Fuel problems persist

[BamaBus]

Ospho is effective -- after you've got the tank cleaned.

I'd put a gallon in and roll the tank a bit to distribute -- I'm assuming there are baffles in the tank to prevent sloshing of the fuel.

After you think you've got the ospho distributed, dump it out. (I'd save what comes out to use on the bus floor or chassis rails or...)

And let it sit. After 24hrs peak into the tank -- it should be dry. You may see a crusty white residue.

I'd probably take a couple of the gallons of fuel you previously drained now and rinse the tank with that and call it done.

I suspect it will be damn near impossible to properly prep the vertical sides of the interior baffles. W/out perfect prep you will likely have product failure with anything you try to coat the tank with...

The ospho will work because it does it's thing on contact -- it's not a coating that will come off but a chemical reaction of iron-oxide to iron phosphate. Your rust will be worst on the bottom and maybe only on the bottom, and maybe not that bad -- like I said -- fuel varnish is the same color as rust...

I agree with this especially since no water is used during or after the treatment which may avoid any flash rusting.

 

[Mat7783]

Hi booyah: are you talking about feed grade dried molasses? I can get a 50 lb bag for $57.00. How many gallons Of water can I mix with that?thanks again

 

[Booyah45828]

Hi booyah: are you talking about feed grade dried molasses? I can get a 50 lb bag for $57.00. How many gallons Of water can I mix with that?thanks again ��

I used liquid blackstrap molasses. Not sure what you'd have to do for the dried pellets or if it would even work.

The treatment turns the rust into a black slime. You can wash this off with soap/water and a nylon brush. After washing though, it flash rusted after drying, so definitely coat it with something to disperse the water and keep that from happening. I used wd40.

Here is more reading on a different forum for those that are inclined. It's where I got the idea to try it from. For small parts, go with evaporust, but if you're needing to submerge large pieces, evaporust gets expensive quick.

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general-archive/rust-removal-using-molasses-90452/

 

[banman]

And how to do a citric acid bath...
(the citric acid power will be available at a farm store)

Willys Hotrod Truck page16.

 

[Native-SKO]

I flushed the coolant system with citric acid. Very effective. Look up "the Mercedes Benz Citric Acid Flush".

 

[Mat7783]

So I pressure washed the inside of the tank which was sludge city and some rust on pickup tubes and top wall sections but not bad. Floor is clean but I could clean past baffles and the sludge is nasty. What solvent can use to soak those ends to dissolve this sludge?? Thank you guys!

 

[banman]

So I pressure washed the inside of the tank which was sludge city and some rust on pickup tubes and top wall sections but not bad. Floor is clean but I could clean past baffles and the sludge is nasty. What solvent can use to soak those ends to dissolve this sludge?? Thank you guys!

I took my tank to a self serve car wash and used the "engine degreaser" mode to hot solvent soap my narsty tank. This was a 32 gal tank so much easier to handle... The degreaser broke it right up... Go when the wash ain't busy so no-one waiting on you while you're letting the tank soak a bit if it needs it.

Bonus is that the car wash will have an oil/water separator on their drain so you're not dumping that sludge on the ground which equals ground-water...

 

[Native-SKO]

Good point about the oil/water separator, Banman!

 

[Booyah45828]

I use super clean in the purple bottle to dissolve sludge. I've tried numerous household and commercial products and that seems to work the best and it's available at most hardware stores and walmarts.

 

[Mat7783]

Hey booyah: I just put 2.5 gallons of super clean in one baffle end, standing tank up and filled up to baffle partition. Probably a 20 gallon partition so maybe 8:1 dilution.is that too weak and how long show I leave this stuff to work??

 

[Booyah45828]

Hey booyah: I just put 2.5 gallons of super clean in one baffle end, standing tank up and filled up to baffle partition. Probably a 20 gallon partition so maybe 8:1 dilution.is that too weak and how long show I leave this stuff to work??

I typically don't dilute it. If I would, I'd try and use hot water to help soften the sludge. How long I let it sit all depends on how dirty it is. The stuff is also harmful to aluminum so be careful if you're around that.

Leave it for an hour, dump it, rinse, and see how dirty it is after. Might take a few soakings and rinsings.

 

[Booyah45828]

If it's an oil based sludge, dish soap and hot water works pretty good to dissolve it as well.

 

[Mat7783]

So I let it sit overnight and it dissolved about half of it and I removed the port plugs to use my pressure washer tip to rinse inside baffle and break loose remaining crud.problem I see is the other tank end does not have these ports so only Option is soaking . Super clean at full strength would cost about $170 for 20 gallons but baffle partition may be less.i may dilute it 2:1 instead of 6:1 and see if that works? Thanks for your time in sharing ideas with me. I appreciate it!