Tastes Like Chicken?

[andrewsrea]

You can't make this stuff up.

I have an expensive 10500-watt back-up generator for when the power goes out (note that my power has not gone out long enough to use it in ten years). The gas tank sprung a leak and I was expecting to find that it rusted. When I took it apart to begin the repair or replacement, I found something unexpected. A mouse nest and at the area where it was leaking from, the steel (about 0.6mm) had been chewed through by a mouse!

Center of the milky area, just about 1 1/2" down from the center:

[Tonray's Ghost]

You can't make this stuff up.

I have an expensive 10500-watt back-up generator for when the power goes out (note that my power has not gone out long enough to use it in ten years). The gas tank sprung a leak and I was expecting to find that it rusted. When I took it apart to begin the repair or replacement, I found something unexpected. A mouse nest and at the area where it was leaking from, the steel (about 0.6mm) had been chewed through by a mouse!

Center of the milky area, just about 1 1/2" down from the center:

Fuel Tank.jpg

With the price of gas, the little bastards were probably going to siphon some and resell it to this guy:

[toomanycats]

They're tough little buggers.

After the nukes fall all that will be left is them, cockroaches, water bears, and Keith Richards.

By the way, how are you going to repair the hole? I'm guessing that an extraordinarily handy guy like you can probably weld on top of all your other skills. If it was me I might plug the hole with a screw and then pack it off with JB Weld. I kept a hot water heater going an extra decade like that.

[Tonray's Ghost]

They're tough little buggers.

After the nukes fall all that will be left is them, cockroaches, water bears, and Keith Richards.

By the way, how are you going to repair the hole? I'm guessing that an extraordinarily handy guy like you can probably weld on top of all your other skills. If it was me I might plug the hole with a screw and then pack it off with JB Weld. I kept a hot water heater going an extra decade like that.

I had to Google water bears. I thought they might have been those skimmer type bugs that we used to get in the pool. Water Striders I think they're called.

[toomanycats]

They're tough little buggers.

After the nukes fall all that will be left is them, cockroaches, water bears, and Keith Richards.

By the way, how are you going to repair the hole? I'm guessing that an extraordinarily handy guy like you can probably weld on top of all your other skills. If it was me I might plug the hole with a screw and then pack it off with JB Weld. I kept a hot water heater going an extra decade like that.

I had to Google water bears. I thought they might have been those skimmer type bugs that we used to get in the pool. Water Striders I think they're called.

Technically called tardigrades.

From Wikipedia:

"They have been found in diverse regions of Earth's biosphere – mountaintops, the deep sea, tropical rainforests, and the Antarctic. Tardigrades are among the most resilient animals known, with individual species able to survive extreme conditions – such as exposure to extreme temperatures, extreme pressures (both high and low), air deprivation, radiation, dehydration, and starvation – that would quickly kill most other known forms of life. Tardigrades have survived exposure to outer space."

They are tough little SOBs! I've been fascinated with this life form since becoming aware of their existence.

[LightWingStudios]

Mice are tough, resilient little buggers especially when they run out of gas on the road and need a place to sleep.

[andrewsrea]

By the way, how are you going to repair the hole?

I am leaning towards the JB Weld 8217 method, since the surrounding steel is rust free and the hole is literally pin sized. I'd be afraid to try a screw, as I do not know the tank's steel composition. If the screw I use was a dissimilar metal, it would create eddy currents of electricity, which I don't know if that is enough to ignite the fuel but is certainly enough to rust the tank in that area within a couple of years.

I have access to a MIG welder, but the metal is too thin for electric welds and even a braze-weld would risk residual gas flashing (I'd have to buy a small bottle of argon gas to continually fill the tank while welding). A braze would like also cause rust. And neither I nor the owner of the welding equipment has the skills to weld such a dainty spot.

A local shop which specializes in radiator and fuel tank repairs wants $275 and a new tank is about $375. So it appears worthwhile to try the sealant first.