removing paint on a tank...

[Jeff Pack]

Whats the best stripper to use to remove paint from a tank? I got a kind of beat up 19, I want to repaint.

[Joshua Smith]

Cinnamon said she'd do a good job, but she took my money and disappeared.

Crystal has promised me she will do a better job, but I won't know for sure until she gets out of jail....

[Scubie Doo]

Jeff, come on. That was a letter-high fastball for Joshua!

[spatman]

Josh beat me to the good stuff, but this thread might help, and if not, it's a fun read:

http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php?t=8918

[Are-Jay]

I have had great luck with Citristrip.It makes the paint bubble up and fall off the tank, you just need to be patient.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R ... reId=10051

The paint on Catilina's falls off on a few hours and 2 coats, Luxfer's take about 4-5 coats and about 24 hours, what ever primer they use is some tough stuff. The key is using it in a warm place I'd guess above 60 and it works well.

Don't bother with a brush I just used gloves to apply, then leave it alone till it's dry and no longer working. I used a brass brush to clean out the neck stamp lettering.

Hope this helps.

[Rockfish]

+1 on the citristrip however it needs to warm up some before it works very well.

I've used a abrasive sanding wheel to remove paint which is a lot messier but is not temperature sensitive.

Whichever way you go make sure it is a well ventilated location and I would not sand it indoors too mcuh dust.

I have 2 tanks I am going to strip and leave bare.

Good luck.

Mike

[camerone]

BTW, Jeff - you should be very wary of repainting and I would highly suggest not doing it after you clean up the tank. The best finishes for this kind of service are actually bake-on, and if you do that to an AL tank, you'll ruin the tank from the heat exposure. Ones that aren't baked on usually scratch up pretty quickly and look just as ugly as where you started in a very short amount of time.

I'm going to assume your 19 is aluminum... once you strip it, I would just leave it bare. It'll basically form an oxidation layer immediately, and then you're good to go.

Despite being the owner of the hottest pink set of doubles in town, I think paint is a PITA on tanks. It bubbles, chips, and traps salt water - all of which aren't good things. Each little bubble is something I have to investigate when I VIP a tank, and I usually do it with a wire brush to knock the paint off...which causes chips on the edge, which lets water in and erodes the paint even more, and it's a vicious cycle. I can't honestly believe manufacturers still paint their tanks at the factory. Just seems stupid to me...

A lot of places will not VIP of fill repaint jobs...heck, this is one case where if I ran a dive shop, I wouldn't do it either. It's too risky because you never know how the paint was applied, what it's done to the metal, or whether it was a compatible paint.

-C