Fuel Tank - Cleaning

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Filipe Rodrigues
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Fuel Tank - Cleaning

Postby Filipe Rodrigues » Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:36 am

Hi Guys

I have a plane that has been standing for a couple of years, I need to know what is the best way to clean the tank of the old fuel and 2 stroke oil.

Thanks

Filipe
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georgeh
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Re: Fuel Tank - Cleaning

Postby georgeh » Wed Jun 17, 2009 8:51 am

HI,
You need to think about this carefully. You cant afford to have loose dirt floating in the tank. I use neet unleaded fuel to dilute any two stroke that may have remained after fuel has evaporated. It may have become thick and may take a couple of rinses. You will also have to try pour the fuel out of the biggest opening, so best you remove the tank. I have had the problem before where there was a film that was stubborn and would not come off. If you have that problem let me know. What is the tank made of?
George
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Re: Fuel Tank - Cleaning

Postby Filipe Rodrigues » Thu Jun 18, 2009 11:00 am

Hi George

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure what the tank is made of, it is from a windlass trike.

Filipe
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Morph
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Re: Fuel Tank - Cleaning

Postby Morph » Thu Jun 18, 2009 11:39 am

Filipe Rodrigues wrote:I'm not sure what the tank is made of,
Polypropolene or Polyetheline, both are solvent resistant so MEK or Acetone can be used to degrease it.

The problem is with both that the plastic yellows with age and there is nothing you can do about that

Speak to Skidmark, he is an expert on plastics
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Tracer
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Re: Fuel Tank - Cleaning

Postby Tracer » Thu Jun 18, 2009 12:06 pm

As Morph said, I used Acetone to clean the inside of my Windlass tank, works briliantly.
Filipe Rodrigues
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Re: Fuel Tank - Cleaning

Postby Filipe Rodrigues » Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:01 pm

Thanks guys, where can I purchase acetone?
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Morph
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Re: Fuel Tank - Cleaning

Postby Morph » Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:07 pm

Any hardware store

pour it in, shake it around and pour out. Leave to stand empty for a while until acetone is evaporated. This happens fairly quickly
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Re: Fuel Tank - Cleaning

Postby Filipe Rodrigues » Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:54 am

Just some feed back, cleaned my tank out this weekend. Man you can't believe the amount of crap from the old fuel and two stroke that I removed. Thanks Morph for the acetone tip, worked brilliantly.

Filipe

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