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View Poll Results: how do you clean your tanks
scrub and clean out 19 30.16%
Cant get to it do nothing 6 9.52%
let the filters do their work 32 50.79%
clean from the filling nossel 6 9.52%
Voters: 63. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 15-12-2007, 00:09   #61
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Hi Mike
Only just saw your post. I might have a borrow of the pump one day thanks. Be good to get the black snot out of my tank. Easy job while I am sitting there having a beer.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeNZ View Post
Hi Darryl

I cleaned out my tank on my last boat. I removed the top outlet breather pipe which was above the low point where the outlet exited at the bottom of the tank. I couldn't use the larger sender unit hole as this was at the other end of tank and there were baffles in the way. My tank didn't have inspection plates. I used a thin length of tubing and attached this to a little drill pump (I think Jabsco make them). Then I attached some wire to the tube to give it some stiffness and fed the hose down to the bottom of the tank to vacuum out the crud. Lots of particles and some slimey bug came out (I had a case of bug previously and thought I had it all out!). By moving the hose around a bit I finally got to have clean diesel coming out and never had any problems after that.

Got a drill pump on board if you want to come on over!

Mike
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Old 15-12-2007, 03:16   #62
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Hi Foxy, this is what you need. I can scrub, transfer between tanks and change a filter all while the engine is running,

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Old 15-12-2007, 05:03   #63
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No, I don't. No way in. I rely and several levels of filtering.
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Old 15-12-2007, 10:27   #64
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Curiously, what do you guys use to clean the tank? Any particular procedure? Rags and water? My gut instinct would be to use some soap, but I sure wouldn't want that getting into the engine. Scrub brush, water, and some rags?
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Old 15-12-2007, 14:01   #65
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cooper View Post
Hi Foxy, this is what you need. I can scrub, transfer between tanks and change a filter all while the engine is running,

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Very flash
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Old 15-12-2007, 14:48   #66
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Aluminium tanks.
My day tanks have a 6" inspection port similar to what Gord linked to earlier.
Last weekend I went and saw a mate off delivering a yacht that had an ally tank and they had a leak where a cable touched the tank (dissimilar metal corrossion) kneedit epoxy putty sorted it out short term, but I will now be giving my day tanks a severe coating of clear Tectyl 151. This very expensive French yacht was less than a year old, and the motor will have to come out to remove the tank.

Baja style filters
We got the largest one of these Mr. Funnel for the recent Vanuatu delivery, as were refueling via 44 gallon drums en route, but found that it was incredibly slow and in no way could it keep up with the diesel flow from a 1.5 inch Dia. syphon hose. The best we could do was check the first few litres, and then let it run and then let the Racor 500fg's do their work.

Fuel scrubber and systems
Here are a few sites and systems I have come across and will be running simmilar systems on my project

Ariel - Cape Dory 36 - Projects - Fuel Schematics

Diesel Panel

SENTOA.org

Hope this helps some

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Old 15-12-2007, 15:50   #67
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...the hardest part of the system was to work out how to fit it on that board ! There is a 12 v transfer pump behind the large stainless inlet pipes. The filters where $40 each, and the valves where $12 for the lot, because I bought them as scrap metal ! (They are like new with stainless balls and nylon inserts). The plumbing is ss tube for the T,s and Y,s . The best thing about the whole system is because the engine still has its own filter and electric pump, I can disconect the spagetti and plumb straight to a tank.
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Old 18-12-2007, 00:05   #68
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Here is my before and after cleaning the tanks. I had no idea how long it had been since they were last done...if ever! Notice the colour? It was full of crud!
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Old 19-01-2008, 09:52   #69
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The only theory is that they help pay the grocery bills of those selling them and give some comfort to those of the ilk likely to be into alternative medicine, conspiracy theories, clairvoyance, etc. In that, much like the devices claimed to reduce fuel consumption if you install them in the fuel lines of your car .

I've spoken to staff at big engine distributorships in USA and Australia about them (prompted by someone who was pushing these magnetic algae/bacteria killing things telling me that they were widely used in USA and Australia on commercial vessels, trucks, etc). None of them had ever known of a customer using one, they all regarded them as a quackery and finally made me the butt of their jokes for asking such a silly question .

I've also spoken with a boating friend who has a PhD in microbiology and has reviewed the claims for them and he also regards those as being a load of rubbish.

It seems though that some swear by them because they use them and haven't had any fuel problems - but there again there are many more who don't use them and have not had fuel problems either.

I retired from the largest phone company in the world (you can guess which one!)........
I was involved with their Diesel Generators used for back-up a/c for the Central Offices (11 states, something like 2,500 sites) with fuel tanks ranging from 100 gallons to 20,000 gallons of diesel.
Our engineers asked us to use Algae-X for a trial period of 2 years at selected sites throughout Florida.

After two years of studies, we DROPPED Algae-X.
There will be no further comment from me. You can figure it out for yourself!
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Old 19-07-2009, 05:25   #70
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Cleaning diesel fuel tanks

I called these guys: www.perfectfuel.ca They service Ontario and Quebec. Showed me before and after samples of the fuel. It was a total mess to start with. After they were done, it was perfect. The filters show no signs of debris or cloging. They removed the tank sender, put a hose in there that sucked fuel out and through their filtering system and returned the fuel through the filler. Totally clean, no mess.
They added fuel conditioner during the cleaning process that was included in the price.
My tanks hold 100 gallons each and they had them both done in a day.
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Old 20-07-2009, 18:34   #71
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I made a system were the fuel by pass threw several filters with a fuel pump, and return to the tank, it recycles and maintains the fuel and tank clean.
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Old 20-07-2009, 19:30   #72
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Once or twice a year when I have run a tank down to maybe 4-8 inches deep I clean the tank.
I use a drill pump, a large 1.5 litre diesel filter, a stiff wand to reach the bottom and a return hose with a wand to direct the return flow.
The idea is to splash as much fuel around at high speed to agitate everything and get the gung at the bottom of the tank into suspension. I run it for 30 minutes or so.
Anything left after that is so large and heavy it can stay there.
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Old 21-07-2009, 14:55   #73
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I have it installed it permanently to the fuel lines and run it ones a month, change valve direction and run it for a hour.
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Old 21-07-2009, 17:42   #74
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One of the first things I did on my "new to me" Hunter 27, was to cut an access hole in the tank and scrubbed the heck out of the inside with a toilet brush. There was all sorts of dark brown goop on the walls and bottom, but is cleaned up like new.

I will do this every spring now that the access plate is there.
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