I have a built-in 88gal. alum. tank and was wandering the best way to clean it out? There were some larger pieces of trash in the tank that has caused some fuel restrictions in the pickup tube already and I’m concerned about there being more. Is there a safe process to do this myself? Also is there a service that someone provides for this process?
I have been trying to resolve a similar problem. When I removed the sending unit to access the tank (1 1/4" hole) I discovered after removing all the gas that I had a 1/4" of what looked like peach jelly. I drained the gas by getting a length of hose that I hung over the side of the boat lower than the gas tank. Attach a primer bulb to the lower end. Crank the boat up with tongue jack and get wheel up on one side so gas will run to either the left or right back corner. Attach a peice of soft copper tubing that will reach the back corner to hose with primer bulb and start pumping out the gas into a container. Try to see inside the tank when you get the gas out. If you find what I described, level the boat back up, put in a gallon of acetone and let set overnight. Raise the boat again and pump out the acetone as described before. Get the tank completely dry, you may have to use a wire and a few dozen small lint free rags and alot of time. After this put in a few gallons of fresh gas and test before filling up. Maybe this will be enough to get you started. Good luck and let me know how you resolve it. I hope others will comment on solution because we all will need to be in the know with all the ethanol problems right now.
How did you come about discovering the peices of debris? If they are black and rubbery your gas line from tank to water seperator/motor may be delaminating as a result of ethanol.
I do have to admit that the rtv silicone found in the tank was placed there non-intentionally by yours truly. i was checking for a leak around the sending unit and used it to temporary stop the leak. 2 pieces have already come out via the pickup tube, hence the fuel restriction.
23’ May-Craft Pilothouse
175 Ocean Runner
http://www.brookssigns.com
Barrier Island Marine on Johns Island offers tank cleanings with a sophisticated claening machine for gasoline fuel tanks. It worked real good for us.
“What we do in life echos in eternity”