New Fuel Tank....recommendations?

[fish50]

Hi all,

I am having trouble with my fuel in a 580 Haines Hunter (15 years old), all sorts of Sh#t is coming through into the filter (mostly water) and it has been happening for a little while now so i have pretty much admitted defeat and assume the tank has pin holes - it's aluminium (i think).

I am completly over it and instead of scuttling it (i'm very close at present) i'm going to replace the under floor tank which is currently a 180L Haines factory fit. I am keen on a tank between of 100 - 150L and am interested in peoples thoughts on the different tanks available. I want something that will last for the next 15 years and wont cause me problems. So please let me know your experiences with plastic tanks, SS tanks and aluminium - i am leaning towards a plastic tank at this stage. My budget is fairly open at this stage, within reason.

Any info on who i could get to fit it would be great also, i'm on the northside of Brisbane.

Cheers
steve

[Spaniard_King]

Steve,

Firstly, if your tank has pin holes in it you would suffer more from leakage than water ingress. Usuall problemn spots are.. the sender unit seal or breather issues with water ingress.

IMO you wont get a better tank than a properly made ally tank. Stainless has a habit of flexing and work hardening which makes it brittle and more susceptable to cracking than ally. it would be very unlikely for you to find a plastic tank to fit in the current location and I would hate to think what a 1 off plastic tank would cost to get made.

IMO.. go the ally

[Maggot1]

mate you can get a alloy tank made to fit neatly underfloor for 200 - 300 dollars. it depends on how big you want it. id be putting new sender unit on and new hoses as well. i have a number of a good ally welder if you need it on the southside.

[lethal098]

fish50, if you had pin holes i would suspect you would get a fuel leak when filled, i can only assume this is not the case, try draing the tank completely and having it flsuhed/pressure tested, most radiator shops can do this, i am currently in the process of putting my fuel tank back in that had the same problem. i had no leaks but a build up that had occured over many years, i now use a product call fuel doctor to stop condensation building up. either way you need to remove the tank so it might be worthwhile to have alook at it first. pm me if you want any further info. cheers lethal

[sid_fishes]

i would have to agree, with the ally choice, but i fail to see where you can say $200 to $300 for a tank. #### me it just cost me that much to make a tank in materials alone.i might get you to build my tanks and ill just but a mark up on them cheers ian

[pedrodepacus]

hey guys i agree with sid fishes as a contract welder ive built stacks of fuel tanks over the years from the stainless fuel tanks in the seafarers to the alloy tanks in the mustangs that was my job for a couple of years . a fuel tank is a pretty serious piece of equipment and needs to be built properly as if it fails it can cause serious damage to people and property . so your guys that say yeah il knock you one up cheap as mate are either working for nothing or cutting corners and im not knocking the welder mentioned in the thread on this topic at all as i have no idea of the cicumstances but i would suggest that yeah ok tank 200-300 bucks sender unit (if required) probably 60- 70 depending on which one, fit the sender and pressure test cause its pointless testing it if the sender unit is not fitted as thats the usual place that they leak and then the whole system should be pressure tested once the tank is installed in the boat but as i said before u can cut corners and get a cheap job but its a gamble

[stevenc]

Here is a link to tempo who make plastic fuel tanks, they seem to make many different sizes of below deck fuel tanks so you might be lucky here. I think whitworths sell that brand here.

http://www.tempoproducts.com/2004/bd_fuel_tanks1.html

[fish50]

Thanks for your replies guys,

I took the remainder of the floor out over the weekend, the tank is a stainless tank. The next step is to drain, disconnect it and remove it to have a good look and get it tested if need be.

Hopefully i won't have to get a new tank and the problem is just sludge within the tank, having said that it appears the tank sits in a bucket like base which does not have access to drain into the main bilge and subsequently out thru the bungs so i'm thinking that there is still a possibility of pin holes (with no leakages - if that makes sense) or does this not happen with stainless steel tanks? I have previously read on Ausfish that a stainless tank will generally out live the boat?

Cheers
Steve

[tenzing]

Mate the stainless can still corrode.Remeber the metal chain on the plug in grannies sink would leave a rust mark-Dissimilar metals , galvanic flow and all that.
The s/steel tank should have a number of teflon strips running fore -aft under its FULL length to help prevent corrosion through cntact with the hull etc.
Brendan

[Carruss]

I recently has this dilemma and got a quote for a new tank and they wanted $550.00 for bewtween 80-90 litres! I was concerned about corrosion too as I have read good and bad things about metal tanks.

In the end I went for a plastic 75 litre ($172.50 delivered on Ebay (or $250.00 in Whitworths!)) tank. Its pretty lightweight and fits in the boat nice so I will see how this goes.

Carruss.

[PADDLES]

g'day fish, i agree with spaniard king, you won't go better than a properly designed and constructed plate alloy tank. make sure both yourself or the builder has a real good think about breathers and filler positioning and also watch the dissimilar metals with the fittings used on the outgoing lines. ie. using brass or stainless hose fittings in an alloy tank. (especially watch dissimilar fittings if it can sit in water or in my case have wet carpet joining across the brass to the alloy) like sid has said, budget on spending $500 plus.

[ozscott]

Gday mate. My 1970s Seafarer Vagabond has the original alloy tanks - 2 x70l. I did a strip out a year or so ago and pulled them out of the boat. They were like new, with no pitting or any problems. Did a clean out and stuck them back in with new breather pipes and new fuel lines. They had very nicely welded breather outlets and large fillers. Given the age of these tanks (we are talking 30 years!) I reckon you cannot beat alloy for this application. I have had large plastic tanks before and would not go for anything but alloy now.

Cheers