Integral Tank Cleaning With Ammonia

[aquasonic]

In the past, I have tried many different solvents for cleaning both integral and pressure tanks. This time, I’m trying ammonia in an integral tank based upon the recommendations of others.

I know that ammonia is alkaline, so my question is: How long should the ammonia remain in the tank, and will it do any damage if left in too long?

Thanks.

[jw-in-dixie]

Observe the progress and when the metal appears to be as clean as it’s going to get,
pour out the ammonia, flush with water, then bicarb of soda rinse. Dry in the hot sun.
Should be good to go.

JW in Dixie

[mr-asa]

At the concentration you can get in the supermarket, you would have to leave it in there for months and months for damage to the metal.
Now, just a little can damage decals, and anything used to seal the tank, but that’s a separate issue.

Try leaving it in for 24 hours, then drain and inspect.
I toss in $0.25 of pennies or so and try to shake it and roll the container around

[aquasonic]

Previous to the ammonia, the tank had been treated with 2 cups of Pine Sol and 2 cups of hot water. (100) 1/4 " hex nuts were added, and the tank was shaken and flipped every so often to loosen the dried up gas and oil. I left this mixture in the tank for 2 days.

After 2 days, the Pine Sol/water mixture was drained. Quite a bit of dried up ‘shellac’ type deposits came out with the liquid, but there were still significant deposits remaining even after several rinses.

The next round was a quart of ammonia, and the same (100) 1/4" hex nuts. The tank was shaken and flipped over about every 1/2 hour for 4 hours. After draining, it was rinsed with baking soda and water. Then rinsed with isopropyl alcohol to soak up the water, and left open to dry for a couple of days.

At the end of the day, I was impressed with the cleaning ability of the ammonia. I can’t see any more gas/oil deposits, just clean metal.

[mr-asa]

Yeah, Ammonia breaks down a lot of hydrocarbon and organic compounds. It’s a great cleaner and my go-to for the first round of cleaning.
Add a cup to your laundry when you’ve got sweat rings on your clothes, breaks it down excellently.

[r-delawter]

It would be interesting to see a list of all the things that have been used (or tried) to clean fuel tanks. There does not seem to be a universal solution that works for all situations. I will have to give ammonia a try.

[mr-asa]

In general, like dissolves like.

To clean gas deposits, you need something of a similar composition, so another hydrocarbon should dissolve them. The "hotter" the chemical it is, the quicker it will dissolve the unwanted deposit. (in order from lowest "heat" to hottest that is generally available to the public: non-polar chemicals; Mineral Spirits, Naptha, Xylene and Toluene and then there are polar chemicals; alcohols and ketones. The more carbon atoms an alcohol molecule has the slower it evaporates and the longer it will work when exposed to air, in general alcohols and ketones aren’t too useful as they are either too volatile, or too dangerous. Acetone is a decent exception to this, but still evaporates so quickly that it’s not helpful in an open air environment.)

Ammonia is one of the exceptions to this, it’s not a hydrocarbon but due to it’s chemical makeup it still blasts apart proteins and hydrocarbons.

I really need to write up a thread on this sort of stuff

[jim-moffatt]

I always use ammonia. Takes a day or two. To speed up the process keep it warm or even hot. I put the tank on the top of my oil furnace. If there are a lot of deposits dump the first ammonia out and add a second batch. As others said dont get it on decals.

[green-thumbs]

A steel tank with about 1/3 full of very old very solid fuel residue…used straight lacquer thinner after a few days in hot sun some residue soften into a jelly that could be poured out into coffee can, separated lacquer thinner and poured it back into tank for another few days
and poured out jelly, separated the liquid and repeated until fuel residue was gone.
Then used Strong Ammonia (hardware store item) and air rifle BB’s to shake rattle and roll
to remove a small amount of corrosion
There are other and perhaps better methods. This worked for me and I would use it
again if needed.
Louis

[beerman57]

I’m doing one of those 2.5 gallon (I think) tanks. No sludge problem, a little rust and some kind of residue on the sides as far up as I can see. Will ammonia and some nuts and a lot of shaking do the trick? Then rinse with baking soda, then alcohol (not bourbon)! Decent little tank, but someone took the fuel pick up. I have a pick up for it and have all the holes drilled, gasket made (if it survives the ammonia). I can see in both sides, there is a baffle in the center.

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