Manchester Propane Tank for Dutch Star

I've had good luck wire brushing the loose rust, spraying with rust converter, coating the exposed bottom with rubberized undercoating, and painting the rest with grey outdoor enamel.

If you really want it look great, and last forever, remove it, drain it, remove all hardware valves and the like, blow it out with compressed air, then have it powder coated.

I'm sure that your unit will accelerate quicker carrying your lighter wallet :)

you could use one of the automotive rust converter paints and it should last much longer like por-15 and others they convert and seal rusty metal with a protecting coating that prevents future rust from forming.

Thanks everyone for helping me understand that a replacement propane tank is not required and that a good cleaning and painting is all I need.

In many years of working on various RV's, both my own and other folk's, I've only replaced an ASME fixed LP tank once. That one had apparently been driven over a curb or rock that both dented the tank and left deep scraps in it. I found a close match to it in an RV salvage yard, and installed it with just some minor mods to the existing mounts. Other tanks have needed sanding and repainting, but never replacment.

I repainted my propane tank last year. It's straightforward but not the easiest or most fun job (what with crawling around and reaching at odd angles), but entirely doable by most anyone. Hire a local teenager if you don't care to do it yourself.

I used a chip brush to put the paint on, rather than spraying, due to the access and not really wanting overspray all over the place. I really should put another coat or two on this spring.

If you really do want to replace the tank, I would think in many cases it would be a very simple matter to fabricate a adapter of some sort out of standard iron/steel bars or flats or plates to adapt the hole locations on the new tank to the mounting points on the motorhome. If the new tank hangs down lower than the old one, it may be necessary to extend the frame of the vehicle down in that vicinity so it doesn't hang lower than the frame members (a DOT requirement). On my motorhome Coachmen did that by welding a chunk of steel to the bottom of the frame rail that extends down a little below the bottom of the tank and runs alongside the area where the tank is...nothing fancy or complex.

dougrainer wrote:
I fail to see why sandblasting and repainting is not an option.

No one with an ounce of common sense will sand blast a fuel tank of any kind.
Sand blasting creates a huge amount of static electricity.
Purging that tank and certifying gas free, will be expensive.

I'd simply convert the rust and repaint.

No reason to discard a perfectly good--and pricey--propane tank. A stripping disc will make short work of the surface rust, and a can of spray paint will finish the job.

Nobody else has run into this "problem". Because it is NOT a problem. ASME tanks are built and designed to last for decades. Rust is a surface/sight problem. I fail to see why sandblasting and repainting is not an option. A LOT CHEAPER THAN REPLACING A TANK. Even paying someone else to do the job. I have never in 39 years now as a Motorhome Tech, ever had a customer want to replace a old rusty ASME tank. Doug