Carver Owners Forum

Well the fill, vent and pickup ports on the tank are all 90 degree elbows. Thinking I'm going to pull one of the feed lines to the tank selector valve to pump off the majority of the fuel first. Then try the fill port avenue to get the rest with a long hose, may get lucky! If not take the night stand apart enough to get to the sending unit if I think I have enough head clearance to get the sending unit out of the tank or out of the way enough to feed a hose to the "V" bottom of this tank. Then most likely out some soapy water in the tank and pump that off a couple of times. Trying to come up with some type of a slightly weighted pick up end on the hose I'm going to fish in the tank thru the fill port so the hose goes to the bottom of the tank.

mjk1040 wrote:Qr Bbpost Well the fill, vent and pickup ports on the tank are all 90 degree elbows....

I thought that was the case, that's why I mentioned it. Worse comes to worse, go through the sender, that's what I did and it wasn't that bad to get at. From there it's just straight down and you have some wiggle room to move the hose around.

mjk1040 wrote:Qr Bbpost Then most likely out some soapy water in the tank and pump that off a couple of times

Mike, Just a thought.... would that be wise considering water is what probably gets these things to corrode in the first place....possibly make it worse unless you are going to get the tank out of there quickly. Also you will be stuck with gallons of gas and water.

Don't know if this is an option where you are but here is one maybe...., on a previous boat I had two saddle tanks that were going to be no longer used, so we had a vac truck guy come by that had an explosive rating ( for the gasoline ) plus he disposes of the waste........ sucked both tanks to the bottom thru the gage hole ( barely big enough)....I sealed the deck fills after that and it was just fine after a while , no gas smell......good luck man.....

I got the soap and water idea from a local trusted mechanic here that has been working on boats and Carvers for over 30 years. He suggested the use of Dawn dish soap, which breaks down the gas somewhat, as it does grease, and then pump that out a couple of times trying to neutralize the gas and its smell. Another veteran marine mechanic I know here who has been doing this for years suggested putting 5 gallons of diesel fuel in the tank and then pump that out diluting the gas and fumes. When I suggested the dawn soap and water, he said that would work too. I'm thinking soap and water and not diesel fuel, just based on the residual smell. Thanks all for the great info. I'll follow up when I'm done.

Soap and water is the way to go. Have done that several times, common practice.

Mike, I would definitely go with the soap and water. Diesel will smell forever!

tomschauer wrote:Qr Bbpost .....Diesel will smell forever!

+1

Yes I agree soap and water!

mjk1040 wrote:Qr Bbpost Yes I agree soap and water!

Yup, I think that is better .The diesel sounds like you might go from one problem to another.....again good luck man..