H Hunter Patriot trouble

[microboss]

One month ago I had bought H.H Patriot 2006.Was out in a PPB 3 times only.
From the beginning I felt a light smell of petrol in the cabin.Yesterday morning smell increased dramatically.I checked up the boat and found that kill of the boat filled with petrol.I have drained around 100 lt from the back of the my Patriot.Lucky to not go with smoking friends out.Still waiting for mechanic for inspection.
Any suggestions what's happened.

[FishHunter]

Leaking fuel tank? Burst fuel line? Filled up through a rod holder?

[TimiBoy]

Saw a Patriot supplied once (tank fitted with dual outlets for twin motors) with the second outlet unblocked - boat had a single donk. Luckily that was spotted quickly.

Cheers,

Tim

[Chimo]

Hi MB

Salt water deck wash ?

Check for the possibility of salt water under the fuel tank and if the tank sits on a frp bed and no or insufficient teflon spacers were placed under the tank then electrolysis may have caused several pin holes where the tank contacts the frp.

Had the same issue with a 250 lt tank in my Vag at about the same age. I had fuel dribbling out of the centre bung holes onto a concrete floor too after a day out with a faint fuel smell and thankfully no need to use the bilge pump!

You can repair metal fuel tanks if you know the right person and are in the right place.

good luck

Cheers
Chimo

[fish50]

Mate I have a HH (around '89 model) and had pin holes in the bottom of the tank and the tank sits in a sealed section of the floor - a very terrible time of my life. The top of the tank looked fine but once I pulled it out it was quite badly corroded, gave me a real lot of engine trouble with contaminated fuel (it consisted of saltwater, fish guts, freshwater and so on.
I didn't know what was going on at the time so lots of trips to the mechanic and one tow by VMR so the sooner you replace the tank (if this is the problem of course) the better off financially you will be. I pumped a lot of the crap fuel out with the primer, this method gives you a fighting chance if the whole thing blows up... also try to resist negetive thoughts - i came very close to setting her adrift in the night.

[Chimo]

Sounds familiar, similar to the Seafarer; without the fish guts and water in the tank, must have been a good hole!

C
C

[Duckfish]

Hi Mb,
My brother-in-law had the exact same problem with his Patriot. Apparently you will have to check your fuel tanks and like Tim said, they probably fitted two tanks for dual motor installations. I 'd bet one of the plugs might have come adrift from one of the tanks.
Duckfish

[Camhawk88]

The way it has increased with time suggests a hole opening up- either the tank or the fuel line. My guess would be the tank as you usually notice the motor spluttering and carrying on if the fuel line starts to suck a bit of air.
Sounds like they are a metal tank so thats one plus- good luck.

[microboss]

You right F..50 and Chimo,I have pin point holes on the bottom of fuel tank,and it sit on a fb,.and no teflon spaces....?Looks like alluminium tank? Nice (H.H) quality for 100 k!....

[nigelr]

Good luck with it microboss, dissappointing to say the least for that sort of money.
Not to mention dangerous............wonder if there would be a liability issue for HH in the event of a loss-of-life occurance, given it seems it may be more than just a one-off?

[fish50]

Seems odd to have pin holes on a 2006 model, mine was 25 years old. One saving grace is that if you put in a good tank now and look after the boat the expenses associated with the tank replacement should add to the resale value. We paid $16,000 for ours in 1994 and I reckon I could get at least $20,000 for it today, most list at at $25K. One more thing that might cheer you up is that unlike me, you found the cause quickly without having your motor drink contaminated fuel for 2 to 3 months, that drama cost me a lot more than replacing the tank.

[Chimo]

HI MB

Sorry to hear that I guessed correctly!

If H Hunter is as good a company as Seafarer was they will supply a replacement tank at cost and fit it for free. Thats what they did for me, and while I was not happy I was grateful for the contribution and assistance even though the boat was of a similar age to yours at the time.

Certainly would be worth while having a quiet chat with them; even if they dont accept reponsibility / admit fault they may well still come to the party and any assistance is worthwhile in a case like this when perhaps two people on the floor (one who forgot the spacers and the other who was doing quality control checks) missed it and the boss, who is now going to look after you, knew nothing about it.

Good luck anyhow.

Cheers
Chimo

[Mad-One]

I think that like anything it should be covered by fair life expectancy and i think 4yrs isn't fair life. I would want it replaced for free

Mad

[captain rednut]

very common problem with lots of name brand hulls, the tanks should be epoxy coated to prevent corrosion and fitted with nylon spacers also. thats the first thing i done with my patriot when it was new i removed the tank for corrosion prevention. i also hose the fuel cell compartment out every trip and leave open to dry out. hopefully i wont get this problem??.
cheers jim

[Chimo]

I agree Mad but as a GOM I have found that getting into a standup often gets you not much and while I did ot get all I wanted I did get a fair bit.

Oh and I forgot to mention earlier, and your post reminded me, I was given a couple of pails of OB oil as I walked out the door when the tank was replaced and I was also looked after re the price of a range of stuff like clears etc over the years after the "tank" issue.

What goes around comes around

Cheers
Chimo

[microboss]

Merry Christmas everyone.

Thank you for all your help and advice.

Finally, I bought a new HH plastic tank fitted with dual outlets (for twin motors). To attach the tank to the boat I use Sikaflex 295uv (suggested by HH Co.).

But how can I block the second outlet (unused because I have 1 motor)?

[OPTI]

should be able to screw a plastic or brass bung into it,it\f it has a tail fitting just fit a short piece of fuel line to it and bung the end of that fuel line.

[La Vida]

HI MicroBoss, My previous boat was a HH 680 patriot, 2004 model. I had a similar incident in 2008. this was the fuel breather line had come off the tank and when the tank was full, fuel poured out of the tank, I was out at the 24s when I realised what happened. real pain in the arse. I would check all line connections likewise that you haven't had salt water sitting under the tank causing electrolysis.

The Patriots tend to sit nose down in the water, when stationary with a single engine as they massive amounts of stern buoyancy for twin engine installation. eben with a yamaha 225 4stroke a full tank of fuel and water mine sat nose own by a couple of degrees. I was always a pain trhying to get the last amounts of water out of the bilge as the bilge pump sits on a raised block.

Otherwise they are a top boat, you will need to pull up the floor wor pull some gymnastic feets to find out what is going on