Anyone have a BAD experience w/POR-15?

[Surly]

I've been checking past posts and I want to ask straight up if anyone has had, or heard or anyone having, a bad experience with POR-15.

[83GS1100E_Tornado]

If you follow the directions, the stuff is absolutely the next best thing to sliced bread! I've used it at least a half a dozen times, always with great results!

[Dan Ruddock]

Yes follow the directions especially the part about repair the pin hole before you pour it in. Dan

[first timer]

in my personal opinion. por-15 is good stuff if you have a rusty tank with no pin holes. i have kreem in my 550 tank to keep the rust at bay, and it has done well these past 4 years.

i would probably use por 15 if i ever have to line another tank to protect it from rust, but would get it profestionally repaired if i had pinholes.

BUT if you have pin holes then that means you probly need the tank painted. if so strip the paint, take the tank to the painter to get the dents pulled first, a good painter will insist on pulling the dents out with spot welded pins which would burn/ruin any type of tank sealer. after the painter does the body work have him give it back to you, then take it to a radiator shop so they can then weld/soder all pin holes and pressure test the tank, after that they will use a liner like redguard or somthing to line the tank. then take it back to the painter.

In my opinion if you have pin holes and use por 15 or kreem and that fails which it could, then you will have a hell of a time getting that **** out... ask me how i know.... I preped everything to a T and the pin holes held till i niched one and it opened up the por 15. took me about 2 months to get about 80% of the por 15 out, the other 20% was done by a very good radiator shop with a sonic cleaner and 72 hours.


for the extra 50-80 bucks over the cost of a por 15 kit, get it profestionly done if you want to keep the bike.

-ryan

[duaneage]

Having gone through hell with a rusty tank on my CM400A I can tell you the best thing to do is find another tank while they are still somewhat available on eBay or the GS resources and then take good care of it.
Kreme sucks, it did not seal my tank and took forever to apply. If I had just gotten a decent tank (and I had the chance) I would have saved time and money. I have had to paint my tank 3 times because new pinholes keep coming out. I think I finally got them all this time but I don't know. Nearly new tanks for the CM400 go for 140 to 180 dollars, I have over 120 and countless hours in mine. Rather than bounce between radiator shops and painters it makes more sense to get another tank.

If you do get a decent tank store the bike with a full tank of either gasoline or kerosene in the winter to prevent rusting. Drain the tank completely once a year to remove any water (water lays under gasoline and looks purple) and if you see any rust at a seam treat it with rust neutralizer and touch up the paint.

[GregM.]

Duaneage... or another experienced member,

You say,, if you have a decent tank... still drain it out each year...etc. etc. This would be a good preventative measure to keep it decent, right?

Instead of donig that - what about using that gas dryer kind of stuff?? I'm sure there are many different types and brands. Isn't that supposed to get rid of any little bits of water lurking around the bottom.

Is there a good recommendation?

[wharrah]

DO NOT put the lid back on the can....~!

I didn't heed that little warning on the can. Oh, not because I'm stupid, mind you. I figured it was a marketing ploy to get you to buy more stuff....

You see, after I got done treating the inside of my tank, I put it up on the shelf, and went about my business with the lid on it... See, I was going to paint it out on some cardboard in order to safely dispose of it later at the landfill by letting it dry.... this is the only legal way to discard paint around here... painted on something. You can't dispose of it inside the can.

Well, after putting it on the shelf, I'm working along on something and about 20 minutes later there was an EXPLOSION (a huge POP really, but scared the holy bejeebers out of me), and metal and gray goo went flying EVERYPLACE!! I'm working across the garage, and some even went into my hair. It had blown the lid right off the can, and spewn its gray sludge all over the place.

Oversimplified chemistry lesson:

Once air hits it, it starts some sort of chemical reaction, that must put out some gas or something which cannot be contained by man nor beast. If you try to keep it in a cage, it WILL BREAK FREE!

So, don't make my mistake. Assume once the can is opened, you have to dispose of the leftovers RIGHT THEN.

Don't put the lid back on!

[wharrah]

Don't drain your tank; STA-BIL-ize it!

Duaneage... or another experienced member,

You say,, if you have a decent tank... still drain it out each year...etc. etc. This would be a good preventative measure to keep it decent, right?

Instead of donig that - what about using that gas dryer kind of stuff?? I'm sure there are many different types and brands. Isn't that supposed to get rid of any little bits of water lurking around the bottom.

Is there a good recommendation?

I believe that keeping it full of gas with fuel stabilizer(STA-BIL) is a better means of keeping it nice inside. Car companies recommend keeping tanks full in the winter, to not allow condensation to occur due to oxygen forming condensation in the tank. No air, no condensation when the temps fall.

I have NEVER drained a tank since owning a motorcycle, but am RELIGIOUS about keeping STA-BIL in my tanks over the winter months, and starting the bikes no less than once every two weeks.

Draining the tanks and letting air get to them is BAD NEWS in my opinion. (That is, unless you live near Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona, with a relative humidity of about 5%.) Oxygen promotes rust when there is the slightest bit of humidity involved.

My two cents. Good luck.

[duaneage]

I store mine full as well. I just meant to say that I drain it each year to clean it out of any water or dirt that is in there.