Cleaning your buffer/water tanks

Supplies & Equipment
1

Hey guys im a new member but been lurking for a while now, looks like there is an insane amount of knowledge here. I have been working for a pw company for the past 7 years trying to learn as much as possible about the trade. Well i finally scraped up enough money to buy a decent rig for myself to get out on my own this spring. In the mean time i want to get the equipment and trailer in tip top shape.

So heres my question, do any of you know the best way to get the exterior of a 525 gal tank clean. It is weathered, has red clay stains on it and you can see where the previous owner had decals on it. Ive tried soaking with sh and eleminator followed by pressure and hot water. I tried soaking with degreaser (x-25) followed by pressure and hot water, without any decent results. Is muratic acid worth trying? Buffing with rubbing compound? Been searching the web for ideas but came up empty. Any ideas, thanks

2

Try barkeepers friend or oxalic acid before muratic.

3

Ok I will give it a shot, used bar keepers friend a couple years back to remove heavy oxidation from my old boat and it did a good job. I will start with that.

4

I’d also try eacho chem one restore before muriatic acid.

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5

Sh will do nothing for the clay and sticker residue.
Sh isn’t always the answer

6

Yeah i knew the sh would not do anything for the clay, the tank had been sitting and had a layer of mildew and algae which was the reason for sh, i was hoping the degreaser would help with the buildup of spilt diesel from the burners, which it did. Im now trying to get it back as white as possible.

7

Gas will take the decal glue off quickly

8

I used goo gone for the glue, the glue has been removed, it is where the decal has protected the tank, so the tank is stained but where the decal was looks brand new, trying to even it out a little.

9

Try OneRestore, works on many substrates and stains.

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10

Ok i will add that one to the list, thanks

11

Use a brillo or something similar. You don’t have to worry about scratching it.

12

If it’s that red/orange color that the white HDPE tanks get after a long time, you should see the results I got with just water and oxalic. It was night and day

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I did a test spot with one restore I had laying around and it did a pretty good job, im gonna pick up some oxilac acid and do another test and see which one looks the best. Thanks for the help guys.

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14

From the pic, I think OneRestore is gonna give you better results. That test spot is pretty close to the best you can hope for, and it doesn’t look as rusty as the tank I used oxalic on.

Also good job on getting the bands too

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15

Looks like it will clean up nice.

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16

Yeah im just gonna stick with the OneRestore, I already have enough laying around to do several of these, no sense in buying another chemical when this will do the trick.
Thanks guys for the help

2 Likes
17

You’re welcome, much success. Love that OneRestore, I’ve used it on about everything, my go to.

18

Yeah, gonna have to keep a gallon or two on hand.