Cleaning a Fuel Tank?

[john_morris_uk]

Now the engine's out of Serendipity, I've drained and removed the fuel tank. Its mild steel and tallish with no inspection plate. The fuel that came out of the sump built into the tank was fairly clean - a few bits, but I suppose thats to be expected. However shining a torch through the inlet (the biggest hole in the tank) shows a moderate spread of bits on the bottom of the tank. Although it was our first season with the boat, I've never had problems with fuel contamination or with filters blocking - but it just goes against the grain to put the tank back with the outside nicely painted and the inside with bits in it.

How do I clean it? Any bright ideas short of cutting an inspection plate. I will do this as a last resort, but the tank walls are thinnish and I will need to weld a plate on the side to allow sufficient metal to tap the circle of bolts into. Perhaps I've talked myself into that being the best way forward?

Thanks for any bright ideas in advance.

John

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[rosamaldon]

I wouldn't bother John , having just been towed into Brightlingsea by our brave lads at the RNLI after dirty fuel stopped our engine I'm buying a new tank as I'll never trust the old one again. Two and a half hours at 9 knots in the dark on a cold November night is enough to convince me I need to spend some money !

I thought I might be needing a gravedigger.

Cheers

Lloyd

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[robind]

How about using a pressure washer( and perhaps some low foam detergent) float off the oil and dump it (correctly of course).
Rob

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[Shantyman]

If there is no fuel in the tank, I would cob up a thin suction pipe on the end of "Her indoors"'s vacuum cleaner.

Undoubtedly the best answer is a tank with an inspection hatch.

On the other hand. . . . . .there are 4 fingers and a thumb. If its only a few specks of carp your filters will cope with it anyway.

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[LittleShip]

Get a nice new Stainless one made and sleep well at nights. They are not as expensive as you think??? Try these guys, they made two for me which hold approx 190 galls for £520 delivered to the door??

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.dcdevs.co.uk/dcm.html>http://www.dcdevs.co.uk/dcm.html</A>

Just a satisfied customer!

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I wish I'd been born rich instead of good looking ?

 

[bruce]

think i would take oportunity to have inspection plate cut into it, large enough to get hand/arm into, for future emergencies and gen cleanup.

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[Talbot]

replace it with a plastic one from Tek Tanks, and you wont have to worry about rust again, plus you will be able to see how much fuel there is at a glance, They made me a custom shaped one for an odd shaped hole from a mock-up I provided. Their tank was an exact match. Very pleased with it and their service, and would certainly use them again.

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[tcm]

yep, a new one is the best option.

If i was gonna clean the tank, flushing/rinsing with diesel would be an obvious option i spose?

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[john_morris_uk]

Its not rust inside - there's nothing much wrong with the tank. A bit of surface rust on one or two corners of the outside, but even a trial rub with some emery gives shiny metal. The plan was to paint the outside of the tank while I had the access to get it out of the boat.

The rubbish bits inside are various size peices of what looks like hard sediment - but broken up. some are flaky, some are just small particles. The are black and don't look like rust at all. I would think that there's about a desert spoon at most - and this in a 40 gallon tank. Doesn't look like any sort of diesel bug remains that I've seen before either.

Probably the best plan is to make enquiries with my welding contacts to see if I can get an inspection plate fitted.

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[pvb]

Inlet hole...

The inlet hole is surely the key. If it's big enough to get a pressure washer lance through, just turn the tank upside down and give the inside a thorough pressure wash. You'll see the rubbish coming out of the inlet hole with the water. You can then dry it thoroughly - if you use a vacuum cleaner on "blow", the air is warmed by the vac motor. If there's minimal rubbish in the tank, it's surely overkill to mess about with it too much. But remember always to use Soltron in your fuel to keep your tank clean.

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