Caswell prepped tank warping

[HayBailEY]

Howdy!

After the first tank on my PS1000 suffered from the dreaded 'tank spread', I decided to have the new one treated with the Caswell product. I can't remember exactly when I shipped it, but its probably been close to two years ago.

Cut to the chase, the new tank is now warping



It's hard to get a good photo due to the glossiness of the paint, but it's warping in two different spots, and seems to be looser than new (first thing I did with the new tank was to yank on it to check for sloppiness!)

[tackhammer]

Really!! Oh Sh-t. Who coated the tank?

Sorry to hear it.

[bpracer]

I noticed my year old, coated, PSLE replacement tank had ripples right at the front as well. However, I'm not so sure that they were not always there from the beginning. The rest of the tank is perfect and it it tight on the mounts.

[DaC]

Originally Posted by HayBailEY

Howdy!

After the first tank on my PS1000 suffered from the dreaded 'tank spread', I decided to have the new one treated with the Caswell product. I can't remember exactly when I shipped it, but its probably been close to two years ago.

Cut to the chase, the new tank is now warping



It's hard to get a good photo due to the glossiness of the paint, but it's warping in two different spots, and seems to be looser than new (first thing I did with the new tank was to yank on it to check for sloppiness!)

That's messed up.

I hope it's a matter of not having good coverage in that area of the tank?

The stuff is very thick and IMO must be thinned to get good even coverage. I did my own coating on a 1098.

Anyway, I don't want to sound insensitive, but I hope your issue was an improper coverage for all our sakes. Certainly, Ducati's solution to the problem isn't a good long term fix, so if the Caswell coating doesn't work then we're all screwed.

[DGT]

This should be a good incentive for an industrious entrepreneur to crank out a nice alloy tank and make some coin. I sure hope this was an improper coat job!

[motolectric]

Originally Posted by DGT

This should be a good incentive for an industrious entrepreneur to crank out a nice alloy tank and make some coin. I sure hope this was an improper coat job!

Here you go, get a group together and maybe you can all get happy.

Evan Wilcox Hand Crafted Alloy for Motorcycle Enthusiasts

I have been on the fence about an alloy setup for many years.

About 12 years ago I coated my fiberglas Norton Fastback tank with a thin coating product that was used in the aircraft industry for airplane tanks (many are fiberglas). It was obtained for me by a pilot and had to be gotten from Washington state since it was so volatile it was not legal to sell in the SF Bay Area.

It was thin like water, a white color and I gave my tank 2 coats. It seemed to work okay. Like an idiot I gave the 95% of it that was left (I hardly used any) to someone (who gave it to someone etc.).

But about 5 years ago I parked the bike with a full tank of gas and when I looked over a few months later I could see the weave coming through the gel coat. So I drained the tank and got on the fence. I'm on the fence because in order to have a nice bike I would need a tank, rear fender cowling and maybe a front fender, so $3,000 ought to do me :-(.

I had planned to do the Caswell thing but in the interim I went back to my drain the tank after a ride scenario and that's where I'm at.

My point of the above is that maybe with use the/all coating(s) start to thin out a bit and so even the Caswell could be thinning out over time. I don't know that that is the case but it might just be resilient in the face of the new gas and not impenetrable.

I have a 12V boat oil changer pump that I was using to drain the oil tank after a ride because the bikes all sump (it’s a dry sump engine and the oil drains down into the sump while it's parked and creates a large list of hassles to get it started).

But someone finally engineered a check valve that is supposed to work and i have one on my bench to install.

So I might try the drain the gas with a pump to see if I can live with it (by gravity feed it takes a while to get all the gas out of the tank).

If you ride your bike for pleasure then the 5-10 minute tank draining might be the shortest route to happiness vs. the time/money/hassle of any other solution.

It probably will for me.

HTH

[linux]

I had my replacement tank coated almost a year ago and went with the recommendation to do two coats. The shop that did it also used some sort of pre-coating to help the Caswell product adhere even more. Can't remember what it was at the moment. Anyway, no issues so far; the tank always has gas in it and always ethanol.

Now my just-blown RR is another story

[linux]

Originally Posted by motolectric

Here you go, get a group together and maybe you can all get happy.

Evan Wilcox Hand Crafted Alloy for Motorcycle Enthusiasts

HTH

Holy cow. I'd be if this guy could get his price down to $1000 to $1500 he'd have a lot of takers. Of course he'd need to accommodate the fuel pump, but maybe that's not an issue.

Seeing how this is likely my last bike (ha ha) and I plan to keep it for a long time, if my Caswell coating fails, I'd be a buyer...

[DaC]

Originally Posted by linux

I had my replacement tank coated almost a year ago and went with the recommendation to do two coats. The shop that did it also used some sort of pre-coating to help the Caswell product adhere even more. Can't remember what it was at the moment. Anyway, no issues so far; the tank always has gas in it and always ethanol.

Now my just-blown RR is another story

I did my own tank earlier this year. I can't remember when exactly (I could figure it out if I researched a bit), but I'd estimate that it's been about 6 months or so now. Same as yourself, it's holding up fine for now.

I could write pages about my thoughts on this, but for me the jury is still out on Phenol Novolac additives to epoxy, which is what Caswell is using. They are documented to resist ethanol, but the coating is always subject to failure for a variety of reasons.

An aluminum tank would be nice, but I spent $40 to coat the tank and I didn't have to paint it which is another big expense if it's not paid for by warranty work. I'd rather keep what I have for $40 than spend even $1000 for an aluminum tank...as long as it ends up working of course. You have to think about what other ramifications the ethanol will have which we haven't yet seen (any other rubber/plastic that contacts it, line fuel lines, etc).

To the OP: have you had any chance to inspect it from the inside yet?

Have you contacted Caswell about it? I know it's a long shot, but maybe they have some interest if it did fail and was properly prepped.

[muzzmann]

Originally Posted by DaC

That's messed up.

I hope it's a matter of not having good coverage in that area of the tank?

The stuff is very thick and IMO must be thinned to get good even coverage. I did my own coating on a 1098.

Anyway, I don't want to sound insensitive, but I hope your issue was an improper coverage for all our sakes. Certainly, Ducati's solution to the problem isn't a good long term fix, so if the Caswell coating doesn't work then we're all screwed.

I did a Monster tank last spring with Caswell. The stuff has the consisitency of honey (and that was in a 90deg space) ...it is really tough to get full coverage! I used a borescope to get into the tank and check . Good thing I did as there were bare spots here and there which probably = 25 or 30% of the total surface. Picture trying to pour honey across the top of a flat piece of sheet metal and having to manipulate the piece this way and that until you covered every inch of it ! Now imagine doing that blind ! I had to do a second coating whilst getting into the the tank with the scope every minute or two to check . Its the only way I could manage it and even then it was difficult.

I hate to be Mr Negative but it wouldnt matter who does this (IMO) If they dont get inside for a look I think it impossible to get full converage "blind". I'm bettin most of you will find that is the case should you be brave enuf to go out and get your hands on a scope ....

Stephano