Plastic Tank problems: Discussion thread, see info thread sticky for updates

[krista]

The new tanks are made from the same PA or PA6 (in the USA) as the old tanks. They are just covered by exterior skins.

What is PA? Painted monster plastic tanks are nylon, aka PTFE. Without cutting a new monster tank open, I'm assuming they are PE, polyethylene. Leaks at flanges happen. One or two not a big deal, shouldn't be many in the big picture.

Chris

[ducatiz]

What is PA? Painted monster plastic tanks are nylon, aka PTFE. Without cutting a new monster tank open, I'm assuming they are PE, polyethylene. Leaks at flanges happen. One or two not a big deal, shouldn't be many in the big picture.

Chris

No!

PA is polyamide not PTFE.  The tanks are PA6 or Nylon 6.  It even says so on the bottom.  Ptfe cannot be rotomolded into a strong enough structure.

All of the later models with nonpainted tanks are also pa6.  Some nonUS models with nonpainted tanks have XLPE tanks.  I believe the streetfighter has an HDPE tank though.

All US monsters have pa6 tanks to date.

[Howie]

What is PA? Painted monster plastic tanks are nylon, aka PTFE. Without cutting a new monster tank open, I'm assuming they are PE, polyethylene. Leaks at flanges happen. One or two not a big deal, shouldn't be many in the big picture.

Chris

Go back to page 78 in this thread.  Scroll down.  At least one US 696 tank is PA6.  I think there is a problem getting PTFE through the EPA shed test.

[DucNaked]

Go back to page 78 in this thread.  Scroll down.  At least one US 696 tank is PA6.  I think there is a problem getting PTFE through the EPA shed test.

That's my tank. It's a 1100. 

This is what's on the underside of my m1100 tank

[Howie]

Go back to page 78 in this thread.  Scroll down.  At least one US 696 1100 tank is PA6.  I think there is a problem getting PTFE through the EPA shed test.

[krista]

Oh right PTFE is teflon, not nylon. I checked an `08 Hyper tank and it's got the PA recycle symbol on it. Hmmmm, what's got me is that the Hyper tanks are pretty thin compared to the Monster tanks. So they probably swirled in the pigment for the HM tanks, which I can see when holding it up to a light and looking through it.

This makes my recent chemical research all the more important... 

[clb5335]

I promise I read 40+ pages on this thread before giving up and just asking the question.  Has the caswell coating proved to be effective over the long term?  are there any other effective solutions?

Ducatiz,
thanks a ton for all the effort you have put into researching this problem.

[ducatiz]

Done correctly, the caswell coating should last.

My first tank is on over 2 years.  That's the original white formula.  I did two more tanks since and prepped them differently and used xylene to reduce the caswells.  So far so good.

I think its easy to screw up.  Wash and dry the tank several times and rinse south with xylene right before you coat.  You dont have to get all the xylene out but try.  It will eat your paint too so watch out.

Also don't do what Ducati did and use 100% ethanol in the tank as that may compromise the coating.  Why you'd even have access to 100% fuel ethanol is beyond me.

[clb5335]

thanks for the suggestions.  I have zero interest in doing this type of work myself.  wrenches don't bother me a bit.  Paint or anything similar, I let someone else take care of it.  I'm about to go after another warranty tank.  any suggestions on a shop to do the coating for me?  I'm in Houston, but i don't mind paying shipping to get it fixed right if that's what it takes.

[ducatiz]

You're on your own with finding a place to do it for you, and frankly, unless you know them very well and they have a history of doing the tank coatings, I would not pay someone to do it.

There is too much to go wrong, and zero liability for it.  If they don't prep the tank, it is no skin off them.  You get no guarantee.

It's not worth the extra money for me. 

I have heard of some reputable tank coaters, but I don't know who they are.  Even if they are well intentioned, it is not a science and there will still be no guarantee.

If they guarantee their work in writing, then I would go for it.  I would pay plenty for that warranty.

[thought]

I promise I read 40+ pages on this thread before giving up and just asking the question.  Has the caswell coating proved to be effective over the long term?  are there any other effective solutions?

Ducatiz,
thanks a ton for all the effort you have put into researching this problem.

The only failures I've heard about tend to be because of improper coating.

And I would suggest doing it yourself and being slow and careful about it.  It's pretty easy to miss spots and unless you have 100% trust in someone making sure it's gotten full coverage I'd feel more comfortable doing it myself... I've done two tanks at this point and it's tedious but not hard.

[twolanefun]

It is still an absolute shame owners have to go through this. I'm still pissed about the resolution of the class action suit, the EPA who is guilty as hell and also about to unleash E85 on us, and the lack of a better solution across brands/models. - Gene

[wantingaduc]

As someone who's been through 2 tanks, and had the sceond one coated which is now also swelling due to what seems to be improper coating, I can say it really sucks!
While I love my Monster, everytime I look at the tank it kills me.
But in some ways the thought of spending $1000.00+ dollars on an aluminum tank to stop the problem from happening again isn't much better.
This feels like the proverbial rock and a hard place situation.

jimi

[NorDog]

As someone who's been through 2 tanks, and had the sceond one coated which is now also swelling due to what seems to be improper coating, I can say it really sucks!
While I love my Monster, everytime I look at the tank it kills me.
But in some ways the thought of spending $1000.00+ dollars on an aluminum tank to stop the problem from happening again isn't much better.
This feels like the proverbial rock and a hard place situation.

jimi

This is exactly why I sold my S4RS two weeks ago (to a dealer btw).  It was on its third tank.  On the day that I took it in to finalize the deal I noticed that that one was warping and swelling too.

I love Ducatis, but I'll never own another one that doesn't come with a metal tank.

[twolanefun]

Well you don't have to go that far. Many of the new models have covers and underneath is an ugly fuel cell that may or may not expand but you'll never know it. FWIW the new 848 SE, which looks to be a really nice bike,  has an Alum tank and it turns out for $1K you can get one for any 848 from Ducati. - Gene