venting a cub fuel tank after draining.

d. coleman · Jul 29, 2010

drained old fuel out of my cub tank in order to sand/wirewheel in prep for paint. what are some ways to vent fumes from tank so a spark wont cause a explosion? dont want to fill with water, was thinking used motor oil or diesal. ideas are welcome. thanks, d.coleman

Art Massing · Jul 29, 2010

Mr. Coleman,
If you take the cap and sediment bowl off of the tank, open the outlet valve and let the tank set in the sun for a day or two there is not much chance of having any fumes left.
If you don’t want to use water you can use dry ice (CO2) but be careful not to freeze your hands. One other thing you can do is get a bottle of CO2 or nitrogen and fill the tank directly (no PSIG in the gasoline tank).
Water will be the least expensive fill option.

Hope this helps,

Art

mkirsch · Jul 30, 2010

Hmm, I've personally never given a moment's thought to something like that happening. It would certainly have to be an odd set of circumstances.

If you do your work with the cap on the tank, there's zero chance of a spark getting in through the filler hole.

After a couple of days setting open, there won't be enough vapor in the tank to be an issue for a stray spark, even with the cap removed.

I personally wouldn't sand the tank with the filler neck open since I don't want any of the grit or old paint dust to get in there and contaminate the fuel.

Bus Driver · Jul 30, 2010

Experts say that tanks that have had gasoline will have explosive fumes forever. Use dry ice which is solid carbon dioxide. The CO2 will exclude enough oxygen to prevent an explosion.

Haas · Jul 30, 2010

If you are concerned about a spark, put water in it. It's no problem to get the water out. Just go to the paint store and get a gallon of acetone. After you drain the water, rinse a couple of times with about a quart of acetone and the water will be gone. Do this outside and not near any ignition source as the acetone is highly flammable.

gene bender · Jul 31, 2010

You can run the exhaust from your shop vac for a while that will do a good job.

venting a cub fuel tank after draining.

d. coleman

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Art Massing

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mkirsch

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Bus Driver

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Haas

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gene bender

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