250 gallon RF rust question

[sweetwillysbbq]

Im in the middle of building a bbq trailer with two propane tanks. Both tanks are from the 50's and have a lot of surface rust on the inside. Should i knock all of that rust off or will smoke and smothering it in cooking oil cover it/ make it safe?

 

[tnhollerbach]

My initial response would be that you want to get that off the inside somehow, you could probably run across it with a wired brush or sander and be good but i would recommend looking into getting it sandblasted. just my 2cents.

 

[aussiebazza]

 
Im in the middle of building a bbq trailer with two propane tanks. Both tanks are from the 50's and have a lot of surface rust on the inside. Should i knock all of that rust off or will smoke and smothering it in cooking oil cover it/ make it safe?

I'm in the same situation as my tank is also quite old. I will definitely be getting it blasted if I decide I don't have it in me to spend a few hours with the flap disk. No way I want any of that garbage near the food.

Bazza  

 

[ron petersen]

My first pit is a 120 gal compressor tank, old and rusted on the inside. After making the door and FB I burned a lot of wood in it to burn off the oil, rust and anything else in/out of it. Then took pressure washer (after it cooled) to it and cleaned it well. Burned more wood to dry it. Next day I got bacon bits and pieces (cheap stuff), the tank was hot from the sun, I smeared the fat all around the insides as much as I could, smeared the racks well. Then left the pieces to "cook" with wood for a bit to practice the heat settings.

Looked great, Started to actually cook ribs and let the insides built up of smoke. No issues.

Rust is iron oxide, same stuff they use in iron pills.

Good luck.

 

[socalcooker]

The biggest reason to get it off would be to stop it from rusting more, but it's not going to hurt you. Hit it with a wire wheel rinse it and immediately coat with oil.

 

[nwbhoss]

I plan to take mine to a local place and have the whole thing soda blasted inside and out to remove all the rust and that nasty smelling chemical they use to add sent to the propane and to prep it for paint on the exterior. I am leaving one side of my reverse flow place loose so it can be moved out of the way in order to get at the bottom of the tank on the inside.