Hi Steve,
Yes, my tank is en-route. As I've been advised from them that if the tank
is not free of contaminants (I had to clean mine inside and out with
naphtha/methanol - nasty) it could be damaged in the process (over-heat from
a reaction with contaminants), I'd recommend that we wait and see how mine
goes. Also, I've asked them to produce an accurate costing for my tank (and
filler snake) with the prospect of doing a few more (grouped together) for
any other builders out there.
One interesting comment by their technical adviser I thought may have some
merit: when he was examining pictures of my tank for a cost estimate, he
advised me that all cuts/openings to the tank must be done prior to the
process, or any exposed freshly cut surface will be an entry point for the
absorption of fuel into the MDPE plastic. This is because the fluorination
treatment is only a surface treatment. So if one takes his opinion as
valid, even if the tanks have been treated to an adequate level by Europa,
cutting into them after-wards drastically diminishes the treatment's
effectiveness.
I'll keep the list updated on the outcome of my tank's adventure, and group
pricing for anybody interested. Of course I won't likely know how effective
it has been for another 10 years or so :-P
Cheers,
Pete
A239
Ottawa, Canada
PS - when I asked the cynical question of "how do I know you even did
anything" I received the following (reassuring?) reply:
*
"Regarding your assurance that your tank has been treated properly, we do
not ship any items to any one of our customers without our QC measures in
place. Through use of a Thermo Electron Fourier Transform Infrared
Spectrophotometer (FTIR) the ratio of available hydrogen sites that have
been replaced with fluorine in comparison to the available hydrogen sites
that have not been replaced with fluorine can be measured. Every item
treated by us must pass our QC before it is released for return shipment. "*
On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 10:58 PM, Steve Hagar <hagargs@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Peter:
>
> Have you sent your tank in yet? I being one who having to "hack my tank
> out" have a tank that I bought a couple of years ago from Bob Berube. I
> don't know how long he had it so its processing is questionable. I had been
> planning on fabricating a metal tank for installation when I got around to
> it so the new plastic tank has been sitting around to be used as a model.
> However I may change my mind and put the stock item in it would be good to
> have the proper processing on it. If the lot charge could be spread over 2
> or more tanks it would be beneficial. Please get with me if this is
> something to be considered.
>
> Thank you ,
>
> Steve Hagar
> A143
> Mesa AZ
> hagargs@earthlink.net
>
>
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