Cleaning Gas Tank - What is most effective?

[colson04]

Machine wouldn't start today after sitting for a year. I pulled carb, cleaned it, and let fuel tank drain into a bucket. I noticed some liquid didnt drain out of tank so I used a syringe and found orange sludge in bottom of tank. What is best method of cleaning a fuel tank? Dish soap, hot water and shake like hell? Baking soda, vinegar and water? Mild acid like toilet bowl cleaner or muriatic acid? This is a gasoline fuel tank, not a diesel fuel tank.

Machine is a wood splitter that I have not treated the best over its life. It often gets run through several tanks of fuel in a day or weekend, and then sits for a year before it is needed again. I know the best practice would be to drain the fuel tank and carburetor when done, or use a fuel stabilizer and a full tank.

 

[mowingman]

I have used a mixture of vinegar, water, and fish bowl gravel. This small pea sized gravel helps loosen stuff up in there, and it is kind of like sandblasting or scrubbing the inside of the tank. I dump out this mixture, then pour in some denatured alcohol for a final slosh around cleaning. After dumping this and letting tank dry out, I check that tank is not developing any thin rust spots that might leak in the future. If so, I put in RedKote sealer, slosh it around until inside seems well coated, pour out any excess, and let it dry for a couple of days. The tank is then like brand new. I like to use sealer in any tank that does not get filled very often, as todays gas is crap, and full of water after it sets a month. The sealer really helps the tank last a loooong time. I have used this method in tanks that are over 50 years old.
jeff

 

[cuttin edge]

Place tank around corner, light torch..... Repair shop here used to steam them. You got one of those steam sharks?

 

[colson04]

I don't have a steam anything.

So far, I rinsed tank with vinegar and then hot water. Used a suck bucket to get tank dry and installed it so I could get some of the wood split. Actual rust on the tank is negligible right now. It had an orange sludge that was coating the bottom, and all of that came out. Filled tank halfway with fresh gas I bought last weekend and started splitting wood. Machine is running as good as it ever did. I am going to acid rinse tank later this week when i pick some up.

 

[hosspuller]

Since it's a gasoline tank, I would use carb cleaner. Carb cleaner and a few pebbles. would definitely cut the crud without harming the metal.

 

[doublewide]

Sharp edged stones, boiling water and TSP. Shake, rinse repeat. Dry with acetone.

 

[Delmer]

If it's running, I'd run it. It's just going to get dirty again.

E85 works pretty good. If this is a typical small engine tank, fill it half full and tow the splitter around a field for five minutes, or strap it to a tractor tire while you do chores. Sharp stones or glass are probably not needed for this one.

 

[centerline]

i use seafoam or berrymans carb cleaner for cleaning fuel tanks..... if the tank is really bad and has rust in it, i will add a handful or two of clean gravel to help scrub it as i shake it around.... the old fuel sludge will dissolve rather quickly with seafoam or a GOOD carb cleaner.... not all products sold as carb cleaner will dissolve old fuel residue.

rust in a fuel tank isnt bad until it begins to flake, then it can become a problem and the flaking will need to be removed

 

[Bumpsteer]

So your damn near out of firewood to, eh?

Ed

 

[colson04]

So your damn near out of firewood to, eh?

Ed

LOL, Yes and no.

I have plenty of logs and rounds that are dry, they just need a bit of cutting or splitting. I'll start felling trees for next year soon, and do the big splitting weekend in early April. I had a pile of rounds today that were too big to direct load into the stove so I busted out the splitter.

 

[colson04]

Sounds like I'll leave her be for now. Splitter ran very well, worked that little Briggs pretty good on a gnarly rounds and it didn't miss a beat. I see a slight discoloration in the tank, but no serious rust. My father in law thought the orange slime/sludge might be algae, and not rust. I dunno. Either way, tank was rinsed out good, and splitter is running like it should.

 

[Birken Vogt]

I had a gas tank full of orange sludge once too. Acetone and rocks were really dissolving it out well. But in the end there were too many crevices, it was dented and damaged, and a new tank too cheap. But I thought I would throw that out there, with enough acetone it would have come clean.

 

[Vetech63]

Remote controlled lighter?

 

[westerner]

So your damn near out of firewood to, eh? Ed

I got some strange looks from my kids when I said-"Spring must be coming" during a big snowstorm.
The looks got even stranger when I explained my reasoning-

"We are running out of firewood"

 

[colson04]

Remote controlled lighter?

I want to keep the tank in question

 

[cuttin edge]

I use to use carb cleaner, but I discovered that combustion chamber cleaner is a lot stronger. Fella that does small engine repair put me onto it. Not much soaking required, just wear gloves.

 

[Old Doug]

I was lucky on my Dakota the fuel pump sender hole was big enough i could easly get my hand in it . Its made of plastic and cleaned up good. It also had no baffles.

 

[aighead]

This seems like something I should get into once the barn is done. I'd imagine it'd do all my rarely ran machines some good.

Is it necessary for plastic tanks like what's on my riding mower? It'd be the one that is the biggest pain to remove...

Thanks for all the tips, and for the question Colson!

 

[Old Doug]

I was a big fan of stabil until i saw some test it was a little better than seafoam but they dont do what say they will. The best thing the test proved was to use ethanol free gas and not to let it get old. By adding stabil or seafoam the engine started and ran after setting but they still had sludge build up in there carburetors. My Dakota sat for maybe 3 years there is no way it would have ever run agin without removing and cleaning the tank.

 

[hosspuller]

Stabil let me down. Had a car that sat for several years. (Stick shift and I had a bad left hip) After the hip surgery ... The car needed injectors cleaned, fuel pump replaced, (twice) and the plastic fuel tank cleaned. The fuel level gauge is still not reliable.

Log splitter engine had same issues.

Stabil or some component seems to precipitate out of gasoline and coat everything.