crack in plastic oil tank

djsarge1973 · 30 Jun 2010

Soap will always form a seal over a crack this will stop the leak temporarily..then here's another little tip...find a local farm supply place (town & county etc etc) ask for a roll of silage repair tape...then place that over the soap..IF it rains it stops the soap being washed out..(can you tell I'm an ex farmer)!!!! then unfortunately it's a new tank

binsurf · 10 Sep 2010

Bit delayed but...I had an oil leak in my plastic tank 2 days ago.started off a small damp patch which turned into a spurt as soon as soon as I STARTED MESSING ABOUT WITH IT.the leak was located on a join half way down the tank.tank was 5 yrs old !!I syphoned off the oil down to where the leak was and wire brushed the area.I then applyed 3 layers of fibeglass cloth to the area which worked a treat.there is no way that the same area will leak..(touch wood)so the most important thing to do is prepare the leak area before fibergrassing and to have **** loads of empty containers .(I had 15 plastic storage boxes a dust bin and other various plastic containers.make sure there is no rain forecast when you do this.!!I then hired an industrial pump to pump the oil back into the tank after repair.Total cost was £8 fibreglass kit and £28 for the hire of the pump. not bad considering I rescued aproximately £400 worth of oil.

londonboy · 10 Sep 2010

Whats with the new username?

Always makes me laugh when people come on here to ask for advice from the pro's, then completely ignore it and **** up!!!!!

robbie77 · 10 Sep 2010

Whats with the new username?

Always makes me laugh when people come on here to ask for advice from the pro's, then completely ignore it and f***** up!!!!!

robbie77 · 10 Sep 2010

Incidentally, seeing as this has been revived. I decided to go through my house insurance that covers the tank.

Worth checking if anyone else has a similar problem

Corgigrouch · 10 Sep 2010

binsurf said:
Bit delayed but...I had an oil leak in my plastic tank 2 days ago.started off a small damp patch which turned into a spurt as soon as soon as I STARTED MESSING ABOUT WITH IT.the leak was located on a join half way down the tank.tank was 5 yrs old !!I syphoned off the oil down to where the leak was and wire brushed the area.I then applyed 3 layers of fibeglass cloth to the area which worked a treat.there is no way that the same area will leak..(touch wood)so the most important thing to do is prepare the leak area before fibergrassing and to have s**t loads of empty containers .(I had 15 plastic storage boxes a dust bin and other various plastic containers.make sure there is no rain forecast when you do this.!!I then hired an industrial pump to pump the oil back into the tank after repair.Total cost was £8 fibreglass kit and £28 for the hire of the pump. not bad considering I rescued aproximately £400 worth of oil.

The GRP patch might buy you enough time to find yourself a new tank but don't expect it to last too long as the polyester resin won't adhere to the plastic used for fuel tanks, it will start to peel... Only way round it would be to completely encase the tank in GRP and flow coat it

Richard C · 10 Sep 2010

binsurf said:
wire brushed the area.I then applyed 3 layers of fibeglass cloth to the area which worked a treat.there is no way that the same area will leak..(touch wood)

Corgigrouch said:
The GRP patch might buy you enough time to find yourself a new tank but don't expect it to last too long as the polyester resin won't adhere to the plastic used for fuel tanks, it will start to peel

& I said earlier in the thread;

Richard C said:
nothing much will stick to thermoplastic tanks anyway as the plastic is inherently non stick; heat welding is about the only thing that will work

You need to keep touching that wood binsurf & consider the repair just a temporary respite, polyester resin is not compatible with thermoplastics.

londonboy · 10 Sep 2010

robbie77 said:
Whats with the new username?

Always makes me laugh when people come on here to ask for advice from the pro's, then completely ignore it and f***** up!!!!!

Click to expand...

Sorry I assumed binsurf was you under a different username

Richard C · 10 Sep 2010

londonboy said:
Sorry I assumed binsurf was you under a different username

I think we all guessed that

; say 100 hail Maries, make the tea for a week & buy a round of drinks for your best mates in the pub tonight & you’ll be forgiven my friend

; I think

Well at least by your mates

binsurf · 11 Sep 2010

so far no leaks.I forgot to mention that I really scuffed up the leak area with a wire brush until it was fluffy to the touch,so I really do think that the fibre glass will stay for quite a while and wont peel off as a result of the good key I made.The total area I repaired was the size of a match box so expansion of the tank should not cause the area to crack.

Richard C · 11 Sep 2010

binsurf said:
so far no leaks.I forgot to mention that I really scuffed up the leak area with a wire brush until it was fluffy to the touch,so I really do think that the fibre glass will stay for quite a while and wont peel off as a result of the good key I made.The total area I repaired was the size of a match box so expansion of the tank should not cause the area to crack.

Having a working knowledge of plastics & GRP manufacture, I’m afraid I can’t share your optimism; keep touching that wood.

robbie77 · 11 Sep 2010

londonboy said:
robbie77 said:

Whats with the new username?

Always makes me laugh when people come on here to ask for advice from the pro's, then completely ignore it and f***** up!!!!!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Sorry I assumed binsurf was you under a different username

No problemo.

Agile · 11 Sep 2010

I appreciate that this is not a proper repair and a replacement is the only proper option but what about a thermoplastic weld repair as a temporary expedient?

What common plastic material is similar to the material used for tanks?

Is the black polythene like material used for loft tanks similar or are oil tanks made of significantly different?

I have used a temperature controlled soldering iron for temporary repairs to plastic items from time to time.

Tony

Richard C · 11 Sep 2010

I’ve also used the soldering iron trick quiet a few times in the past; it can be very effective on non-stressed items & even look quiet neat but I wouldn’t like to trust such a repair on an oil tank. Done correctly, thermoplastic welding can provide a permanent repair but it does require the correct welding equipment; oil contamination could still be a problem affecting the strength of the repair.

djsarge1973 · 14 Dec 2010

Just add my point of view here... so you've repaired your oil tank & it appears to be holding ON THE OUTSIDE!!! & you dont know what is happening on the inside!!! when it fails it'll be when the tank is fullish, so make sure you keep those tanks & pump handy!!!! (& hope that the EA dont read these posts"!)!!!!!!!

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crack in plastic oil tank

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