Cold roll fuel cell

[teckn9ne]

Have a friend looking to have a fuel cell made out of cold rolled steel, my question is how well would it hold up without having any kind of liner in it? Would the gas keep it from rusting?? Thanks!

[dave powelson]

Have a friend looking to have a fuel cell made out of cold rolled steel, my question is how well would it hold up without having any kind of liner in it? Would the gas keep it from rusting?? Thanks!

What you're considering is simply a fuel tank-not a cell.

The CRS will rust very nicely.

[mrmikey]

What you're considering is simply a fuel tank-not a cell.
Ditto, I thought a fuel cell contained a bladder that was filled with an open cell foam? that prevented the fuel from leaking should the tank be punctured......Mike

[zapster]

Ditto, I thought a fuel cell contained a bladder that was filled with an open cell foam? that prevented the fuel from leaking should the tank be punctured......Mike

The foam will prevent sloshing around..
A exit hole is a exit hole...gas will find it...

Most cells are either plastic or aluminum..

Do you have any idea what a CRS "Cell" would weigh?

Too much for me.

...zap!

[Jim Stabe]

Do you have any idea what a CRS "Cell" would weigh?

...zap!
Twice as much as an aluminum case would assuming the same metal thickness.

[MoonRise]

/*Twice as much as an aluminum case would assuming the same metal thickness.

Wellll, actually it would be 2.9 times as heavy in steel if made from the same thickness of aluminum. :D

0.283 lbs/in^3 for steel

0.097 lb/in^3 for aluminum

0.283 / 0.097 = 2.917

I rounded off. :laugh:

As to bare plain steel, well just remember that Rust Never Sleeps.

Also keep in mind that there are usually safety standards for most fuel tanks, and often more stringent standards for fuel tanks/cells for aircraft, race vehicles, and so on.

[weldbead]

steel would be thinner than aluminum to resist the sames forces, no?

[Fat Bastard]

A fuel cell is a far different that just a vessel to hole fuel.

http://atlfuelcells.com/

http://www.fuelsafe.com/index.htm

Please do some research on what a fuel cell is and why buying a proven fuel system can save your life.

[teckn9ne]

It would be for a truck on air ride, the "fuel holding device" or whatever you want to call it would hold the stock fuel pump for the vehicle and the factory return piece (it's a separate piece) and a filler neck, the whole thing would end up being a sealed unit, the outside would of course be painted, now for the inside I know they make liners but ie heard they don't hold up to today's fuels with ethanol in them. Also older factory tanks are not lined, and yes the cold roll steel would be thinner and would also be well out of the way of harm from the asphalt, I really don't see how this could be different from a factory tank. Thanks for the input

[dave powelson]

It would be for a truck on air ride, the "fuel holding device" or whatever you want to call it would hold the stock fuel pump for the vehicle and the factory return piece (it's a separate piece) and a filler neck, the whole thing would end up being a sealed unit, the outside would of course be painted, now for the inside I know they make liners but ie heard they don't hold up to today's fuels with ethanol in them. Also older factory tanks are not lined, and yes the cold roll steel would be thinner and would also be well out of the way of harm from the asphalt, I really don't see how this could be different from a factory tank. Thanks for the input

"I really don't see how this could be different from a factory tank."

......well.......look at an OEM tank, inside and outside.
It's tinned, coated with galvanizing, for corrosion control.

[Additionally, a OEM fuel system with full emissions gear,
has a vapor recovery system and pressure/vacuum regulated
tank vent design, which very effectively prevents condensation
damage inside the tank. On sealed, OEM system tanks, I've had
in for repair--I've never found any inner tank corrosion--and
I looked hard for that.]

You originally asked about CRS rusting--which we told it will,
big time and now you decided that CRS won't rust??

Bear in mind that some of the respondees (including mee-self)
have built and repaired tanks from CRS, HRS, SS, and AL......so just maybe
we might have some valid clues from experience.

[teckn9ne]

That makes better sense that they are tinned and or galvanized thank you for clearing that up, I suppose I'll just stick with aluminum

[4x4_Welder]

I am just wrapping up reworking a motorhome into a 1.25ton pickup, and both tanks on that were plain steel. At almost 30years old, they didn't show much in the way of rust, either, but how you treat them in use is critical: Keep them as full of fuel as possible, and also run the recommended amount of fuel system treatment for the tank capacity about every third or fourth tank.

[1_black_z28]

My 82 suzuki has a steel tank, no liner.

As long as I keep her full with gas, no rust!

If I let the tank sit below Full....i get rust!

A guy working at the dealership told me that too, if you keep it full of gas, there can't be rust.
(unless it's on the ceiling of the tank, where the gas doesn't touch)

If you aren't going to be putting gas in the tank for a while, there are a few things you can temporarily coat a tank with, to prevent rust....PB Blaster, WD-40, Gun oil, and Vegatable Oil.
I'm sure there are many more, but those are just the common ones that motorcycle guys tend to use.

[mot krig]

Yep - My old yamaha R6 had a steel tank as did my buddies ninja 500. It should have SOME coating on the inside though. My buddies ninja had rusting problems because it was 10+ years old and had been stored with a half tank of gas for some of the time. Once he took it out, cleaned it and reapplied the coating to the inside it was fine.