Fuel Capacity

A

allangray3

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 Apr 2006
Messages
80
Location
North East Lincolnshire
Visit site
I have a rotten fuel tank to replace this winter, Now I know choices Plastic ,GRP, S/S, . The thing I am wondering is what quantity of fuel should I Carry. I am running a Perkins 4108 and it burns about 2Lt per Hour, How many hours should I carry fuel for. Just costal for a couple of seasons but am hoping to do Med and possibly further in a few years.
 
Personally, I would fit the largest capacity tank that you have space for, and I would go for stainless.

Just my two pennarth worth.
 
same engine (although it burns more fuel), in the first boat I had we only had a 50l tank, and as the boat was used in the med for longish passages we motored a lot, so basically we brought along 3/4 additional jerrycans, 20l each, that makes around 120l, and never ran short of fuel

present boat with same engine has 150l, being mainly coastal this is decidedly too much, and as here there is more wind the engine is used a lot less, I reckon 60l would be enough not to worry every hour if the tank is empty or not; if we leave for more distant shores in the future, I reckon I ll stick with the present tank plus one or two 20l additional tanks, that should give around two days of motoring time and I probably would get crazy much earlier /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
Can I suggest a fuel gauge .... I fitted one last season - it is absolutely superb .... I can now gauge how much fuel I have left without having to empty half the stern locker and peer aimlessly at a visual level .....
 
You're consumption will rise dramatically once you get to sea. The 4108 was never a very economical engine so expect about 2.5 gallons per hour at full throttle and 1.5 cruising. about 8 litres per hour. Don't forget that a mild steel tank epoxy coated externally from new and kept topped up will last for years. Mine are over 20 years old and still in good condition.
 
Some authorities on the subject recommend mild steel for a diesel tank, only descaled on the inside but fully primed and painted on the outside. They say that the metallurgical composition of stainless steel is inevitably changed by welding, and prone to corrosion at the welds, which soon leak.
In ignorance of this, I had a new tank made in stainless (by a local firm specialising in catering equipment) early in 1990: it is showing some rust on the outside of the welds, but no trace of fuel weeping yet. Seventeen seasons so far: I'm keeping fingers crossed for a few more!
 
Would agree with Smiffy that the largest you can reasonably fit is ideal. The advantage isn't simply that you can motor more (who wants to?) or fill up less, so much as that it allows you to fill up only where convenient, at best price, and relieves you of the worry of where next to find fuel.

Wouldn't agree, however, with his bold and unqualified assertion that stainless steel is best. Nigel Calder rates plastic best, foillowed by GRP with S/S third and (for what it's worth) I'd go along with that.
 
A Faria Fuel Level Gauge from ASAP Supplies.... part code: FAR12802 with the appropriate length sender ...
Fitted at the same time as a tacho with hour meter - before we had no gauge on the engine at all - so it has been a massive improvement on last year!!
 
It depends a bit on your cruising style, but consider that in the Med (expecially the nicest areas) dockside refueling stations are relatively sparse, so you may have to sail (motor, actually... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) up to 2 or 300 miles between "convenient" fill-ups (my record last season has been 450 miles!).
 
Re: Fuel tank material

I would agree with Nigel Calder re material choice for fuel tanks.
We had two S/S tanks that came with the boat - they were both deep and narrow, as they fitted in the aft end of the long keel (one on top of the other).

Phoenix was only 7 years old when we acquired her, and we found that the bottom tank was leaking, so we hoiked both of them out - and found large areas of the bottom tank eaten away where it had been sitting in the inevitable puddle of water in the bottom of the keel sump.

So we discarded this tank, and I built a greenheart support plinth to put in the keel, to support the top tank at the same level. This means we only have one installed tank now, with a capacity of 20 gallons, for a Volvo 2003T, but we can always carry more fuel in jerry-cans if necessary.

The top tank still seems to be in reasonably good condition.
However we also have a S/S water tank (about 40 gallons) under the cabin sole, sitting on top of the keel, and it has gone porous- again! I had all the seams re-welded a few years ago, as it was leaking like a colander (all the tanks were built in 1991) along the seams, and that worked well, but I suspect that we are now getting crevice corrosion under the tank (I have not taken it out yet - that will be a job to do next Sunday I think).

I am going to either get a plastic tank 'welded' up in Trinidad to the same dimensions as the S/S water tank, or make a fibreglass one.

S/S is a wonderful material, but it does have its limitations, especially when there is potential for crevice corrosion to occur.
 
Wasn't either a bold or what makes you think unqualified? assertion, I was simply saying what I would go for myself /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Well, I have only about 40 years seagoing experience, so you might be right? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
I had a plastic tank in a previous boat, and it was translucent. With red diesel, I didn't need a gauge: just took a quick shufti at the tank and I could see immediately how full it was.

Nicholas Hill

www.channelpilot.info
 
I have a plastic 220 lit tank to feed an engine in a cruiing vessel that requires about 3 lit per hour. This is quite sufficient for all my needs, giving me a range of 70 odd hours, and importantly, permitting refuelling at lower cost bunkering sites.

You might be tempted to divide your capacity into two tanks - one larger one for working and the other reserve in case of contamination. They could be linked and also piped independently to the lift pump. This could have advantges, depending on your layout and type of cruising; Medi refuelling conditions are not that bad but you could go belt and braces, so to speak! Be sure to have indepndent fuel filters in line to make the most of this arrangement.

PWG
 
Re: Fuel Capacity (Re: PeterGibbs)

good morning to all !

pls can you you give more details of your tank (type, producer & etc) as i am also planning to change my tank with plastic one !

my old tank was a regular 200 l steel drum, but after 30 years in service, give up and commence leaking !

is the plastik tank sufficiently strong to sustain the sloshing of the liquid during the bad weather, when the tank is 1/2 or 1/3 filled ?

thanks and brgds
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top