The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Gas Tank Venting

Otto ,
Your misgivings are understandable given the circumstances.
That welded fitting on your new tank should be much easier to inspect than the mated flat surfaces that failed both of us.

That bulkhead fitting could be installed using a proper size socket with a bunch of extensions through the gauge sender opening. Duct tape the nut to the socket. Once you have the threads started, crank it down tight. I've used this method in similar situations where I couldn't reach.

As far as soldered joints, you'd be surprised how strong they can be. If properly done, the tank would deform before the solder joint gave up.

So , if this situation were in your hands you would do what?

I'd clean up the joint and resolder it with some lead-free solder. Get it to a close fit, then put some soldering flux on it and heat it at the center of the pucks and apply solder at the perimeter and wait for it to suck in by capillary action. That way, you can be sure that solder gets all the way to the center of the fitting. When I installed my new tank, I was careful not to put any side load on the nipple sticking down thru the floor.

Should brazing be considered?

Brazing would work as well. As with any process, it has to be clean and properly fluxed.

Install of bulkhead fitting is simple, first, the squiggle washer likely goes in trash, just a sealing washer goes on the flange and hold/tighten securing nut on exterior, to get it in the tank is easy, feed a string from sender hole out the bottom hole and slide the fitting down the string, all else held/ tightened from exterior…..says the boiler guy who worked on tanks….a lot

If soldering pretinning is critical on sheet metal (or you are setting up to fail), thin puddling the solder is 2nd, capillary attraction alone is great for copper fittings where bonding characteristics are ideal and gaps are relatively uniform, and designed for it, concept good but much much harder to achieve in reality on a flat thin sheet metal part. Getting a bond layer to the tin is not a given, the brass will be very forgiving, galv tin ….not so much….

Brazing also an option, but not recommend for this application unless experienced ….the heat can easily create issues on the sheet metal.

To clarify, the two pieces to be joint are not sheet metal.
See images.

I think what they were saying is that you run the risk of overheating the sheet metal surrounding those two pieces if you aren't careful

Otto is correct (as far as what I was saying.) That puck that's attached to the tank itself is probably marginally attached to the tank sheet metal, and may be sealed with solder. If you get it too hot, you run the danger of letting the solder run out of the joint between it and the sheet metal. You'd have to make sure that there's a solid fillet of solder around both that piece and the one that's threaded for the outlet nipple.

Understood. So , if I find a shop/ person who’s skills I trust , should I ask him the take measures to assure that joining of the “puck” to the tank is sound?

As an aside, if this had happened 5 years ago I would have had a choice of at least 2 shops staffed by people I knew and trusted. Skilled welders , fabricators, machinists …
a dying breed.

If you find a shop/person who’s skills you trust… don’t ask anything, just hand over the parts and say please and thank you…..

Chuck

I would even bring them cookies.

And maybe something that comes in a pint (no bigger than a pint. We want them comfortable, not incapacitated), and maybe a long cigar to replace that short one that they seem to milk most of the day.

Agreed.
Special people deserve special treatment.

Waveski,

Does your tank have a sticker like this on it? If so, you may be able to get Spectra to send you a new tank unless you've decided to repair the one you have.

If you do have the sticker, I'd be interested in seeing it to compare it with mine to see if the production number is close.

Where is that located on the tank? Part of mine has sound insulation applied ; I hope it’s not covered up.

It's on the front of the tank in the center indentation. This photo was taken during installation.

I’ll have to scrape off some insulation but I’ll look for it.

A free replacement Spectra tank is supposed to arrive today. I'll look closely at the outlet but unless it's a completely redesigned fitting, I'll just have to hope they solved the problem.

They said to keep the old tank.

If you have concerns about the design, you could always get the old tank repaired to your satistfaction and sell the replacement NIB to recover some of your costs.

Yes, that's been my plan. I may even see if I can pry that flange off. If it's welded/soldered/brazed properly, It shouldn't come off.

No design change to outlet.

Seems to be more welding around the perimeter but who knows? Should I screw in the outlet tube and see it it moves side to side or brake off? Should I run with it? Should I take the old one to have it fixed and sell this one?

Treat it just like 99.8% of us have treated their wonderful and affordable tanks without issue.
Screw the NPT pipe into it with enough force to secure it and move on. You have a 99.8% chance that it will be fine.
They took care of you better than most vendors do.

Good point. I tend to over-think a lot of stuff.

I should reiterate that I thought the tank was of excellent quality when I received the first one and I still think it is a very high quality part.

I tend to just get mad and throw things under situations like your. That isn't exactly doing any over-thinking, but that's just me.
I find that it is much easier for me to effectively observe from afar, compared to when I'm elbow deep in a sticky situation.

Otto - it’s not a “very high quality part” if a key component is grossly substandard and prone to failure.
I have not yet explored the possibility of getting a replacement, but I assure you that if I do I will test the integrity of that bond. Given 2 failures - that I know of - I wouldn’t assume anything.
Did the Spectra people give you any assurance or explanation, like “we are aware of a bad run of tank fittings and we have taken corrective measures..,” , anything like that?

Well well , doesn’t this look familiar.
I called Spectra just now , 16:00 central. I got no satisfaction, was told that since I was not the purchaser of the tank I was giving him second hand information.
I rejected that by telling Spectra guy that I was not giving him second hand anything - I was stating fact :
- The tank was built by Spectra
- The tank is defective
I also pointed out that the tank age 4 years I believe) is irrelevant- the solder joint was bad when the tank left the factory.
I was told to call back tomorrow and to speak to their eastern facility , it being closed when I called due to time zone differential.

We’ll see what happens , but it doesn’t sound like Spectra is willing to accept responsibility for my bad tank joint.
We’ll see…

Jerks. Let's see what they say. I'd also point out that you're aware of another tank with the identical failure. What are the odds that out of all the thousands of tanks they sell you happened to bump into the only other one in creation that has the same defect? The odds are zero. That means there are more of them out there than just ours that have failed and Spectra surely is aware of it.

I dealt with the seller, NPD, not with Spectra. I was also the purchaser 2 1/2 years ago. As you said, it shouldn't matter. Just like Craftsman tools, it should be replaced no matter who owns it.

How a company deals with customers and problems after the sale is more important than how they treat them before and during the sale. Taking care of this issue will go a long way toward you referring others to their products in the future. Telling you to get lost will surely mean that you'll never recommend them to anyone and will go out of your way not to buy their products again.

I did point out that I was aware of another similar tank that had the same defect and same failure; the guy on the other end was not interested.
Tomorrow I’ll contact the eastern facility as he suggested and plead my case.
If I get no satisfaction I’ll ask to speak to a supervisor.
It would be senseless for Spectra to blow me off , but we’ll see.

Turn your scat knob down a bit.
'scat knob'. noun. Definition: An infinitely variable switch which goes from 1 through 10.
Use: When dealing with Customer Service, start with the scat knob set at 1, when resistance is encountered, turn it up a bit. If more resistance is encountered, turn it up a bit more, politely ask to speak to the immediate supervisor. That usually works after he pretends to call his supervisor and gets back to you to help you out. At this point you are only at the 3 setting. No on is upset or bothered much.
It is The Art Of The Deal sort of thing.
All too often, we start out with the scat knob up to 5, then go all the way up to 10 once when resistance is met. That ultimately makes us the "unbalanced lunatic".
Some people, like my retired Navy buddy, Freaking Randy (he is Navy so you know his first name in not "freaking'), has a self-admitted defective potentiometer in his scat switch and ultimately starts at 10 regardless of the position of the knob. So you can guess how his customer service experiences go.
Just some food for thought.

Well Carl , that is reasonable advice.
My scat knob was not at 1 when I initiated the exchange; maybe 3. I will say that when the Spectra guy said “All you’re giving me is second hand information” I probably ramped it up to a good 5 - I felt that was very dismissive. I don’t like being talked down to - who does?
I like to boil situations down to the fundamental facts; I did so in this case :
- I own a Spectra gas tank
- My Spectra gas tank left the factory with a defect
- That defect has resulted in a structural failure and fuel spill

I will share that information with another Spectra rep later this morning with a dial setting of 1 , maybe 1 1/2.

I spoke with another Spectra rep. He was quite pleasant, but he stuck with the non- transferable warranty line. I politely made the point that the tank was defective when it left the plant , also pointed out that I have learned that this is not an isolated incident.
He was reasonable enough to agree to view the pictures of the defective & failed solder joint, which I sent.

Please read my closing statement from my email (with images) to Spectra Premium; how would you rate it on the Scat-o-meter?

This was a google search for defects in spectra tanks 1950`s chevy trucks.

Guitplayer of Green Lake-
There is no link with that post.
What were you referring to , I’d like to read it.

While installing the replacement tank today I looked down inside it. There is a substantial weld/solder on the inside where the outlet flange is attached. The defective tank has no visible evidence of a weld on the inside of the tank at the flange.

I couldn't light the inside well enough to take a decent picture.

I don't know if this means they found the problem and fixed it, or whether this is the normal method of construction and the defective tanks just missed a step in the fabrication process.

We'll see what happens, I guess.

These tanks are not made by robots. They are made by people. People who will show up to work are getting hard to find.

I'd be willing to bet that it's at least 50% robot. But your third sentence can't really be disputed.

Spectra was sold a few years back. Where are they being made today?

I know that the phone is answered in Canada.
Manufactured …?
I’ll be calling there again today; I’ll see if I can find that out.