Update to my smoker build

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WilsonJames1

Found some matches.
Joined
Jan 28, 2023
Location
Santa Ana
Name or Nickame
Wilson
Hey guys, back again asking for a bit of guidance on my smoker build. Yesterday me and a buddy went to pick up an 80 gallon air compressor tank that is .2" thick. I opted for a thicker 80 gallon than a 3/16" 120 gallon I saw on craigslist. One hiccup that I have right now though is the paint. I'm 99% sure that there is lead in the paint because it was made in the 1940s. How do I get it off? I'm planning on going on my driveway and taking an angle grinder to it to get it all off. To me this doesn't sound like a good plan but its the only one I could think of. Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
You can have it sandblasted. I'd do it after you cut it open so you can access the interior as well to clean it up. It will start to rust real quick without some primer.
 
I know this sounds weird, but after doing the math, the difference between 0.2" and 3/16" is 0.0125 of one inch. Not much but every little bit helps. I agree with your suspicions on the lead paint. I would totally avoid doing the grinding bit as you have some environmental concerns with the dust. That dust will have lead residue that will either stay in your driveway or your yard and can also wind up in the sewer. A bigger concern would be the health concerns with airborne particles entering your lungs which will also enter your blood stream. A dust mask will help some, but unless you are wearing a sealed respirator, the micro sized particles will go into your lungs. These sized particles are the ones that hurt us the most.


As Rob suggested, have the tank sandblasted both outside and inside of the tank. Let a professional do the sandblasting as they should have the equipment to properly do the job and dispose of the dust and sand. I would be more concerned about properly cleaning the inside of the tank to make sure any residue from what was ever stored in it has been removed.


My next suggestion is to have a professional cut that tank open for you. The one welding process that kills more welders that any other welding process is using a torch to cut open a tank with a torch. If you have done this before, you might have an idea of what you need to do in order to do this job safely and properly, but I would have a blacksmith do it as they more than likely have more experience and better tools to work with. Once this has been done, you will have plenty of cutting and welding to do yourself. I am posting this warning because one of my best friends who was a metal worker cut open a used tank for someone he had done work for before. The customer assured my friend the tank had been purged just as prior tanks he brought in before had been purged. Turns out the tank had not been purged and when the torch made the initial cut, the tank blew up and damn near killed my friend. Half his face was blown off. I was an iron worker and I do have a degree in industrial safety, so I have some background on this subject.


When you don't know the background of a tank you want to use for a BBQ pit, have it sandblasted inside and out.


https://i.redd.it/xdruq3hcav121.jpg
 
Weary of lead paint still

Since it's such an old tank there is an almost 0% chance that there is not lead paint. I did test it today on the surface and other was no traces of lead but that wasn't super reassuring. I will get the tank sandblasted if it's within a reasonable budget. The tank has valves open so I'm not sure if it still needs to be purged. I do need to burn everything out though after I cut it. I'm either going to get it sandblasted or scrap the project. Too much stress and danger over this smoker.
 
WilsonJames1 said:
The tank has valves open so I'm not sure if it still needs to be purged.
Click to expand...


Yo Mr. Wilson, I guess you did not read what I posted about how a non-purged tank nearly killed my buddy. He didn't die on spot, but years later he did pass from complications from the accident. He accepted the word of a man who had assured him the tank had been purged and it turned out it had not been purged.



NEVER assume a tank you are about to cut has been purged. NEVER! You purge it whether it needs it or not.


If you have never cut open a tank with a torch, this is not the job for you. Even if the tank is purged and you are still in danger cutting that tank without the proper equipment. If that torch is not adjusted properly, unburned acetylene can accumulate and ignite. You need a gas monitoring device for various gases that maybe present in the tank. These levels are constantly subject to change as the more you cut, the more fresh air is introduced inside the tank and the oxygen levels inside the tank will increase making another explosive hazard.

There are a lot more things that can go wrong. If this were an old propane tank, I would tell you that you are essentially defusing a bomb. Cutting any type of tank, purged or not is DANGEROUS! This is not something you do by yourself for the first time. And don't listen to people who tell you how their third cousin's brother in law did it. Maybe they did do it and got lucky. Maybe be the story you heard was missing a detail.

If the safety aspects don't convince you, maybe this will. The most important step on building a smoker is making sure the doors seal completely air tight or as close to it as possible. Who do you think would make the best cut? You or someone who had done this before?

I don't know your background or "blacksmithing" experience so my ranting is not directed at you as much as it is someone else reading this who is considering cutting open a sealed tank with a torch. Cutting a tank open with a torch is not a job for a unsupervised beginner. Let a professional do it.
 
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No, I completely understand. Thinking about scrapping the project altogether due to the possibility of lead in the paint. I tested it about 7 times with one of them scraping the paint and then testing it with a swab. It was negative every time but still very fearful of the possibility of lead. I have no experience in fabrication and every step posed more and more dangers that I simply don't want to take. I'm glad I can get out of this only spending $50 and a few hours of my time. At least it's not $500 worth of materials or my life. I'm going to save up and let a professional take care of the making for me.
 
Mr Wilson, I gathered from reading between the lines of your posts, that you are inexperienced in some of the aspects of pit building. I just wanted to warn you that cutting that tank with a torch and having no experience doing so is a dangerous thing to do. Once the professional makes those cuts, you will still have a lot of work to do. That stuff you can learn as you go. A mistake doing the rest of the work won't kill you, but cutting a tank open with a torch might.

I am now guessing you have given up on cutting the tank by yourself. As to your worries about lead on the outside of the tank, I would worry more about what has been inside the tank. I am sure you are correct about that tank was once being painted with lead since it was made in the '40s. Most all protective paint for large metal objects before 1960 had lead in it. Missouri St HWY Dept was still using lead paint on its bridges back in the 70s.


Leaving that lead on the outside of the tank is not going to harm your food. Two ways you could be exposed to the lead is if it becomes airborne and the particles are inhaled or lands on food or if a chip of paint that lands on food and it is ingested. I wouldn't want to remove the lead paint off with a grinder. I would be worried more about the airborne lead exposure from grinding the paint off than I would from the possible lead exposure from paint left on the tank. As long as the paint is undisturbed, you should be fine.



That is why I would have a professional sandblast the outside and inside after the tank has been cut open. Let them deal with the dust from sandblasting and the residue from purging the tank as the lead dust is a hazardous material and the purging residue might be too . I am not trying to talk you out of building a pit. I am trying to help you avoid the early pitfalls so to speak. I have built quite a few pits myself and I have enjoyed doing it - SAFELY!



Good Luck!
 
The advice is much appreciated! I got some confidence back from that and looking into sandblasting it. I don't know if I can get someone to cut it though which may put another obstacle. I'll call you a local blacksmith and see if they can cut around my door line. But first and foremost I want to sandblast that thing and get the paint off. Even though I did test it and the seller said it was repainted I still don't trust it. I love in Southern California so any fabrication is massively expensive which is why I wanted to do it myself. I'll see what the prices are like and make my decision then. Your guidance is massively appreciated, thank you for taking the time out of your day to help me.
 
Do you happen to know what the tank was used for? If it was an air compressor tank then cutting it should not be a big deal at all. If it was used to store flammable liquids, then proceed with caution. It aslo depends on how flammable the liquid/residue is. I've cut tanks containing diesel with a sawzall and lived to tall the tale. More recently i cut some 55 gallon tanks with a plasma cutter that contained flammable liquids but with proper care, nothing bad happened. If the tank has ports, make certain there is no liquid left, if there is some you can test to see if it's flammable or not. You can also fill it part way up with water to prevent combustion.

Now i dont know how close you are to neighbors but you may want to just burn the paint off the tank. Just make sure you get everything out of the tank first and make certain the ports are open, no need to create a pressure vessel. Honestly, if you take some basic steps, you will be fine cutting it open. I've cut up numerous propane, diesel, and other misc flammable liquid containers. Be smart about it but don't fear it either. I made a reverse flow smoker out of an air compressor tank from the 50's and followed these basic steps.
 
Zak, James lives in California and their state environmental laws are usually more stringent than the federal regs. Burning the paint will draw attention to the process and the lead residue on the tank will still have to be scraped or ground off and will become airborne during this process. Sandblasting is the most efficient and safest process. Part of my job repairing bridges for MoDot involved removing lead paint from bridges to repaint them. Even if you use a torch to burn the paint, you still have to brush off the residue to completely clean the surface.


That lead dust is hazardous material. The water that is used to fill the tank might contain hazardous materials too and where is it going after you have made that cut?


You may have done this before and what you are "advising" may have worked for you. Yes a plasma cutter is less likely to cause an explosion than a torch. It also makes a lot cleaner cut than a torch especially if the tank has some rust on the inside. James has not done this before and I stand by my posts telling him to have a professional do this for him if he is considering using a torch.


It is better to err on the side of caution and blacksmithing bills are cheaper than hospital bills.
 
I just asked one sandblaster and he said its $450 to do the inside and out and clean out the waste inside. I think its completely ridiculous but what can you do. I'll call up another place and get a quote. But if its in the same ball park then I'm just going to scrap the tank. I originally started this build to build a good offset for a cheap price but if its going to be near a new one then its not worth it for me.
 
James, That price does sound high, but as I stated earlier, that contractor probably has paperwork to do that involves description and weight of the hazmat and where it is properly being disposed. That is IF they are following federal/state regulations. Doing a good job on building a BBQ pit is not cheap. And never ask for a ballpark figure. Beers are 15 bucks at the ballpark.........
 
Once again thanks for the advice sir. Now that I think about it, it does some more reasonable but still out of my budget. I guess I had incorrect assumptions about pit building and I'm thankful I could correct them now. My plan was to work around the 3-5k needed for a nice pit and do it myself but its just way too far out of my expertise. Just going to scrap it now. I do appreciate all of the knowledge that I've gained about fabrication and metal working. One day I may build a pit but I don't know if it'll be soon. I am massively thankful for your kind advice and guidance. I could be in a world of hurt by now if you did not enlighten me on what was actually required building a smoker. I'll keep smoking on my dinky OK Joe and save for a professional built smoker. The stress has taken a lot out of me in the past few days hauling around this tank. I'm glad to get rid of it.
 
Another option might be to have a tube rolled to the diameter and length you want and incorporate the end caps into the design of your firebox. Then you are dealing with bare metal if the idea of lead residuals is going to haunt you. By checking with your local steel supplier you may also find a pipe source that you can get off cuts from. $450 will go a ways towards clean materials.
 
Wow, I was feeling pretty lucky by the time I got to page two. What exactly is "purging" a propane tank? This sounds like a pretty critical detail for a DIY'er.

I got mine from a local location of a national propane company. The manager was trying to troubleshoot his smoker build, so I helped him in exchange for a tank I could use for my own build. The valve had been removed long enough ago (ie years) that the tank had a rusted surface on the inside. After three rounds of Dawn detergent and water, I figured it was safe enough. With a high degree of anxiousness, I drilled holes, followed by a reciprocating saw. After the door was cut, several fires were used to hopefully get any residue out of the tank. I've been lucky a few times in my life, just wondering where this incident should rank?
 
oldgfbbq said:
Wow, I was feeling pretty lucky by the time I got to page two. What exactly is "purging" a propane tank? This sounds like a pretty critical detail for a DIY'er.

I got mine from a local location of a national propane company. The manager was trying to troubleshoot his smoker build, so I helped him in exchange for a tank I could use for my own build. The valve had been removed long enough ago (ie years) that the tank had a rusted surface on the inside. After three rounds of Dawn detergent and water, I figured it was safe enough. With a high degree of anxiousness, I drilled holes, followed by a reciprocating saw. After the door was cut, several fires were used to hopefully get any residue out of the tank. I've been lucky a few times in my life, just wondering where this incident should rank?
Click to expand...


Purging only if valves still intact. Hook up a weed bur er and open calve the. Light torch. Let it run until torch dies. The. Remove valves and proceed with water bath, etc


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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