fuel tank cleaning

[cadetchris]

just got around top cleaning the inside my austin's petrol tank and discovered 10 litres of 20 year old petrol which smelt like a combination of petrol, turps and varnish. had a wee peak inside and its very very cruddy. how does one give this a really good cleaning?

tried water and washing up liquid and the gunk just sat there and smiled at me, so ideas on a postcard please

[charlie_morris_minor]

i believe the best thing to clean it out is steam..

[bmcecosse]

Be very careful it doesn't just go into holes!

[cadetchris]

well i have cleaned the outside back to bare metal and it survived that. my dippy brother suggested that i just leave it and with a couple full tanks of fuel going through it would clear it out. however, ignoring him i am still open to lots of suggestions

[bmcecosse]

You could try setting it on fire........ very carefully - and assuming all the actual 'liquid' has been removed. Traditional way is to part fill with pebbles/stones/water and rattle it about - but that's when the holes may appear.

[cadetchris]

the stones idea does sound like it might work,

[mike.perry]

The petrol is not the dangeous part. The vapour is!! You can drop a match into a can of petrol and it will go out, try it with a can of petrol vapour and there will be one hell of an explosion. Take my word for it DON'T TRY IT AT HOME!!!!!!!!!!!

[PSL184]

I have a feeling this has already been proven......

[bmcecosse]

Too true........I think the tank cleaning is now low priority.

[MikeHA4]

A thought, I left an 'empty' petrol 'can' (plastic) that was to be scrapped upside-down in a 'safe' corner of the garden to drain. It was still dropping 'vapour' a couple of days later..

Dry Ice
A friend and I were advised by the fire brigade to put dry-ice in an integral steel tank, 60 galls. in capacity used for fuel-oil/diesel. It was to be drained and a hole cut through two walls to fit a large-bore tube through the tank (to carry an exhaust pipe, centred with hard-wood plugs split to fit each end). This meant chain-drilling, grinding and welding. They also said it wouldn't matter particularly, just get fume-off locally to the heat source!

[MikeHA4]

As to the old fuel, you could pour that off through an old towel/tissue paper in a filter-fitted fuelling funnel into a fresh container. Be sure to watch for water content. Let it settle and draw off the petrol part carefully in small quantities to fresh petrol and 'dispose' of it in the normal way...