pumping fuel out of the tanks
sludge in bottom of diesel tanks
sludge in the bottom of the diesel tanks
clean diesel tank bottom . . . much better
ball valves that were on the diesel tanks . . . yikes!
Our diesel tanks received their own spa treatment yesterday, and it was a good thing they did! The photos above speak a thousand words.
Each tank was done one at a time. The fuel was pumped out and the tank cleaned. While each tank was empty, Wil took the opportunity to replace the ball valves which had reached a stage of not being trustworthy. Finally, the freshly cleaned fuel was returned to the tanks.
During the fuel pump out portion of the process, we learned that our aft fuel tanks each hold 70 gallons of fuel, and the forward two tanks each hold 30 gallons. It is now confirmed that we carry 200 gallons of fuel.
Every other spare moment has been spent finding storage locations for this week’s truck load. We’re still amazed at how much the boat is able to store. The waterline was high when we brought her to the boatyard. Our fingers are crossed that we don’t go above the waterline.
How did you gain access to the tanks and what did you use to clean them? Steam? Pressure washer?
There are access ports on top of our tanks. After pumping out the fuel, rags and absorbent pads were used to wipe up the “gunk”. However, there were some areas behind the baffles that were tough to get to. They rinsed those areas with diesel, and then re-circulated the diesel back through filters (2 micron being the final) before returning it to the tanks. The process took an entire day for our 4 tanks. Hope that answer helps!