Cleaning Up Propane Tanks

[Jamespio]

My '69 came with two excellent, but ugly, aluminum propane tanks. I did some really minor poilishing on one just to see if it would polish, and it does. So I got them tested, fitted with new valves and tubes and certified.

Now I need to decide on a sanding/polishing plan. They have overall oxidation and some significant scratches. Here are pics, first one shows their overall condition, second one is a spot I polished a little bit, which shows the scratches better:




It's an old trailer so it'll never be perfect, but I plan to go for what I'll call a medium shiny finish. I figure I want to hit it first with a random orbit sander, but how coarse do you think I can safely go? And how fine would you go before switching to polishing compounds and a wheel?

Opinions appreciated.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

I would not go real crazy with anything industrial. Knock off the bulk of the oxide and re-coat them. For added fun, re-test them after you are done.

Bob

[ALUMINUMINUM]

I spun mine on a pottery wheel. Whet sanded to 220 grit, Could have gone finer grit for more shine, but stopped there as it matched the patina of the 1968GT, and has a nice "spun" finish..

Took about five minutes.

[Jamespio]

Wow, that' spretty slick. If only I had a pottery wheel. How fast did you spin that?

[ALUMINUMINUM]

No tachometer on the pottery wheel. Its max speed is 250rpm. I'd guess the sweet-spot, where the oxidation washed away cleanly with very little hand pressure, was about 90rpm.

[jeg5263]

When I polish aluminum 90 percent of all the jobs I do I use 320 to start if there is alot of pitting I go down to 180 any courser than that it becomes a project to get all the sanding marks out.
I should also add I usually rotary sand to get the worst pitting and scratches out and I sand up to 800 finishing with the da sander.

[2dabeach]

Jamespio..... There have been a lot of changes to the legal requirements for propane tanks since 1969. You may want to check if the tanks you have meet the current requirements and you will be able to get them filled before you spend a lot of time working on them.

[Tbeck11931]

You should be able to polish them out similar to the trailer. Follow all the steps required as you would the Airstream

[PaulnGina]

Lowes has a truck box polish that works really well on our aluminum tanks.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Better-Built-Polish/3035639

I used it on the cylinders on our Avion and really like it! Whether by hand or with an orbital polisher, it works really well!

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by 2dabeach

Jamespio..... There have been a lot of changes to the legal requirements for propane tanks since 1969. You may want to check if the tanks you have meet the current requirements and you will be able to get them filled before you spend a lot of time working on them.

The original post says that he had them recertified and new valves installed.

[2dabeach]

Originally Posted by vswingfield

The original post says that he had them recertified and new valves installed.

vswingfield.... Thanks, I didn't catch that when I read his post.

[Re-Pete]

Originally Posted by jeg5263

When I polish aluminum 90 percent of all the jobs I do I use 320 to start if there is alot of pitting I go down to 180 any courser than that it becomes a project to get all the sanding marks out.
I should also add I usually rotary sand to get the worst pitting and scratches out and I sand up to 800 finishing with the da sander.

Not wishing to hijack this thread, but I'm polishing also and jeg5263, you've raised a question for me.

Does that include AS panels? Just curious. I'm just finishing up polishing my 92 29' Excella for the first time. It's coming out pretty good, but I'm thinking next summer I may want to sand and re-polish my front caps. Is sanding a good idea or no?

Here's the link to my most recent update pics on my polishing thread:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/show....php?p=2014936

[jeg5263]

Originally Posted by Re-Pete

Not wishing to hijack this thread, but I'm polishing also and jeg5263, you've raised a question for me.

Does that include AS panels? Just curious. I'm just finishing up polishing my 92 29' Excella for the first time. It's coming out pretty good, but I'm thinking next summer I may want to sand and re-polish my front caps. Is sanding a good idea or no?

Here's the link to my most recent update pics on my polishing thread:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/show....php?p=2014936

Panels can most definitely sanded and polished. Sanding is the secret to getting super clarity in your work. Even stuff that isn't bad I'll still sand. On stuff that is good typically I'll start at a higher grit maybe 600 or so and go up to 1000 or 1500. Aluminum is porous so it gets layers of micro oxidation over time. By sanding your removing these micro layers and removing imperfections as well. The big thing with airstream panels is heat. Too much and you can make burn marks with a sander if not careful.

[Re-Pete]

Originally Posted by jeg5263

The big thing with airstream panels is heat. Too much and you can make burn marks with a sander if not careful.

Yeah, that would be my luck. I'll probably leave well enough alone. [emoji1]

[Manning G]

Originally Posted by ALUMINUMINUM

I spun mine on a pottery wheel. Whet sanded to 220 grit, Could have gone finer grit for more shine, but stopped there as it matched the patina of the 1968GT, and has a nice "spun" finish..

Took about five minutes.

Damn, that's beautiful!