Magnesium tank leak

[Stevemb]

Is there a fix for a magnesium gas tank that’s leaking along the seam? It’s a Husqvarna 162SE, it was leaking a little when I got it but has just gotten worse. I’ve done the obvious, purchased the Chinese replacement, it was garbage. Throttle never worked right and two of the anti vibe mounts were stripped. So then I grabbed another magnesium one on eBay.. As luck would have it, it leaks too.

So before I play roulette with another one I thought I’d ask if there is a suitable fix or sealer to try. The original tank is in great shape and doesn’t appear to have taken a hard hit anywhere, but it leaks along 50% of the seam now.

 

[Agrarian]

If it is leaking that badly and it has gotten worse, whatever 'fix' you apply may be like a game of whack-a-mole. Some people have had luck with JB Weld epoxy but that is usually to fix spot leaks, not something as extensive as you are describing. You could ask any vendor of used rear handles if it has been checked for leaks. I always check mine yet have only found two that were leaking (early plastic Husky 262 at bottom seam and 440 at the fuel level window).

 

[Canadian farm boy]

@srcarr52 does some pretty amazing welded magnesium repairs.

 

[Duce]

@srcarr52 does some pretty amazing welded magnesium repairs.

Yes he does!

 

[Stump Shot]

Being that the two halves are glued together, I'm not sure if any repair can be found to do the job properly unfortunately. Welding will leave a leak at each end of the repair, besides the glue messing with the welding process. When I came up against this myself another tank was the permanent option. This may not be so easy on a model such as this, so you're right back to an epoxy repair, if it were me, I would use a good marine grade epoxy after roughing the area up really good first and hope for the best. Unless someone knows how to successfully separate the two halves and put them back together again, I'm not sure what else could be done. One thing that could be considered is switching to a plastic tank from a similar model.

 

[srcarr52]

I can't weld it since it's leaking at a glue seam.

 

[Squareground3691]

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