Water in fuel tank

[blacklab]

Hi Dirtyfuzz, Sorry for your issues.
Many years ago I had a stainless tank that basically gave up, I pulled it out and couldn't believe the deterioration, A mate of mine made me another as he worked in the industry,,,, anyways, he actually cut it open somehow, I was mortified at the crud and shear "corrosion- slurry- come crap that was in that tank. He reconned that it had crackes in it for some time, it was the smell that finally alerted to me I had an issue.
Anyway, currently on my build, I've put a Sant marine plastic tank in, goodluck, I know how frustrating these issues are

Col

[Dirtyfuzz]

Well the Stainless Fuel tank is out and has holes in the bottom, apparently it looks like it’s been eaten by a corrosive substance from the inside maybe a reaction to the old fuel and condensation, Good News i guess is that everything was so over engineered that everything else structurally is fine with no signs of rotting etc, The Tank was such a tight fit to get out that Ark Marine will have to make it 10mm shorter to get it back in, going to go down the epoxy coated aluminium tank and the extra money saved can go towards cutting in a walkthrough transom!


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[stevej]

stainless isnt something that lasts forever

salt sand detergents oils will all eat it out eventually silcons used to mount them even water is corrosive.

[billfisher]

Did they tell you what thickness of alloy they are using? You want at least 4mm to avoid problems.

[Dirtyfuzz]

Did they tell you what thickness of alloy they are using? You want at least 4mm to avoid problems.

Good question mate I’ll ask tomorrow! Website states “Commercial Quality 5052 or 5083, 3 and 4mm Marine Grade Alloy Built To Survey Requirements if Necessary” I’ll insist on 4mm


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[Dirtyfuzz]

Got the price back to make tanks, epoxy coated 5083 4mm alloy $1500 or stainless $2150 so might go the alloy, thinking of adding a filler cap to the top of the tank below the inspection port but not sure!
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[blacklab]

Sounds exactly like what happened to my S/S tank, as mentioned previously.
I looked at aluminium, got all the correct ways to fit etc, but, I thought why !!!
as mentioned, I have one of those sant marine tanks in now, never have to worry about degradation again !
worth considering ?

Col

[Dirtyfuzz]

Sounds exactly like what happened to my S/S tank, as mentioned previously.
I looked at aluminium, got all the correct ways to fit etc, but, I thought why !!!
as mentioned, I have one of those sant marine tanks in now, never have to worry about degradation again !
worth considering ?

Col

It would take a lot of reconfiguring to fit a tank that is different to what has come out due to the room constraints between the bulk heads


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[billfisher]

I got a Sant Marine tank to replace my aluminium underfloor tank. I had to modify the compartment and lost a fair bit of capacity but i did the work myself and it only cost $300 for the tank. I just use a carry tanks for reserve and the last leg home and am happy not to worry about corrosion and welds cracking.

[EdBerg]

If you are going to get a ally tank built,see if it is possible to get a drainage tap with a hose in the bottom of it, just in case you have to empty the tank you can just open the tap and let the fuel drain out taking any crud with it. Maybe push the hose out through a transom bung hole through to a container.

Just an idea.

[Dirtyfuzz]

If you are going to get a ally tank built,see if it is possible to get a drainage tap with a hose in the bottom of it, just in case you have to empty the tank you can just open the tap and let the fuel drain out taking any crud with it. Maybe push the hose out through a transom bung hole through to a container.

Just an idea.

Cheers mate, as it’s a sealed deck with separate sealed bulkheads it would be a massive job involving drilling through the bulkheads and then would have to drill through the hull for it to drain!


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[Dirtyfuzz]

I got a Sant Marine tank to replace my aluminium underfloor tank. I had to modify the compartment and lost a fair bit of capacity but i did the work myself and it only cost $300 for the tank. I just use a carry tanks for reserve and the last leg home and am happy not to worry about corrosion and welds cracking.

Thanks mate yeah that was the issue I faced going a plastic tank, i Need as much capacity as I can get with the main tanks, was even contemplating going bigger but weight is a factor!


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[Fed]

Did you figure out where the water came from?

[Noelm]

I think the issue is if you get water in there, it's there forever, unless you find a way to get it all out, using the pick up won't work because it's not on the bottom, and most tanks don't have access, so, unless you remove the water, and it comes back, you probably don't have an external leak, but, it's always good practice to eliminate any possible water entry points. You need to remember if you are getting water in your separating filter, you have probably 50mm of water in the bottom of your tank, and depending on the bottom area of the tank, that's a lot of water, over time, it just starts to rust the tank and your problems are getting bigger by the day.

[Fed]

Why didn't the fuel leak out of the holes in the bottom of the tank?

Not trying to be pedantic it's just that I spent most of my working life grilling employees to avoid free call-backs.