Lidle pump & fuel tank cleaning

[WotEver]

Just now, rusty69 said:

Dunno, but I have a feeling its chicken related.

Cos he was stapled to the chicken

[dor]

I use a bit of ~10mm plastic pipe, clipped to a thin batten of wood.  The pipe is cut at an 45 degree angle at the bottom to stop it sucking itself onto the floor of the tank.  I then just hunker down in the (semi-trad) engine 'ole and suck on the pipe (carefully!) to start a syphon going into a large plastic jug.  I probably do it three or four times a year and invariably get a bit of water from the bottom of the tank, plus sometimes some black blobs.  Only once have I sucked up a significant amount of black gunge, but doing it regularly should warn me before it gets bad enough to clog the first filter. Same for water in the tank; one time I took off over five litres of water.  Since doing this I've not had a problem with blocking fuel filters.

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, Bee said:

I've already posted my tale of woe with diesel but it might bear repeating, I have a large fuel tank amidships with awkward access, the tank has a disc cut out of it to take various pipes, its about 6" dia but I cut it by drilling a ring of holes, to put your arm inside is like tickling the tonsils of a crocodile. When the engine stopped a couple of years ago I did the filter and watertrap to no avail, the fuel smelt wrong so eventually undid the ring of bolts and looked into the tank. Horrible orange mess, suspect the deck filler had leaked but the only way to clean it was to buy two plastic barrels, put a bilge pump in the tank and empty the lot. The mess that was left had to be cleaned with rags and nappies (careful with those, they disintegrate and the gel comes out), it took days to do it properly, my arm was shredded from the inspection hole and the far corners of the tank took ages to clean with rags and sponges on sticks. Having done all that I am absolutely sure that sucking the bottom layer out would simply not have worked, the slimy mess all over the bottom would have not been touched. The 'fuel' that came out was all scrap. If I had another boat I would specify a proper inspection plate be fitted. I now remove the plate every year and check it. I would recommend poking a little camera into the tank if you can't get decent access especially if you venture onto rivers. Water in fuel is a real sod.

I think that depends upon if the slime was bug or simple emulsification.  If its bug it can become very viscous but water fuel emulsion in the proportions one is likely to get in a tank will, I feel, suck up OK with a larger bore pipe and over time run to the lowest point in the tank. I suspect that you just left it brew for too long and would have anyone to avoid at least sampling the bottom of the tank because in your situation the mess would not have been removed. You will certainly remove water by syphoning form the lowest point.

[Gareth E]

5 hours ago, LadyG said:

What about this?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Multi-Use-Water-Oil-Fuel-Pump-Transfer-Liquid-Pipe-Siphon-Tool-Pump-Kit-BXJV/142727195432?hash=item213b342b28:g:Oe8AAOSwknJXzs2N

This is exactly the pump I use to do the job. The hose supplied with it is terribly 'coiled' which presents the problem of how to keep it in place at the bottom of the tank while pumping the crud out. I use duct tape to hold it to a broom handle which is then pushed into the bottom corner of the tank. Before doing this I heel the boat over a little towards the corner I'll be pushing the hose/ broom handle into, by tying the centre line to a mooring pin and hammering it well in.

This works well but don't expect the pump to last long, I'm on my third in 5 years.   

[hughc]

For those of us blessed with tanks that use the base plate of the boat as the bottom of the tank the best way to siphon is to wait until you are next in dock. A day tank with a sump also mitigates some of the problems. Regards, HughC.