I need help cleaning a gas tank....

[bal31]

I have just removed my tank from up under the deck of the boat and was trying to clean it....It has been sitting for over fiver years with a half tank of gas in it.. It has this orange and red color gunk that is really sticky in it. This is what we are trying to get out...WE got what we could with a pressure washer but 1/3 of the tank is still covered in it..,.WE put tri sulfate potasium in it to try to help us cut it but it didn't work at all....is there something that we could put in there to help us clean it...WE are desperate at this point.....It didn't know if maybe laquer thinner or something might help...Please help me out...Im open for anything at this point...I can't afford a new tank..

 

[wayne h]

Re: I need help cleaning a gas tank....

dont know if this will work for you or not but its worth a try i have cleaned many tanks out with rocks . place rocks in the tanks and alittle gas .the chipped marble rocks work great about 3 buxs a bag at walmart . swish it around back and forth and empty it see if that helps cut it down and clean it out .. it might take alittle work but its always worked for me ..

 

[bhammer]

Re: I need help cleaning a gas tank....

You can try Methel Ethel Keytone (MEK) from Home Depot, if it is an almn tank. It will melt plastic in a heartbeat. It works good to cut through stuff like this.

Make sure you do it in wide open outside area away from any spark sources and wear chemical proof gloves or it will dry your hands out.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: I need help cleaning a gas tank....

The clean gravel or marble chips work! I've done it with smaller tanks motorcycle and tractors with great results, I've also used drywall screws, throw a 5lb box of them in there and shake shake shake it will cut all that corrosin and make it shiny again, if it's not too bad to start with, it may be unsalvagable if too much corrosion happened.
I think the trick is going to be how to shake the tank, if you had a large paint can shaker to strap it to that would be the best, somehow your going to have to mechanically shake the tank with the gravel or whatever in it for a couple hrs. I think if you tried to shake it by hand your would fall off before you get anywhere near finished.

 

[eaglejim]

Re: I need help cleaning a gas tank....

Just did mine 4 weeks ago I put mineral sprits shook it up then empty followed by bleech then shook it up and let dry for 3 days

 

[FreeBayliner4Us]

Re: I need help cleaning a gas tank....

Yes, but how do you clean a tank fixed under the floor?

Thats my problem.

Mike M.
Richmond, VA