# Safe solvent for cleaning inside gas tank??



## MS260 Fan (Nov 27, 2009)

I spent 10 minutes searching and couldn't find an answer. I'm sure this has been asked before. I bought a saw that has sat for about 5 years with the same fuel. After emptying the tank I can see there's crud and varnish mainly on the bottom of the tank. Is there something safe to dissolve the crud? I'd like to clean it up a bit and then rinse it out several times with fresh mix before starting it up. Any suggestions?? I thought about carb cleaner but don't know how that would affect the plastic.

I have the filter and fuel line pulls so not problems there.


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## Rookie1 (Nov 27, 2009)

Carb cleaner.


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## MS260 Fan (Nov 27, 2009)

Rookie1 said:


> Carb cleaner.



No worries about the plastic??? I guess I could just look on the can of carb cleaner. Why didn't I think of that earlier?


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## Teddy.Scout (Nov 28, 2009)

Don't mean to thread steal!
But is it safe to rinse off or soak in a parts cleaner?

I use carb or brake cleaner.


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## eyolf (Nov 28, 2009)

There's more than one kind of carb cleaner, so be kind to yourself and test it on the bottom of the tank where you can see it work on a little spot. I used lacquer thinner on the plastic tank of a lawnmower, and quit when I could see it affecting the plastic. Made it soft and discolored it from black to gray.

I was trying to get paint off the outside, not clean it inside. I tried wax and grease cleaner next (I slopped paint getting ready to paint a trailer) and that cleaned it off pretty well. 

I found that the wax and grease preparation was mostly xylene, and that xylene is a pretty good solvent.


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## bartlanz (Nov 28, 2009)

Seafoam, available at your local auto parts store... Put it in the tank, shake it some, let it sit for a day or so, shake it more, dump it out and inspect.


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## mactodd (Nov 28, 2009)

Or you can try dishwasher detergent and water. That stuff cuts some pretty nasty crud.


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## Philbert (Nov 28, 2009)

Gumout?

Philbert


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## Bubbles Up (Nov 28, 2009)

The last tank I cleaned , I used safety Kleen and a smal chunk of think chain and shook the daylights out of it ,I repeated this 3 times and the final rinse was with new Safety Kleen.them used hot water to rinse out the Kleen then blew it dry with compressed air .


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## TommySaw (Nov 28, 2009)

Is your tank plastic or Magnesium? Be careful if plastic, and I've heard of it messing up finishes on Mag. aswell. Berkible 2+2 Gum Cutter is an excellent "Carb Cleaner" just remember that most carb cleaners leave a tiny residue to protect carb parts unlike Brake Cleaner which leaves none but the new non-flammable eco friendly stuff sucks IMO I would personally use a fuel system cleaner as that's what it's designed to do


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## drill.daddy (Nov 28, 2009)

I did a tank the other day it was mag tho , i used oven cleaner and it did pretty well , the carb cleaner didnt even phase the varnish and 1/2 inch of oil in btm of tanks..


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## smilin possum (Nov 28, 2009)

Greased Lightning and about a cup of #8 bird shot, let it soak a while and shake the tank ever so often. I use a paint strainer to pour it out to catch the shot.


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## discounthunter (Nov 28, 2009)

dump a little gas in there , light a match ,throw it in. oh you want to keep the tank?

carb cleaner then.


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## BIG BEAM (Nov 28, 2009)

I used gravel and WD-40 in a old plastic tank on a troy-built:jawdrop:Worked great.
DON


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## BlueRidgeMark (Nov 28, 2009)

drill.daddy said:


> I did a tank the other day it was mag tho , i used oven cleaner .




Magnesium and oven cleaner is *not *a good combination. Check the inside of your tank - you probably have less magnesium than you used to have. No doubt it's clean magnesium, though! 

The reaction also produces hydrogen gas, which can make a nice kaboom if you have enough of it. Any time you have lye (oven cleaner) and magnesium together, is not a good time for a smoke! 




> The combination of aluminum and sodium hydroxide results in a large production of hydrogen gas:
> 2Al(s) + 6NaOH(aq) → 3H2(g) + 2Na3AlO3(aq).
> Hydrogen gas is explosive; mixing lye (sodium hydroxide) and aluminum in a closed container is therefore dangerous. In addition to aluminum, lye (sodium hydroxide) and/or caustic potash (potassium hydroxide) may *also react with magnesium*, zinc (galvanized), tin, chromium, brass, and bronze to produce hydrogen gas and is therefore dangerous. Do not allow lye or caustic potash to contact these metals.



http://www.certified-lye.com/safety.html


The bottom line is, you probably didn't damage your saw with one application, but I sure wouldn't make it a regular practice. It WILL etch the metal away each time. It may be a tiny amount, but those tiny amounts will add up.


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## DougNH (Nov 28, 2009)

I've tried all kinds of things in the shop where I used to work, from seafoam, carb cleaner, contact cleaner, MMO, penetrating oil, kerosene, diesel fuel, gasoline, E10, straight alcohol, dishwashing soap, gumout, parts cleaner, and on and on. Often a combination of things works best (but don't blow yourself up!)

For a plastic fuel tank, I would first try fresh E10 with a little Sta-Bil and a good slug of seafoam mixed in. This gives you a reasonably benign mix of ethanol, naptha, gasoline and other "petroleum distillates" to dissolve the crud. You're not putting anything in there that should harm the saw. Give it time, at least a few days, and like other people mentioned help it by shaking frequently with lead shot, steel nuts or whatever else you might have. The ethanol in E10 is now actually good for something, as a solvent. 

Other stronger/harsher solvents like carb cleaner will likely work faster than the E10/Seafoam mix but you risk eating up the plastic.


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## Rookie1 (Nov 28, 2009)

Teddy.Scout said:


> Don't mean to thread steal!
> But is it safe to rinse off or soak in a parts cleaner?
> 
> I use carb or brake cleaner.



I take saws and saw parts to work and wash/soak them in a solvent tank,like a Safteykleen setup that recirculates the solvent. Ive never had a problem. I try not to soak coils or electrical parts. The solvent seems to be fairly mild too,never had it ruin any plastic or rubber parts.


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## MS260 Fan (Nov 28, 2009)

Well, well, that's a lot of ideas. I have a few of these products already so I'll try what I have on hand. 

I've heard good stuff about Seafoam on this site. I don't know if it's available in Canada. I'll look today at Home Depot.

Good call with the abrasives. Ball bearings, metal nuts etc. That's help for sure as the worst is on the bottom of the tank. I'm going to get an old toothbrush in there too and see if I can knock some of it out. The smell of the varnish is killing me!! It overpowers the smell of 2-cycle mix. That's not right!


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## BlueRidgeMark (Nov 28, 2009)

MS260 Fan said:


> I've heard good stuff about Seafoam on this site. I don't know if it's available in Canada. I'll look today at Home Depot.




I think you'll have better success at an auto parts store. Wouldn't hurt to look at HD if you're there anyway, but I wouldn't make a special trip.


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## DougNH (Nov 28, 2009)

The Wal-Mart near me has Seafoam. What surprised me was that the price is the same as the motorcycle/chainsaw dealer where I bought my last can.


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## TommySaw (Nov 28, 2009)

hey another thing I thought of at work today is Gunk's Motor flush, it's designed to dissolve engine sludge among other things on contact and it only costs lik 3-4 bucks for a quart size container at an Autozone or the like. It's good stuff I've used it before. GL


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## Bubbles Up (Nov 28, 2009)

MS260fan try Napa auto parts in Canada. My local one has it.


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## MS260 Fan (Nov 29, 2009)

BlueRidgeMark said:


> I think you'll have better success at an auto parts store. Wouldn't hurt to look at HD if you're there anyway, but I wouldn't make a special trip.



Thanks. Carquest carries Seafoam for about $10 a can.

I used carb cleaner coupled with an old tooth brush. Some nasty stuff came out. Looks much better now after a few rinses with 2-stroke mix. The worst of the varnish smell is gone.


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