Kreem Removal

[terry01]

Does anybody know of a way to get old Kreem tank lining stuff safely out of my fuel tanks?

[harleytoprock]

Fill the tanks to the top with MEK. After a day or so the liner will be dissolved and be loose. You will have to protect the paint.

[painterdale]

Acetone also works well. Dale

[Jim]

I used PAINT REMOVER and a small (to help loosen the sealer) chain on another brand of tank sealer. Of course... you have to be extremely careful not to get any on the outside paint. I taped the whole area around the fill cap to help protect it. NOPE... I didn't get any on the paint and it worked.

[sirhrmechanic]

Lacquer thinner, acetone, MEK (if you inhale it too much, you'll have three-headed kids), paint remover... lots of solvents.

That stuff sucks. It's not that it doesn't work. It's that getting a tank clean enough to get it to stick is an industrial process and if you try it at home, Al Gore will send you nasty letters.

If you can 'immerse' the tank for days at a time in a good solvent, you will probably get it clean. We send gas tanks (mostly old cars) to Canada. No EPA means great chemical processes and Weird Al can't complain.... So if you want, I can take it up with my next load of tanks and get it sealed properly. Not expensive for a bike tank. PM me.

Cheers,

Sirhr

[terry01]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to try the MEK first.

[Steve Swan]

acetone is nearly half as expensive and works just as well.

[duffeycycles]

At Bonneville they have discovered Nitromethane removes it in a hurry

[kunzog]

I am going to remove a sealer from my tanks also. I bought some Acetone and also bought some lacquer thinner as I use it as a universal solvent. Well to my surprise, when I got home and read the label on the lacquer thinner it said "100% Acetone. Looking at several MSDS for lacquer thinner showed they contained acetone, MEK alcohol and other materials. I dont know if this is a new developement or not as I have used lacquer thinner for years and never knew it contained acetone.

[terry01]

Well, it's been five days and the MEK seems to be working, although taking it's time. I suspect if I had a way to agitate it there would be quicker progress. There is a huge expansion of the liquid at different temps. Like huge!!! The paint is not original so the expansion didn't bother me, I knew paint was needed. Will keep at it. Yeah!! A '65 Panhead!!

[Jim]

WOW! 5 days? You mean to say you've been soaking the tank with MEK for 5 days? I cleaned out the tank sealer stuff (NOT KREEM BRAND) in my 36 VL tank in one afternoon using paint remover that I bought at Home Depot. I'd put in a pint or a little more in the tank and a piece of chain about 1 foot long in the tank. Screw the cap on and swish it around like crazy! I'd do this for about 15 min. dump it out into a bucket... and rinse it out with water to see how much is still in there. Then, I would use something like a wooden paint stirring stick to scrape around inside the tank to remove the loose stuff that is still clinging. Then, I repeat the whole process again. Yeah... took me maybe couple hours??? I forget the exact time, but it was in one afternoon. Like I mentioned above... I used PLENTY of masking tape around the gas cap and poured the paint remover in. The tape extended out maybe 4-5 inches around the cap opening. OH... my tanks did NOT need painting so I had to be very careful with it. NOPE... I did not get any remover on my tanks even with the tape. DOUBLE or TRIPLE layer the tape and peel any part off that gets remover on it. Then replace that area with new layer of tape.

If I remember right, the tank sealer I used was from Eastwoods, but probably all the same stuff. I DO NOT have any sealer in my tank now.

[exeric]

I've done what Jim does, and always with success. I use paste type paint remover as well, and for 2 reasons; it clings to all surfaces after sloshing it around, and it's cheaper than MEK, and Acetone. Oh yeah, there's a 3rd reason; I think paint remover works better, and faster. I do use Acetone as a final rinse because it will cut any lingering residue of paint remover, and sealer. That's just my experience which has worked on many tanks.