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I recently went through a bout of fuel tank contamination. I got some very useful tips from this mailing list and as a result was able to clean my tanks out. Here's what I noted. On siphoning the header tank. I would recommend that the end of the siphon be made of plastic tubing. When trying for the corners with an aluminum tube it's pretty easy to dislodge portions of the original sealant from the tank. I used two methods on the header. I removed the drain valve & tubing from the tank. I then ran a rubber hose from the header tank, out the fire wall and down. I filled the tank with some waste gas and drained it into a container through a paper filter so I could see what I was getting out. I rocked the wings and tail while I was doing this. I did this about a hundred <G> times until the paper filter was pretty clean. I then used the siphon to get the corners, again doing this seemingly endlessly until finally the header tank was clean. I then used compressed air to thoroughly dry the header tank getting rid of any moisture that was left over. On the wing tanks, Because of the baffles, I removed the tanks and cleaned them that way. Rivnuts on the fairings will make future removal MUCH easier. While a pain, removal will allow inspection of the front of the spar, and insure that the tanks are clean. Prior to doing this, I ALWAYS got some water out of the gascolator. The previous owner commented that this plane "makes" water. I carried a mustard jar to drain the tanks to insure that I got enough out. Since going through my tank cleaning, my gascolator is always clean. Cheers: Paul NC2273H ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
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