welding on an old oil tank

By jer

Date 08-31-2004 01:36

Never welded on one, and a guy asked if I could cut and cap a drain plug area on his 400 gallon old oil tank. I first said no don't want to, but thought I'd ask you guys here what are the negatives involved.

By chall

Date 08-31-2004 11:41

Obviously the risk of fire or even an explosion.

I recently cut up an old fuel oil tank, that had not been in service for years, in order to remove it from a storage room. There was a very strong fuel odor. First, I borrowed a gas tester from work and verified the atmosphere would not support fire or explosion.

If you don't have access to a tester, and have someone able to explain how it functions, I think it's wise to avoid the job.

Charles Hall

By jwright650 (*****)

Date 08-31-2004 14:03

http://aws.org/cgi-bin/mwf/topic_show.pl?id=3623#14223

Read and learn from this poor guy's troubles.
John Wright

By G.S.Crisi (****)

Date 08-31-2004 19:09

The American Petroleum Institute (API) has a recommended practice for welding on empty oil and oil products storage tanks. Don't try to weld on one if you havn't got any experience on how to do it.
API is available at www.api.org
Giovanni S. Crisi
Sao Paulo - Brazil