the prep is better if you use muriatic acid, then use a tiny bit of that metal ready. Then dry it well, then do POR.
POR lifting off the surface, if its thick, will take the whole insides with it sooner or later (prolly sooner due to the vibes, gasoline etc etc).
Thin coat in all cases, and no one listens to me. You lose a part of that thin coat, that's not going to get the whole thing out in a layer, cos its not a layer.
You will need to cut it open scrape, sand, paint with POR and weld it back.
Cool.
Srinath.

[makenzie71]

I've laid new POR15 over old POR15 without any trouble.  Cured POR has a very hard surface that you can scuff up to make the new stuff stick.  Probably isn't the best thing to do.  Just drop in a couple dozen wood screws and rattle it up for an hour.

[Jenya]

POR does not stick to old POR, POR needs to be sanded down, which you cannot do.

Taht is what they told me at the POR-15 support line.

You will need to cut it open scrape, sand, paint with POR and weld it back.

So far it doesn't seem to be needed. I had bought a jug of aircraft stripper and added it to the POR-15 stripper in the tank. things are really moving now. Large chunkes of liner are getting lifted and I break them down by an old bicycle chain that is inside of the tank into smaller pieces. I just finished dumping stripper and washing the tank and I see most of the tank is already stripped to the pristine bare metal.

I now have it with the stripper again and will wash continue the process until no silver POR-15 lining will be floating anymore.

Jenya