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Post by surflung on Sept 14, 2015 6:42:11 GMT -8
Tank Tumbling Made Easy... Eventually!
- I acquired a few USN surplus scuba tanks this Summer and when I got the valves off a couple of them needed tumbling to remove surface rust. I've been meaning to try a reloading tumbler called the Frankford Arsenal Tumbler. Here's a video...
- I got started on this tumbling thing and immediately began to wonder what kind of mess I got myself into. I temporarily broke my tank vise so I couldn't get the big valve bushings off and had to work thru the 1/2" valve opening... That and the flat face of the bushing on the inside made it hard to get the tumbling media out... Quite a lot of physical work shaking the tank, checking it, and re-filling it, etc. And, I was using a strange media made up of stainless steel needles about 1/4" long. Not very aggressive, difficult to get in and out of the tank, and messy.
BUT, I'm happy to say the learning curve took a steep turn upward over the weekend. I fixed the tank vise and the bushing came out pretty easy. Then, I remembered we have some nice ceramic tumbling media over at work and I borrowed some of it. I also added water which had the effect of washing both the tank and the media. This made it so I actually emptied and refilled the water without dumping the media and I could tell the tumbling was done because the water began to come out almost clean.
The final step to all of this was making a high pressure air wand... From plumbing at the hardware store. This is what Luis Heros told me to use to instantly dry the interior of the tank and avoid flash rust. After finally emptying the water and media from the tank, I turned it upside down with the edge resting on my bench, inserted the wand up until it touched the end of the tank... And turned on the high pressure.
I have a mini-Maglite on a string that I use for tank inspections. And, holy cow that tank is clean, dry, and smooth as a baby's butt! 
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Post by eskimo3883 on Sept 8, 2020 15:56:26 GMT -8
Hi Surflung, It's been some time since you posted this and I would like to know if you still think the Frankford Arsenal Tumbler is worth while for use on SCUBA tanks. It seems like a reasonable cost but I had not seen anyone use it on a larger 72. Would you recommend buying one for tanks if you did not already have one in hand?
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Post by surflung on Sept 10, 2020 7:08:22 GMT -8
Well actually... The tumbler works great. It's the PROCESS of tumbling that I think is a royal PITA. It's time consuming, tedious, and exhausting... Lifting and dumping tanks full of water and media. Refilling, tumbling some more, etc. I don't like doing it. Then about two years ago, we found a new place to get our hydro testing done. They're called Hydrostat and they call it "re-qualifying" of pressure cylinders. They offer other services at downright cheap prices. I think they charge $15 to bead blast the inside of your tank. When I saw that, I gave up tank tumbling!
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Post by eskimo3883 on Sept 14, 2020 10:56:04 GMT -8
I would love to be in that position. We have lost some dive shops in the Bay area and my favorite, which did in-house hydros, closed. The one in San Jose charges $60 USD for hydro/vis/ and another $7 for an airfill. Any tumbling after pre-hydro VIS starts at $25 beyond that (more $ if a second hour is needed). Their hydro is at an outside company. The hydro guy does attach a valve nor will issue a VIS so at some later date a naked tank goes back to the LDS for a VIS/air fill. Any rust in the VIS starts the cycle over. I expect they will prevent rust during transport to/from the hydro guy but if I hand them 6 steel tanks I really have no idea what I could be hit with. The lowest fee, with zero tumbling, is $402 for 6 tanks. I bought your tumbler (good for other stuff as well), a compound O chemical equivalent (Rustlick B Water Soluble Rust Inhibitor), a citate base wet tumbling solution, and am still trying to find the correct size SiC based ceramic media. At that point I will tumble what's needed, take them myself to the Hydro guy ($15 per hydro), and have the LDS do their VIS/airfill. Those first 6 tanks will pay for my tumbler. If I dont screw anything up I will move on to two sets of Triple 40s that have been sitting idle and empty.
Fort Bragg CA is a great dive spot a few hours north of SF and was the Abalone free dive spot. Before Covid Ca and Oregon shut down all ab diving for several years. My buddy says both dive shops in Fort Bragg are now permanently closed. Probably due to a combination of no abs and covid19. I have no idea where the nearest air fill is outside of Fort Bragg. Good reason to have a pile of tanks on hand.
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Post by duckbill on Sept 14, 2020 19:29:23 GMT -8
My buddy says both dive shops in Fort Bragg are now permanently closed. Probably due to a combination of no abs and covid19. This is truly sad/bad news. |
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