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Post by adrianpetts on Mar 25, 2011 17:59:31 GMT
Has anyone had experience of cleaning the inside of the fuel tank on a SO40 or similar. I thought it about time mine was cleaned but there does not seem to be any provision for getting into the tank. Previous boats have all had inspection hatches and a great deal of dirt in the tanks.
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Post by so40gtb on Mar 27, 2011 23:39:15 GMT
Yes, on my SO34.2, which has a black plastic tank with no "real" access ports. In essence, I removed the fuel level sensor and used that instrument's mounting hole to access the deepest section of the tank, then used a plastic tube as a wand to dredge crud from the bottom front corner area of the tank, and cycled a good part of the (full) tank's fuel through a filter using the same tube left in the same place while I cleaned and waxed the hull. I disconnected my Racor primary filter, installed plastic hose barbs at its inlet and outlet, and temporarily installed a 2 micron element on it. The tubing going to the tank "wand" attached to its inlet, while its outlet was connected to the intake side of the 12VDC pump on the Jabsco electric oil-changer unit. More plastic tubing on the outlet side of the pump led back to the fuel filler. So the pump pulls fuel from the tank through the "wand" and Racor filter and then returns it to the tank. Now, of course, any large particles or really dense crud patches will plug the end of the tubing and stop fuel flow. For the softer crud, merely removing the wand, placing its end over a cup, and shutting off the pump would clear the clog. But some particles would lodge in the end of the tubing, which I simply cut away to clear them. I wrote this up but have yet to post it due to concerns with picture formatting. --Karl Editor - now at www.jeanneau-owners.com/hintsandtips/dieselpolishing.html |
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Post by MalcolmP on Mar 28, 2011 17:45:21 GMT
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Post by moleman58 on Mar 28, 2011 17:52:49 GMT
Hi
we had a similar issue with very dirty fuel tank. In the end we pumped out as much fuel as possible with a small 12v pump. Then disconnected the filler pipe and engine fuel lines and then removed the tank from the boat!
We then removed both the engine fuel line fittings and fuel level indicator and steamed cleaned the inside, the rubbish that came out was scary. We then let it air dry for a couple of weeks and then refitted it.
As we had a new engine we were glad we did this, its not as difficult as it may seem, but ensures that the tank is clean.
Mark
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