Cleaning diesel tank
 

"Garland Gray II" wrote in message
...
This winter I plan on removing my stainless steel fuel tank, so this is a
good time to clean the inside.
I figured I'd take it somewhere that does this sort of thing...steam it
out, I thought. The place recommended by my local fuel distributor said he
would just use a pressure washer, cold at that, and that I could do that
as well as he.
Now, maybe he is thinking of a 10,000 gal tank which is somewhat larger
than what I'm dealing with. Same principles would apply, but he'd have
better access than I will thru the little clean-out hole.
Anybody have experience with this ? Any suggestions ?


I recently had the fuel polished in the tanks on my boat by the marina
service department.
They recommended the following:

First they gave each tank a large dose of biocide, let it sit for a week or
so, then waited for a fairly rough sea state here on Buzzard's Bay on Cape
Cod. The boat was run for an hour or so at varying speeds and at normally
uncomfortable angles to the sea state to slosh the fuel around as much as
possible. It also helped to sit at the mercy of the waves in neutral,
allowing the boat to rock as much as possible. It was then returned to the
dock and the fuel was polished before the Racors clogged up.

I was told that a lot of the growth of "critters" adheres to the side walls
of the tank, baffles and bottom. The biocide with kill 'em but will not
necessary suspend the dead carcasses in the fuel. Sloshing the fuel around
helps remove as much of it as possible as these areas are somewhat difficult
to get to with a power washing wand, especially through the fuel fills.

Eisboch

Cleaning diesel tank
 

On Thu, 6 Dec 2007 04:26:24 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:

Sloshing the fuel around
helps remove as much of it as possible as these areas are somewhat difficult
to get to with a power washing wand, especially through the fuel fills.

It certainly does, although most people find out the hard way after
their filters clog on a rough day.

I was talking to a professional fuel polisher in North Carolina last
month who highly recommends Priocide. He said that it is as effective
as Biobor at kiling "diesel bugs" but results in less clumping. That
makes the residue easier to filter and less prone to clogging tank
screens.

http://www.priproducts.com/priocide.htm

Cleaning diesel tank
 

Thanks; these are some things I can do in the future.