Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

[fishe]

I have a 30 gallon gas tank in my redfisher, gas is very old and i need to take it out. What is the best way besides having someone else do it

 

[doug3297]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

How much gas is in there? I have the same issue with a boat I just bought, Im going to use my oil siphon to pull it out. It will take a few tries to get it all but should work pretty slick. Another idea I had was to use a small electirc fuel pump and some hose to suck it out

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

Cheapest way would be stick a old garden hose in there pinch off the vent and blow real hard and look out here it comes as long as you keep the end lower than your tank...

 

[jayhanig]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

How about a large capacity syringe and some tubing? You insert the tubing into the tank, hook up the syringe, pull on its plunger and when you see it start to fill with gas, disconnect the syringe and stick the tube into another gas can lower than the tank in the boat. Let the syphon do the work.

 

[rickryder]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

Get a cheap syphon pump from the auto store or the hose method JN posted.... garden hose in tank,close off vent line,insert air blower from compressor with a rag around the hose blocking air from blowing out around filler neck.... you force air in and gas will flow from the hose.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

when i drained my fuel tanks i used one of these manual siphon pumps..
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/ac...od4-b2c14?counter=0&itemIdentifier=94647_0_0_
it worked well enough.

once fuel was pumping into a gas can that was lower than the fuel tanks. siphon action took over. was pretty easy to do. felt mostly safe considering what i was playing with..

 

[JB]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

1. Take the fitting off of the engine end of the fuel line.
2. Place the vessel for receiving the fuel beside the boat at a lower level, like on the ground.
3. Put the end of the fuel line in the receiving vessel.
4. Pump the primer bulb to start syphon action.

If you are worried about leftover in the tank, add Stabil and/or Heet, shake it and repeat.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

I have a 95 gallon and a 54 gallon tanks onboard. Every once and a while I need to remove the water / phase buildup off the bottoms so I made a tank "vacuum".

Materials needed:
1- 3/8" OD soft copper tubing x 30" lg,
1- 3/8" Primer bulb
12' - clear PVC tubing
3 - 5/8" - 3/4" adjustable hose clamps

I used 36" of tubing between the copper tubing and the primer bulb. The remaining tubing went after the primer bulb. Hose clamps hold the whoe thing together

I jack the front of the boat up as far as I can so the water settles back corner of the tank. I then remove fuel level sensor. Submerge the tubing the tank and run the other end of the hose into a bucket on the ground outside the boat. Pumping the primer bulb starts primes the siphon. The clear tubing allows you to see what is coming out of the tank. It works very well. It?s very easy to vacuum water of any type of particulate off the bottom of the tank.

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

I'm not advising you do this, but you can suck on the hose to start a syphon. The key is clear tygon tubing. The clear hose allows you to see the fuel coming before you get a mouthful (god awfull tasting stuff). Obviously, be careful, you do NOT want to injest it. Just go slow and take the hose out of your mouth, into the container before the fuel gets all the way to the bottom (did I mention how bad it tastes?) Once started, keep the hose below the level of the boat tank. If you have a set of vicegrips around, you can pinch the hose, move it to a different can, and unpinch it with out losing the siphon. Good luck.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

for most of these methods, esp. JB's, also consider running your drain tube, including the boat's gas line, out the bilge plug hole. Then you don't have to get the gas going up and over the sides of the boat.

Once empty, spray a can of carb cleaner in there, swish it around (move trialer jack up and down) then swab out with a rag on a stick through the sending unit hole.

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

for most of these methods, esp. JB's, also consider running your drain tube, including the boat's gas line, out the bilge plug hole. Then you don't have to get the gas going up and over the sides of the boat.

Once empty, spray a can of carb cleaner in there, swish it around (move trialer jack up and down) then swab out with a rag on a stick through the sending unit hole.

yep that sounds like a winner too

 

[rad28]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

I pull out the fuel gauge and then use a barrel pump to pull all the gas out and into jerry cans every Fall at lay-up. The last half gallon I suck out with my oil extractor pump modified with a 3/8 copper tube on the end. In the Spring I use the oil extractor again to pull out any water that may have accumulated before filling with fresh fuel.

Keep it well ventilated.

 

[PiratePast40]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

14. Pump the primer bulb to start syphon action.

If you have an anti-syphon valve, that may not work.

 

[JB]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

If you have an anti-syphon valve, that may not work.

Anti syphon valves prevent fuel from returning to the tank from the hose. It would not interfere with fuel leaving in the normal direction through the normal hose.

 

[PiratePast40]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

JB, I was under the impression that the purpose was to prevent fuel from free flowing if there was a break in the line. I thought it took pump suction to overcome the spring to pull the ball off the seat.

Of course, I could be totally off base on this one!

 

[dingbat]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

JB, I was under the impression that the purpose was to prevent fuel from free flowing if there was a break in the line. I thought it took pump suction to overcome the spring to pull the ball off the seat.

Of course, I could be totally off base on this one!

Yes, you are correct in your thinking but so is JB. The anti-siphon valve is primarily there to stop the flow of out of the tank should there be a fuel leak between the motor and the fuel tank.

The anti-siphon valve uses a small spring loaded ball. The assumption is that the fuel pump will create enough vacuum to overcome the spring pressure. Since the valve is spring loaded shut, the fuel can't back flow into the tank either.

When siphoning, the flow of fuel causes a vacuum that is more than enough to overcome the valve. I?ve done it many times. Works like a charm.

 

[fishe]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

Got it done today by calaborating a bit...

First, bought 6 feet of clear hose. Pushed one end down the fuel line till it reached the bottom of the tank. I attached a bulb with the arrow facing the container I was pumping the gas into. I closed off the air intake on the side of the boat with some duct tape and stuffed a towel around the hole the hose was going into to eliminate any other air coming from the tank. I then lifted the bulb high in the are and pumped it until the fuel came up to the top, once this happened I put it down lower than the tank and the gas started pouring out into that container.

I tried the forcing air into it thing. I didn't have any luck. I also went to Home Depot to find a pump that wasn't electric, no luck.

I have to admit, before I did this, I took a couple swallows of old gas trying to suck it out with my mouth. After puking and wiping gas from my face and nose other the ideas started pouring in!!!

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

LOL cause once fuel hits your mouth you have to keep it lower than the tank.. It will flow that way too trust me... I can take almost every gallon of gas form your tank with that method.. Glad you got her done

 

[donnymac]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

What are you going to do with the gas once you get it out?

 

[dingbat]

Re: Drain Gas Tank- What is the best way?

I closed off the air intake on the side of the boat with some duct tape and stuffed a towel around the hole the hose was going into to eliminate any other air coming from the tank.

I don't get why you did all these things? You need a flow of air into the tank for a siphon to work