I’m ate up with various metal related projects, hobbies, repairs, maintenance etc especially with a small hobby farm. Iv used an angle grinder for years to cut metal, steel plate, iv cut up entire 5x10 sheets of 1/4” steel, bar stock, t posts, cable, chain, rebar, cut 1.25" plate, train track,  etc. it sucks, its dirty, its slow, its loud, but it works.

Right now I’m working on installing a whole house military generator, and part of this required me to get a base fuel tank for it. I scored a really cheap $300.00, 200 gallon base tank that’s 9’ long. The pump set up that came on it was worth $350.00 alone, so, I made out well.

Anyway, the seller mentioned it has some rust in the tank, so I plan on cutting it open, grinding out the rust to bare metal, and coating the inside with a epoxy gas tank liner / chemical. So I will need to cut this sucker open. The tank is all 3/16 steel, so rewelding it back together with my Lincoln stick welder shouldn’t be diffficult.  Cutting 8’ x32” of tank with an angle grinder would suck though….

Luckily….

Brother bought me an early birthday present, a plasma cutter !

It’s kind of a generic brand, Amico.  It’s not my first choice as I’d have much rather had a Hobart or miller, but those are much more expensive, and I’m really happy to be getting this amico, as it’s going to make this project much, much easier. He bought it / ordered it from lowes, it’s a 60 amp, 120 / 230 vt model. Supposedly capable of cutting up to 1”plate, but I’m doubtful. I wanted the 80 amp, but wasn’t sure my garage 220 wiring could support 80 amps, so we chose the 60mph, bit better than the 50 amp, but not a big jump in voltage, so my wiring should be fine, most it should require is bumping the 50 amp breaker to a 60 amp.

The heaviest steel I usually mess with is 1/4”, and occasionally 3/8-1/2. I only once had a 1” plate I had to cut, so I imagine this should work great. Added a 3 year extended warranty, so should be covered for 3-4 years of this thing breaks I can swap it out. ( hopefully).

Got that and a plasma cutter consumables kit, tips, etc.  Iv got a 50 amp welder outlet I plan to run it off of, I might need to swap my 50 amp breaker with a 60 amp, but shouldn’t have any issues. Iv also got a 60 gallon / 150psi air compressor too, so that’s what I plan to supply air with.

I’m excited, a plasma cutter will allow me to cut much faster and cleaner as well as do a lot of cool stuff / create / cut a lot of cool things. . now that Iv got a plasma cutter all I need now is a mig welder, been wanting a Hobart 210 mvp, or a miller 211 for a while, I’ll probably get the Hobart sometime next year to upgrade my welding / supplement my $100.00 Lincoln tombstone.


Iv arc welded a ton, so I have safety equipment and used to heat, etc, but know jack shit about plasma cutters beyond they use air / electricity to cut steel.

What do I need to know ?  Tips ?  Suggestions ?   I’ll watch a few YouTube videos before I start to get the basics. As for the diesel tank, I will fully drain the diesel and fill it 99% full of water before I cut into it.

Cutter I’m getting.

Plasma cutter….
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Current project I’ll be using it on. ( after practicing on scrap )  it's all 3/16, 9'L X 32"W X 18" T. Approx 800lbs.

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plasma cutters are amazing but a laser will do a better job

I cant find your genny thread

But,


Why don’t you just go buy a gallon of rust remover (Evapo Rust) from Harbor Freight, put it in the tank, swish it around, stand it up and down, and every which way for a day or so, and dump it out…. Problem solved?

You need to add a water separator/air dryer on your compressor, you will burn out tips on the plasma torch very fast and get a lousy cut if you don't get the condensation out of the air.
The air will leave the compressor at 120+degrees and cool along the way and condensation will contaminate your torch.
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Home made air dryers work fine.
I hope your not thinking you can cut that tank open and weld the same piece back in with a arc welder and not have it leak? That will be a big gap to fill all the way around.
Congrats on the new plasma cutter, my brother's have not bought me shit in years!

We are talking about an entirely different level of use.  A waterjet also does an amazing job but neither a laser or a waterjet is within the budget of a hobby metalworker.

OP, I have Hypertherm 30.  It works great for thinner metal but don't expect a really clean cut in anything over 3/16 of an inch.

You're going to use super-heated air with a flame to cut an old fuel tank open.

Big bada boom.

Not a bad idea, but this tank is at least 20 years old, maybe more and I want to check for pitting, and if there’s a chance of a leak I will cut out the rusted out pieces and replace, or replace the entire floor if need be. Would suck to go out one day and 200 gallons of diesel leaked out.


Here it is.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/Whole-house-MILITARY-GENERATOR-MEP-803A-installation-project-THREAD-/5-2718660/


Here’s another one, I wish I had a plasma cutter when I built my gun safe project. Cut up three sheets of 1/4” diamond plate with an angle grinder.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/Armory/Im-buying-a-used-Mosler-safe-id-appreciate-any-help-specs-etc-you-guys-can-give-/46-520005/

Yeah, I was wondering about that.

I need to add two pieces of channel iron for the generator to slide onto with its skids, I could simple place those over the cuts and box it in, or weld up one side and box other side in,

Really just need a 1-2” strip of 3/16 8’ long to weld back in.

I’m well ahead price wise with this tank, it was basically free once the pump set up is excluded. I  can buy a couple sheets of 3/16 to replace the top and bottom if need be and still be saving money.  I’ll probably build a 200 gallon transfer tank as well out of 3/16,so I’ll get a lot of use out of this plasma cutter.

Didn’t realize I needed a water separator, I’ll have to look into that, yours is pretty impressive !

It’s diesel, but I’ll wash it out, then fill it full of water before I cut it open,

Clint @ c&c equipment on youtube did a great video on cutting open a fuel tank on a big bulldozer to clean out some scum and welding it back up. There was info I did not know. I could not find it searching with my phone tonight, I will try to find it with my laptop tomorrow at work. I remember they opened it with a plasma cutter and welded a new sheet of metal in.

TLDR
I do al kinds of stuff in my shop.
I bought a 200$ plasma cutter of Amazon and never looked back.
It 110/220 also.

Would something like this work ok ?

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How well does it work ?

Flush it with the best acid you can find. Probably Muriatic from a Pool Supply. Put 10 oz. of the Muriatic in one gallon of water. ACID into the water. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. Safety glasses needed. Every hour or so go shake the tank. Do this for a day or so.

Dump all the liquid in a bag filled with cat litter or similar. Put a couple of gallons of water in the tank. Swish around a few times and pour it out. Do this at least three times. When the tank is empty place it over or near an electric heater to simply drive the moisture out to the greatest extent possible.

Buy whatever interior Epoxy you want and follow the directions for application. This will likely require you to spin/rotate the "vessel" many many times to assure an even coating. IMHO this method cost much less than a new Plasma rig and I'd sure do it this way.

It will help but not cure it, if you can get a separate batch of desiccant and change out the wet stuff for dry stuff you could keep working.
There are alot of factors into how much water accumulates,  humidity, temp, length of cutting runs, size of compressor and how hard it is working is number one factor. The further you mount that thing from your compressor the better so the air has more time to cool. If you just want to get this project done for now that thing will help alot but plasma cutters lead to more projects and more fun, it gets addictive,  there may be a plasma table in your future like I have. There ought to be therapy groups or something.

I have one similar to that on my plasma torch air hose circuit.  Ahead of it I added one condensation loop with a drain similar to what was in the picture above that used half a dozen.    The air coming out is dry as long as you change the desiccant after it is spent.

Check the wire, not the breaker to see what it can handle. It should be 4 gauge copper to handle 60 amps. (Aluminum go up one gauge) Don't just switch out the breaker and hope for the best.

in 2013 i bought a Eastwood tig/plasma cutter combo
traded the tig to John @ CMMG , the plasma has cut a shit load
of metal , mainly 1/2 inch steel , it's been a good machine
I would recommend it myself . I don't know if this meets your
budget on a machine though @ $650.00

https://www.eastwood.com/versa-cut-60-plasma-cutter.html

Not a bad idea.

Iv needed a plasma cutter badly for many years, I’m constantly needing to cut metal for basic things,  this was just a good excuse ( and luck ) for one to come into my life.

The best part, besides being able to cut metal faster, easier, neater, and quieter….is now I will be able to cut metal in curves, odd shapes, angles, etc, so now I can do some creative things Iv always wanted to do.

Example… cut animal shapes, like a coyote, out of ar500 sheet for target practice.

Not sure what size the wire is, I’ll have to check, the previous owners had a stove outlet in the garage with a 50 amp breaker, I simply started using it with my Lincoln tombstone welder, zero issues though.

Not sure how plasma cutters work on amperage draw, don’t you need to set the power similar to a Lincoln welder? Increase the setting for more power? And it uses much less that 60 amps on lower settings?

I’ll check the wire, and can easily upgrade it myself if need be, breaker too, but 1/4” is usually my thickest metal I’ll cut.

I don't know about how the cutter works, so I can't speak there, but I would be careful, especially since you inherited someone else's work. If they have already bumped the breaker up once on smaller wire to get their 50 amp stove in there, I would definitely be a bit wary of unknowingly doing it again.

That air dryer is really neat…. And intimidating

Iv got to do a bunch of electrical later this year, as in tying in a 10kw generator, into the panel / meter, a little more electrical won’t kill me. I need / am getting help with the generator, but I can easily upgrade the welder line /  I can run a new heavier  line / breaker  just for the plasma cutter / welder if need be.  I’ll check this line first, see what guage it is and upgrade it if need be.

I’m pretty paranoid about fires anyway, try to go far as I can to reduce risks.

on the machine you bought do they sell a replacement
torch ?? I replaced my torch for my Eastwood 60 last month
after 10 yrs of service , it cost $ right at 275.00
just a heads up for you to ck into for replacement
parts . on air i run a 2 tank 60 gal  system and blow them down
at least weekly . a plasma is a good tool to have when you do
a lot of fab work ..

TS2

I’m a plasma cutter man now !

Didn’t realize it can run on 110vt that’s useful.

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Just picked up a 5x5 Torchmate 2 at a school surplus sale. Popped the electronics open and the plasma machine. Looks like they might have 2 hours of use on them. Zero dirt or dust in either one. After getting it home I hooked it up and installed the Torchmate software (even came with the software USB dongle), was able to jog all 3 axis around. Didn't have any 240V outlets in the shop yet so haven't fired the torch off yet. Just ran that circuit this weekend.
Next up is to wire in the 240V 20A circuit for the 15cfm compressor that's been sitting there.

I have to many projects going on...................

I have this one..

https://a.co/d/d4p41F0

I just use the ARB dual compressor in my 4Runner to run it. Works good…

To weld the top back on after treatment will leave a section along the weld that will not be treated because it will burn the treatment off)
I would fill 1/8 full with hard rock gravel and figure a way to rotate and shake it so it will be knocking the rust off and wash out and dry well and then treat with the epoxy sealer (with rotating it when it is inside )