Making Side Tanks

[ron]

This looks an excellent new section many thanks to Andy ;D

A question about side tanks, many years ago I made a fish tank for my kids using some glass sheets stuck together with clear silicone rubber, same as the ones in the shops except a lot cheaper ;D, worked a treat and didn't leak.
I was wondering if instead of soldering this would be a successful method of making the side tanks using sheet and angle brass, I know there tends to be a slight reaction between brass and silicone but nothing serious and it seems to me to be a lot easier method, has anyone tried this or got any thoughts on the subject?
Ron

[baggo]

Hi Ron,

are you thinking about using the silicon to actually hold everything together or use rivets or screws to fasten the angle and just use the silicon as a sealer? As you say, modern fish tanks, even very large ones, are just stuck together with silicon and they do seem very strong.

The only thing with tanks (loco, not fish ;D) is that they tend to get hot even if the boiler is lagged and that may cause problems

My idea for the tank loco I am building at the moment is to use brass angle fastened with a few rivets or screws and then seal the joints with a low melting point solder (such as used for assembling etched brass kits) to avoid distorting the tank due to too much heat.

John

[ron]

Hi John
My original idea was to stick the tank together using silicone only, but I wondered about the effects of heat, particularly over a period of time but I am led to believe that there are some RTVs suitable for higher temperature use although I haven't investigated what's available.
The idea of rivetting then sealing with silicone might be worth pursuing as well.
My other doubt is, if it doesn't work, the tank might be scrap as the silicone contamination could make it difficult or impossible to solder?
Ron

[Chris Kelland]

Hi,

I have tried sealer and it flaked off after a while and bunged up the water feeds and filters on my Maxitrak Dixie. Denis M used some stuff used by restorers to seal petrol tanks, on his 7 1/4 Baldwin tanks. As I understand it your pour it in and slosh it around and it sets. I think he has no problem to date. There was a thread some time ago on this, but I can't find it yet, I will keep looking.


Chris.

[baggo]

Hi Chris,

the sealer is POR15 sold by Frost Auto Restoration,

John

[greasemonkey]

HI Ron
When I put my tanks together I used soft solder to seal them. If you use a samll gas torch burner then you shouldnt get any distortion. My burner is only 6mm diameter but by working slowly it does the job. I sealed the tanks in a previous loco with a silicon sealant and it came lose and blocked the pipes.

Andy

[ron]

Thanks folks, looks like silicone wasn't one of my better ideas, I'll solder the tanks.
Ron

[ducatibob]

I soft soldered my tanks with flux and solder powder. marginal success however distortion was a problem. I must have 1,000,000 rivets in my tanks. The solution was fastglass from Halfords (cheap!) . Mix it up and slosh it around the joints inside the tanks of course. Its a good idea to do a bit at a time to ensure all joints are covered. Hope this helps.

[glanshed]

I riveted ,soft soldered and then sealed with fastglass. produceda sound job.