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Old 05-21-19, 08:24 PM   #2
CrankyDoug
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Location: Georgia
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I had a backhoe fuel tank with several pinholes in the bottom. Didn't notice them until I tried to clean the rust out. Mixed some marine epoxy and fumed silica (cabosil) to thicken it and poured in. Two days later I had a perfectly good fuel tank.

Back in the old days we used a product called Cream to seal the bottom seam of motorcycle tanks.

Properly mixed, quality marine epoxy is nontoxic once it cures. Maybe you could make a slightly thickened batch, put it on the anode and then invert the tank so the epoxy will slump back into the joint. Don't try it without some thickener or it will leak back out the hole before it sets. Straight epoxy will pass through any pinhole water will.

Then again, if the tank is 5 years old you may as well replace it. I've never had one yet that lived more than six months beyond the warranty. The current HWT still has a year to go. The anode was completely gone. I'm hoping the new anode will get me an extra 2-3 years beyond the designed fail date. I would be willing to bet the only difference between the 6 year and 9 year tanks is the size of the anode.
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