7 replies to this topic

[NerfNoob10]

I recently found that on of my air tanks was leaking out of a hole that had developed out of a small crack I never noticed in the tank. At this point I decided it was time to reinforce the tank like MIG did. I was all ready to do this but brought the topic up with a co worker who works on repairing boats. He sugested instead of cheese cloth I use fiberglass mesh or carbon fiber mesh as it is significantly stronger. Here is what I ended up doing.

SO first you will need gloves, epoxy (pretty much any kind will work), something to mix your epoxy, fiberglass or carbon fiber mesh, and fiberglass beads.



Close up on carbon fiber mesh (left) and fiberglass mesh (right)


Now first you want to get your air tank (either cracked or new), I chose an Air tech 2000 tank


And just give it a light sanding all over. Be gentle, you don't want to damage the tank, just give the epoxy a better place to grab.


Now measure out the dimensions of your tank and cut out a top, bottom, and side piece of your mesh. When working with your mesh be sure to wear your gloves as the fibers easily break apart and can cause itching and some irritation if they get on your skin.


Now unfortunately at this point it got hard for me to take pictures because I was covered in epoxy and It was hard to keep taking off my gloves to pick up the camera and get a picture. But what you do at this point is called "wetting" the mesh. And all you do is mix up your epoxy and squish it over your mesh making sure to completely cover it and fill all the gaps and spaces. You can now pick up your mesh and wrap your tank in it like this.


Now in order to get the top and bottom of the tank I cut the mesh into 4 strips and places them around the top folding over the extra tot he sides like so.




Now your going to want to let this dry, or if your like me and extremely impatient let it mostly dry before moving on to the next step. Once dry were going to cover it with reinforced epoxy. We make this by mixing in our fiberglass beads with our epoxy. This gives the epoxy some structure and rigidity.


Use a pile about the same size as the amount of epoxy your going to use.


AT this point my friend helped me take pictures while I worked.


You should start to see the beads becoming incorporated into your epoxy.


Until finally it looks something like this. A very very thick epoxy.


Now just coat your entire tank in this stuff and your good to go.




Wait until it has completely hardened and congratulations, you now have a ridiculously strong air tank. At this point every thing else will fail before your air tank like the tubing or pump or firing pin, so don't think you can now bring your tank up to insane pressures because something will break, it just won't be your tank.

So overall MIG method is probably fine for normal use and easier and uses more available materials, but if you want the absolutely strongest Air tank just short of one of robomans aluminum tanks, this is the way to go. Hope you enjoyed the write up and feel free to let me know what you think.

[Hammy]

Didn't someone else propose this solution a few months back ?

Air Tank Reinforcement

Edited by Hammy, 12 September 2012 - 12:11 AM.

[NerfNoob10]

Didn't someone else propose this solution a few months back ?

Air Tank Reinforcement

Yes as I already stated in my write up Make It Go has already come up with a method for reinforcing air tanks, I am simply expanding on his idea with better materials and a few changes. Also as I said in my write up it was in fact because of MIG that I did this so I am sorry if I didn't give him enough credit for the original idea.

[The Nerfaholic]

I think mesh tape may be a bit stiffer and stronger but do the beads mixed in actually help? Have you done PSI testing on this?

[Buffdaddy]

Doesn't the fiberglass usually get used along with Bondo, instead of JB weld?

[Zorns Lemma]

I don't think this is good enough reinforcement for handling the pressures required for explosive rupture that a pipe bomb requires.

I suggest encasing your tank in concrete.

[CaliforniaPants]

Fiberglass and carbon fiber needs to be covered in resin to be utilized properly. Since you just slathered it in JB weld its the same effectiveness as a good woven fabric.

[NerfNoob10]

Fiberglass and carbon fiber needs to be covered in resin to be utilized properly. Since you just slathered it in JB weld its the same effectiveness as a good woven fabric.

JB weld is just that, a resin and a catalyst. You can use any two part epoxy and get the same result, the only difference is what kind of set time you want. I use JB weld because I am very impatient. and I did not "just slather it in JB weld, I first "wet" my mesh by pressing the epoxy into the fibers and thoroughly coating and filling the mesh.

I think mesh tape may be a bit stiffer and stronger but do the beads mixed in actually help? Have you done PSI testing on this?

I think mesh tape wouldn't make a structural difference but it might be easier to work with. As for the beads they give the epoxy something solid to bind to other than itself so it just adds a bit structure to the epoxy and I believe makes it stronger. Unfortunately I have not tested PSI but the tanks can be pumped a significantly greater number of times.

Doesn't the fiberglass usually get used along with Bondo, instead of JB weld?

This is possible as the mesh, I have at least, is usually used for repairing boats so you need a very large quantity of epoxy or resin, so bondo might be more available in large quantities, but any two part epoxy is fine.

I don't think this is good enough reinforcement for handling the pressures required for explosive rupture that a pipe bomb requires.

I suggest encasing your tank in concrete.

Damn I think your right, someone will have to try that next time