Caswell liner failure

In my last job, R & D at a plastics compounder, we set or product in a xylene bath. Any polyethylene that had not crosslinked(cured) would dissove in the xylene and a very careful measurement (grams to 5 decimal places) would reveal the level of cure. If these epoxy liners have a hint of bad cure, a hint of the wrong mix ratio or some other system failure then it is only a matter of time. I know very little about these systems, about the epoxy used or about the chemical make up.
 
This didn't go well, got a chunk of the tank liner torn off.
first up; soaked it in acetone, slightly softened it.
second try MEK
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also :thumbsdown:
So much for getting it out with chemicals.
The good news is I didn't run out and buy 5 gallons of cancer in a can MEK
 
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It's ironic you bring this up. I was out in the storage building last weekend checking the condition of my stored bikes. It prompted me to contact Caswell asking how I should remove this failed liner. First, their thoughts for the reason of failure were as follows. 'When the liner de laminates in large sections as decribed, it is due to the lack of scoring on the inner walls of the tank which give the liner something to bite onto." This actually makes sense, as the interior of my tank looks like new under the liner. Very smooth!

When I asked for their recommendation of how to remove the rest of the liner, they replied that I will need a good paint stripper to remove the liner. When I asked for a recommendation... "To be completely honest, the only stripper we know of that removes our liner completely is our Tank Stripper. Unfortunately, you must be a business to purchase it and you have to fill out a form to order it."

https://caswellplating.com/gas-tank-stripper-1-quart/
$70 per quart !!! Looks like the volatile component in it is Methylene Chloride Solvent. My journey continues. I tried some GOOF OFF gel paint stripper that I had on hand. It softened it a little but I don't see it removing the whole liner. For now I will probably swap back to my old tank that has a RedCoat liner. Not thrilled, but im not ready to half ass an attempt at cleaning the Caswell liner out. I want it to be a one and done kind of deal. So scared about ruining my paint. I could always run it as is with some good inline filters and see what happenss. I really don't know what the right answer is.
 
Not familiar with the Caswell Liner, out of curiosity what color is it?
I ask because I am doing a resto on an old friends HD Softtail and it appears to have a grey colored coating in it that is peeling.
 
There have been cases of chemical suppliers providing the wrong mix or a mix with wrong ratios of components.
Different deal, but I gelcoated a Corvette recently with product from a well known supplier, followed the instructions to the letter and it never set up. Yeah, sometimes products fail.
 
RC, the Caswell epoxy liner is a clear/translucent product. It has turned a yellow tint though.
 
Not familiar with the Caswell Liner, out of curiosity what color is it?
I ask because I am doing a resto on an old friends HD Softtail and it appears to have a grey colored coating in it that is peeling.
Caswell is clear like glass, however, it can be purchased with pigment in several colors. I had grey stuff in one of my tanks that acetone dissolved. Paint stripper didn't touch it.
This was my experience:
https://xs650temp.proboards.com/thread/17274/failed-tank-liner
 
I First, their thoughts for the reason of failure were as follows. 'When the liner de laminates in large sections as decribed, it is due to the lack of scoring on the inner walls of the tank which give the liner something to bite onto." This actually makes sense, as the interior of my tank looks like new under the liner. Very smooth!

No answers just observations.

It seems to be to easy to get advice to do a tank liner when it isn't necessary I think. Even lightly rusted tanks seem to be lined when for my mind a tank would have to have bad rust to the point where, it is ready to, or, is making pin holes.

The point about the tank not having enough of a rough surface for the liner to adhere to makes sense. but surely a professional should know this and know that doing so, it is going to have more of a chance for a failed job. Easy to blame some other reason for the de-laminating after the fact.

Sorry to hear you are having this problem, sorry i have no solution.
 
I agree about liners being used far too often when not needed. I so wish they never lined it considering the excellent condition the metal appears to be. I’m sure I’ll figure something out. But I’m gonna take my time and do my absolute best to preserve my paint job. Even if that means running an alternate tank for the season until I come up with the right solution.
 
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From my link in post #50. My freshly painted tank was filled with paint stripper. It didn't work, so I drained and filled with a gallon of acetone. The paint was not damaged.

I'm watching this with interest because I had two very rusty tanks. Both were mechanically then chemically stripped to clean metal. Both got a Caswell coat. The instructions said it can cover rust, not that it must cover rust.
 
Looks like the volatile component in it is Methylene Chloride Solvent.
That's traditional old-fashioned paint stripper that used to be available off the shelf before the current crop of useless substitutes became available.
You must be able to buy it over there. I can still get it here.
<caution - there is a good reason for it not being widely available, it's a nasty one>
 
That's traditional old-fashioned paint stripper that used to be available off the shelf before the current crop of useless substitutes became available.
You must be able to buy it over there. I can still get it here.
<caution - there is a good reason for it not being widely available, it's a nasty one>
It is available here. We just have to shop by ingredients as in read the labels.
 
I’m just curious but has anyone ever tried oven cleaner? Some have methylene chloride, along with a few other nasty chemicals.
 
My last attempt at removing a liner involved MEK (still available here), several sections of bicycle chain and some loose nuts and bolts. The hardware was effective in breaking up the liner as the MEK dissolved it. I blocked the petcock holes, filled it to the brim with MEK, left it to soak for 2 days, and then added the metals. You have to be cautious when "agitating" it, as shaking the living sh*t out of it would likely dent the tank from the inside. I left it for another 24-hours and repeated agitating. The whole process came out clean, but it took 4 days and likely shortened my life.

Of note, this was a red-kote liner. Not sure how that compares/differs to Caswell. I will 100% not be lining my new tank.
 
Acetone works well to remove Red Kote. I used mold release to protect the paint.
 
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