Diesel fuel tank

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davidc69

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The 250 litre diesel fuel tank on my SB 28 Offshore has developed a slight leakage. On inspection the tank is in good condition, with no visible signs of corrosion, pitting or damage, especially underneath. As an initial measure I am proposing to use a brushable sealant (bitumen?) painted over the seam/weld areas to see if this solves the matter.

Can anyone recommend a suitable product, and if so where it can be obtained. I have Googled several possibilities and thought Geocel may be the answer. However they advise me that their product would not be suitable.

Because if its size and location the tank cannot be removed from the boat in one piece, and so work will need to be conducted in situ and in a very confined space. Any advice on suitable solutions/products would be much appreciated. The last resort option is to install a new tank.
 
davidc69 said:
The 250 litre diesel fuel tank on my SB 28 Offshore has developed a slight leakage. On inspection the tank is in good condition, with no visible signs of corrosion, pitting or damage, especially underneath. As an initial measure I am proposing to use a brushable sealant (bitumen?) painted over the seam/weld areas to see if this solves the matter.

Can anyone recommend a suitable product, and if so where it can be obtained. I have Googled several possibilities and thought Geocel may be the answer. However they advise me that their product would not be suitable.

Because if its size and location the tank cannot be removed from the boat in one piece, and so work will need to be conducted in situ and in a very confined space. Any advice on suitable solutions/products would be much appreciated. The last resort option is to install a new tank.
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If the tank is cracked then any form of repair with adhesive type products is likely to be a short term fix. Pinhole type corrosion problems can sometimes be dealt with using adhesives, but in most cases you cannot see the extent of internal corrosion.

Cracks that can be seen can in some cases be repaired with welding, but in cases of corrosion damage the best course of action is careful internal inspection, and then either external adhesive repair (Devcon products are very good) or replacement tank.

Another option is lining with plastic, but not sure that this is a service that is commercially available as yet, and currently seems only to be used on large scale industrial applications.
 
Diesel tank leakage

Many thanks Paul, Harry and Oldbiker for your replies. V useful. Am going to try the Epoxy resin stick having spoken to the suppliers yesterday. Fingers crossed!
 
If you want to try an adhesive repair I would forget about the stick type epoxy products, and take a careful look at what is available from Devcon. The instant type stick epoxies dont seem to stick as well as longer cure conventional epoxies, and not sure if they have metal loading, which increases strength?
 
Without prior internal inspection any type of fuel tank repair is very much a hit and miss affair, but this is pretty easy using a cheap USB camera on a flexible stalk,that are available on Ebay.
 
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