patience lost ...

So I got my sorry ass back in the garage tonight. Been trying to ever since Friday evening but one thing or another has prevented me from doing so.

I got my POR-15 fuel treatment Friday morning and have wanted to clean out the Bandit's fuel tank. It has been removed from the bike and emptied, so it was just a matter of adding the chemicals.

I read the directions and it seemed rather simple. Heh! that should've been a clue!

It is a 3 stage process where you add some warm water at a 1:1 ratio with the chemicals and slosh it around the insides of the tank. The first stage was a solution that would remove rust and the sludgy lacquer-type film left by gas that has sat a while. The second treatment would remove the alkaline finish and create an acidic base for the final coat, the sealant, to adhere to. Of course, the petcock and filters need to be removed to do this and the holes are covered with duct tape.

The directions suggested that warm water would be more effective than cold water -- but not to use hot water as it will likely break down the adhesive of the duct tape. It is laundry day and after a couple loads, our hot water heater was no longer kicking hot water out of the tap -- not even warm water by this point. Okay, I put some on the stove to boil, but planned to stop it before it boiled, after all, I just wanted it warm.

I sat down for too long and it was nearly boiling by the time I got to it to turn it off. No problem, I will dilute with cold water. So I do that and pour the first round of chemicals into the tank, add the water, and sure enough, as soon as I picked it up, I noticed a puddle forming underneath the tank. Apparently, I hadn't cooled it enough.

Okay, I pull the tape and add new tape and just try to be sure to avoid the petcock area (the tape on the other vents were just fine) as I swirl it all around. It leaked periodically as the liquid would be swirled over the area that was taped off and coming loose AGAIN. The swirling needed to be done for 20 minutes and then rinsed out.

Once the tank was drained of all the rinsed water, it was time for the second chemical solution. Again mixed with *warm* water. It has been nearly a half hour since I heated the water, so surely it has cooled down by now. However, I use more cold water this time and head back out to the garage to mix this cooler water with the second stage chemical.

I am sure you have guessed by the way I have phrased it, that the water was still too warm for the duct tape. Well, you are correct.

Even though, it was significantly cooler, it was still too warm. Another 20 minutes of carefully swirling the water around and being diligent around the petcock area. After this was drained, rinsed, and then drained again, came the critical part. The tank needed to be completely dried out of all water before proceeding to the sealant.

I took an old hair dryer and turned it to high and pointed it down into the tank and angled it around trying to get some heat into all the nooks and crannies and hopefully evaporate all the water that I couldn't see. I felt pretty confident that I had gotten it dry, so then moved on to the last stage.

Mix up the contents of the can until it has a uniform color and dump into the tank. The "paint" then needs to be applied to every part of the tank by twisting and turning it in all directions. The sealant should not be in the tank longer than 20 minutes and then all the excess needs to be removed.

This was where it gets frustrating. If there is a way to get this stuff out of the tank in 20 minutes, I sure would like to know how.

I removed the tape from the petcock, and being the consistency of maple syrup, it was near impossible to get the stuff out the hole. Especially since the outlet for the petcock is slightly raised to avoid sucking up the trash and sludge that sets in the bottom of your fuel tank.

This means turning the tank nearly upside down to get it to seep out the petcock outlet. Of course, before any gets out that tiny hole, most of the stuff has now run over to the other side of the tank. After many, many attempts at getting the sealant out of the tank by tilting every which way, the stuff has now created quite a mess!

The container I was emptying this into, was plenty large enough to allow me to get the runoff to go into it as I tilted the tank all around. While it did run off into the container, it also has dripped all over the bottom of the tank by now. This is paint by the way.

I would wipe it down, but having not been wearing gloves, it is also all over my fingers by now. Again, I'm still trying to get the sealant out by manipulating the tank. At this point, I am holding the tank insulated by some old rags. I guess my fingers had slipped a couple of times, as I had noticed my blue tank now has some silver spots on it. SH*T!

I hosed the areas off and used some 1200 grit sandpaper and slight pressure in an attempt to remove the partially dried paint without scratching the finish of the tank itself. Luckily, this worked pretty well.

At this point, I am more than frustrated as I have been futilely trying to get all the excess out. There is still a little left, but after nearly an hour of trying to remove the stuff that shouldn't be in there more than 20 minutes, I decided to tilt the tank up and let whatever little excess there is to settle and dry down in the very bottom of the  tank (closest to the seat). Probably not going to be a problem as there wasn't much left in there to start with, but am agitated that I didn't have the patience to finish the job properly.  It'll take 96 hours for this to cure so I am idle for the next few days as I do not wish to stir up any dust in the garage until it has.