Integral Tank Cleaning With Ammonia

[jim-moffatt]

In my case the 1930s Muncie aluminum tank had a thin threaded brass neck for the cap. I left the cap on it while the tank soaked several days. At the end I couldnt get the cap off. I then used a strap wrench and the brass ring broke off and remained in the cap. If my chemistry is right brass is composed mainly of copper and zinc.

I used household ammonia full strength.

The brass necks on the 30s omc tanks are much thicker and they never gave me a problem.

[chris-p]

Here is what I used, and what it did to an almost indestructible parts washer tank

[aquasonic]

quote Jim Moffatt:

Ammonia is a great tank cleaner and I use it all the time. However it attacks brass fairly quickly. It may eat away a brass or copper screen in a day or so.

Muncie/Nwptune tanks from the 30s have a thin brass tank neck and 3 days of ammonia in the tank caused it to be unusable. THe 30s omc tanks do not do this but I would limit the time its used to 1 to 2 days.

The presence of brass or copper is an important consideration. I saw the effect of ammonia on brass first hand when I put ammonia in a garden sprayer with brass fittings. I was trying to deter squirrels that were making a home in my attic.

That turned out to be a bad idea because the ammonia bothered me more than it bothered the squirrels, and the brass fittings on the sprayer just crumbled.

As far as all aluminum integral tanks go, I haven’t seen anything yet that works better than ammonia for cleaning old gas and oil deposits.

[Tubs]

A "Boathouse Repair" is one that done without having tools or the skills to do it properly.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by Tubs.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 2 months ago by Tubs.

[jim-moffatt]

I’m sure the rustoleum product works great. But you can also use Harbor Freight Evaporust at $10 per quart. Its biodegradable and non toxic.It has to be at least 70 degrees to work but on a hot day it works in several hours. Its only for rust

[mr-asa]

Jim, I love Evaporust. I always try and make sure I have a gallon on hand.

[Anonymous]

I hear in many articles that ammonia is a good agent for cleaning process. And I believe from this thread it is a good cleaning substance.

[willyboy]

I tried the lemon scented ammonia from home depot in a heavily lacquered Johnson HA-15 tank along with a tube of regular old copper plated bb’s to rattle around in there to help remove deposits. I would give it a shake or flip it over every 1/2 hour or so while it was sitting outside in the sun for around 6 hours. One thing I will caution people who try this out that I didn’t read here before I gave it a go-WEAR safety glasses when opening to pour the ammonia out of the tank as when I did it was under pressure either from sitting in the sun or the shaking or both-but it DID spray out everywhere under pressure as I unscrewed the tank cap. It could have been ugly if it had caught me in the eyes. It did clean the inside of the tank great.

[johnny-infl]

Last summer I put a cup of household ammonia in the windshield washer water tank
of my ’96 Jeep Cherokee . . . . IMO, works better than the store bought stuff for love bugs.

eeekkkk !!! and now I see it will eat copper and brass !!!
I have no leaks, so I must not have any metal fittings in my washer system.

[PugetSoundBoater]

What would you folks use to clean a Plastic or nylon 1 qt tank on an Evinrude/Johnson 2 or 4 hp 1970’s vintage ?. I just use a pint of gas and shake it around and dump it out into my can I take to the county recycle station. Same question with newer plastic 6 gal tanks. I take the pickup and fuel level guage out, put hot water and liqiud detergent ,shake and drain ,rinse real well with hot water and let dry in the springtime sun before my boating season.I used an inspection mirror and flashlight to look for rust particles etc and use a piece of stiff wire with a wad of paper towel taped to the wire and put some TC-3 on there to grab onto the foriegn and remove. Any better ideas?

"Some people want to know how a watch works, others just want to know what time it is"
Robbie Robertson

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