# Painting a Co2 Cylinder



## Luigi (Oct 6, 2005)

I've search and searched, but ended up empty.  So here's the question. 
How do you paint a co2 cylinder? Is there a special paint, or will spray paint be okay? 
I know most times its not necessary to paint it, b/c its tucked under a stand, but I'm really curious, and I'm surprised this hasn't come up.

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it.  

Luigi :hihi:


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## Hypancistrus (Oct 28, 2004)

I didn't have a way to conceal mine, so I painted it. When I went to get it refilled, the guy tells me he doesn't have refill capability and can only swap the tank out, and the nearest place I could go to get the tank refilled would be about 60 miles away. So I had no choice but to give him all my work. 

(I remember making a post asking if anyone had any ideas for making or buying a tank cover and for the most part I was laughed at. You're right, it does seem that the idea of making a CO2 tank more aesthetically appealing is not a favored topic for some reason.)

First, all the labels need removed. You can use a scraper to remove the labels, but you will undoubtedly have sticky residue remaining. You can remove this with a product called Goof Off.

Next, the tank needs cleaned. The best way to do it is outside with a hose. Hose it down, then scrub it with a brush or sponge and soapy water, then hose it again to rinse it. Don't forget to clean the bottom. If you can't hose it, you can do it inside with a wet washcloth or sponge and a bucket of soapy water and rinsing water.

Next, after the tank is dry, get some course sandpaper and thoroughly sand the surfaces of the tank. When done, wipe it down with a wet sponge or towel and allow it to dry.

Now, get some masking tape, painter's tape, electrical tape, or all three or whatever combination you prefer, and cover up the top valve of the tank. Make sure you leave a clean circular line around the edge.

Now comes the painting. I've experimented with a variety of spray paints, and the absolute best one I recommend for spray painting a CO2 tank is called Rustoleum Textured. It comes in a variety of neutral colors, can be applied over rust, and is very forgiving. I recommend black. Set down some newspaper, make sure you are working in a ventilated area, and set the tank vertical on top of some bricks. Spray on a light coat, wait the specified time, and repeat about 4 times. The light coats are the key to stopping the paint from chipping off. Wait about a day, set some towels or plastic on the bricks, then lay the tank down on its side on the bricks. Repeat the painting procedure on the bottom. You may want to roll the tank half way to get an even coat around the edge of the bottom.

After a day, that's it, it's ready! Take of the tape and your all set. The Rustoleum Textured paint easily achieves a look that appears like it was expertly done.


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## BlueRam (Sep 21, 2004)

I too am doing the "tank exchange" dance with the distributor.

So my understanding is that the really cool tanks are aluminum (shiny and light). I though someone polished theirs too which would look really neat.


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## Bonsai_Swamp (Sep 11, 2004)

On steel I've had good results with ordinary hardware store acrylic spray bombs. It should mention "suitable for metal" somewhere in the instructions. Rustoleum works great, especially around salt water.

Aluminum can be a little trickier, but since your CO2 cylinder won't be spending a good part of its life bouncing around in the back of your truck acrylic will probably work fine on it as well.

The paint itself is not usually the problem:

DO NOT use power tools to remove the old paint - the wrong speed and/or wrong abrasive and you might gouge your cylinder enough to have it fail its next inspection.

DO NOT use chemical strippers unless you've done enough research to confirm that the stripper is suitable for use on cylinders - preferably confirm with the cylinder manufacturer.

*DO NOT* use heat to cure the paint. Usually this happens when a friend with an autobody shop offers to re-paint the cylinders and bakes the finish in his heat booth. Aluminum starts to undergo changes to its structure at temperatures above 175 degrees C (sorry, too lazy to convert that to American). End result is an explosion, 95% of the time involving the poor snook re-filling the cylinder. 

For this reason a fill shop might not re-fill an aluminum cylinder with a new paint job, especially if they are aware of the deaths in the SCUBA industry from body shop paint jobs. If you have an aluminum cylinder you might want to chat them up first and avoid unpleasant surprises later when they refuse to fill your multi-coat-candy-apple-red-with-nude-Marilyn-Monroe-portrait cylinder.

OTOH, they might not know, or care, especially if all you used was bog-standard matt grey Rustoleum. 

http://www.luxfercylinders.com/support/maintenance/cm5.shtml


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## kimbm04r (May 5, 2005)

I have often thought about making a slip cover for mine. Maybe I should come up with a plan for my 5# tank. :icon_idea


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## krazykidd86 (Jul 27, 2005)

*Picasso Time!*

I searched for this topic awhile back, and came up short too. I'm glad there's feedback this time.

Hypancistrus - Excellent how to instructions, suchs that you had to swap out your tank. :bounce: 
Bonsai_Swamp - great tips as well, for steel and alluminum

Luigi - you now have me thinking about a painting project for the upcoming weekends. :biggrin: 

Best of luck with the paint job,:hihi: :hihi: 

the KIDD


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## jgc (Jul 6, 2005)

am in the process of making a cover for mine - but not enough time. I have a 20lb tank. I think a scuba cover would work, but diy is more fun. I am making one out of jute and a really large turk's head knot.


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## Luigi (Oct 6, 2005)

This is exactly the information that I needed to know before I proceeded! I appreciate the tips. 

Muchas gracias,

Luigi


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## thatguy (Oct 11, 2005)

....i just painted my tank with latex black paint...and a small roller...no sanding...no masking..no primer..nothing. 2 coats later. it looks good and dandy.

its a co2 tank..you can do what you want with it...its metal.....you can go all out and sand it smooth and spray it with 50$ a pint candy pearl green paint......or just paint it with a brush...its all relative.


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## Bigtom93 (Mar 17, 2019)

Go to Catalina cylinders and Luxfer website and see the care and maintenance section of cylinders, 
2 things to note, do not use course sandpaper or harsh abrasives, do not remove the label unless you have one to put back on it. By law you have to have a proper sticker indicating the contents.


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