A cunning plan please?

[mickshep]

Having spent the best part of a day curled up in the lazarette aboard Wraith I have managed to free the rather beautifully made stainless steel fuel tank from it's mounts in order to remove the accumulated crap of over 30 yrs, Hurrah! I hear you cry,
Bollocks! say's I. the bugger may be free but is just too big to remove from said lazzarette, I've removed every partition between the lockers but to no avail. It aint coming out.
Short of taking a chainsaw to the cockpit or aft bulkhead it is in for the duration. My thoughts on the matter are; to drain the offending mess from the tank, then slosh about a gallon of something really noxious about in the tank before tipping it out through the large filler.
What would the panel suggest as a really effective cleaning fluid for the job please. I have no idea as to whether the dreaded bug is in residence and am more worried about removing stuck on residue that will without doubt fall of and block everything the moment I put to sea.
I have removed chain from aformentioned saw as I was becoming rather pi$$ed off with the whole set up. Thanks all.

 

[nedmin]

Gunk if you can still buy it from motor fctors ,work it in then pour water in mix again and pump out, thats if you can get into all the corners to clean and dry.

 

[JonJon]

Know the feeling well, I wanted to strangle every boat builder in the world after I spent the day upside down in the lazarette trying to cut an inspection panel in mine ( no way tpo remove the tank), which I did only to find a full height baffle prevented me gaining access to all the corners of the tank. If its any comfort ( I know it isnt!) there wasnt much crap in the half i could see so I concluded the whole venture for me was a waste of time ( mines 22 years old). No trouble with the engine at all so if it aint broke dont fix it wins again.

 

[Clyde_Wanderer]

Have you considered taking the dhainsaw to the tank and getting shot of it? then replace it with a tank that has an inspection plate making things easier for the future.
That is what I done, replacing it with a TEK Tank plastic tank, now I dont have to worry about when it next needs cleaned out as all I have to do is remove the inspection plate.

 

[mickshep]

Must admit I did think of that. but the tank is a really well made stainless item and I'm a little loath to chop it up and replace in plastic. Also as it has taken 30 yrs to get mucky, one good clean every 30 yrs isn't out of the way, (If a right royal PIA).Mike.

 

[mainmarine]

Have you thought about steam cleaning?

 

[Talbot]

I am assuming that the tank contains diesel. There are companies that do tank cleaning, which will solve your problem for less notes than a replacement tank, and no agro.

 

[highandry]

One of the local day angling boat owners here stuck a pressure washer in his diesel tank. Having said that, his was easy to get to and drain the water off afterwards. Galvanized tank and an unbelievable amount of crap came out.

 

[swampthing]

If its feasible to invert tank to get them out again, put in a kilo of lead shot (any gun shop) with some strong detergent and water. Shake well. Empty water out. Repeat 4 times. Cleaned my tank like new.