lakelover
Rear Admiral
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2003
- Messages
- 4,386
Today I scored two old OMC 6 gallon metal tanks from craigslist for $40. One looks great inside & out. The other looks good on the outside but has a fair amount of sludge and crud in it....I'm pretty certain no rust. Actually, it's the color of rust and I thought that's what it was when I went to see them, so I pointed it out to the seller and he knocked off $20 from his asking price. :joyous: I thought at least I'd have a spare gauge and pickup if it was rusty.
When I got home, I looked closer, and didn't think it was rust after all and I could clean it out. I found this thread
http://forums.iboats.com/non-repair-outboard-discussions/how-clean-out-old-metal-gas-tank-297079.html:
How to clean out an old metal gas tank:
Here are the results of my experiment, hopefully this will help somebody.
I have 3 old OMC 6 gallon gas tanks. The boat they came out of hadn't been run in 17 years. The old fuel had turned to varnish and the insides of the tanks were coated in varnish and other crud. I had several nice suggestions about how to best clean the tanks and decided to try 3 of them. One note: I removed the float and pickup tube from all three cans so they would not be damaged.
1.On the first tank I poured in about 1/4 gallon of carburetor cleaner and let it sit for two days, sloshing it around once or twice a day. I then took it to the car wash and used a power sprayer to spray all the gunk out. Came out nice and shiny inside! This method works great, but carb cleaner is kinda expensive.
2.On the second tank I used about 1/4 gallon of acetone. I let it sit for two days, then put a dozen large bolts in the tank and shook it for about 5 minutes. Then took it to the carwash and hosed it out with a power sprayer. Worked great. Tank came out nice and shiny and I didn't even blow myself up.
3. On the final tank I didn't use any cleaner. I put about 1/2 inch of water in the tank and dumped in the bolts. Shook 3 different times for about 10 minutes each time. Then went to the carwash and power sprayed it. While it didn't work quite as well as the other two methods, it still worked remarkably well. Only very small traces of the varnish remained. No sediment remained. I am confident that with a couple more sessions of shaking the bolts inside the tank this method would have worked just as well as the first two methods.
Hopefully this helps somebody. Just remember to be careful with flamable liquids and don't blow yourself up. It might be a good idea to use marbles instead of bolts so you don't initiate a spark.
It looks like a go for me, but has anyone tried paint thinner or mineral spirits? Makes sense to me that would be a good, cheaper and somewhat safer alternative than the carb cleaner or acetone.
When I got home, I looked closer, and didn't think it was rust after all and I could clean it out. I found this thread
http://forums.iboats.com/non-repair-outboard-discussions/how-clean-out-old-metal-gas-tank-297079.html:
How to clean out an old metal gas tank:
Here are the results of my experiment, hopefully this will help somebody.
I have 3 old OMC 6 gallon gas tanks. The boat they came out of hadn't been run in 17 years. The old fuel had turned to varnish and the insides of the tanks were coated in varnish and other crud. I had several nice suggestions about how to best clean the tanks and decided to try 3 of them. One note: I removed the float and pickup tube from all three cans so they would not be damaged.
1.On the first tank I poured in about 1/4 gallon of carburetor cleaner and let it sit for two days, sloshing it around once or twice a day. I then took it to the car wash and used a power sprayer to spray all the gunk out. Came out nice and shiny inside! This method works great, but carb cleaner is kinda expensive.
2.On the second tank I used about 1/4 gallon of acetone. I let it sit for two days, then put a dozen large bolts in the tank and shook it for about 5 minutes. Then took it to the carwash and hosed it out with a power sprayer. Worked great. Tank came out nice and shiny and I didn't even blow myself up.
3. On the final tank I didn't use any cleaner. I put about 1/2 inch of water in the tank and dumped in the bolts. Shook 3 different times for about 10 minutes each time. Then went to the carwash and power sprayed it. While it didn't work quite as well as the other two methods, it still worked remarkably well. Only very small traces of the varnish remained. No sediment remained. I am confident that with a couple more sessions of shaking the bolts inside the tank this method would have worked just as well as the first two methods.
Hopefully this helps somebody. Just remember to be careful with flamable liquids and don't blow yourself up. It might be a good idea to use marbles instead of bolts so you don't initiate a spark.
It looks like a go for me, but has anyone tried paint thinner or mineral spirits? Makes sense to me that would be a good, cheaper and somewhat safer alternative than the carb cleaner or acetone.
