Fuel tank leak

[TNLI]

Is that a section of loose insulation

No idea, but there are only 3 main ways of fitting a fuel tank. Firstly it could have brackets thru bolted or even welded if the hull is a metal one, the tank or tanks also have straps as do most plastic ones, OR all of the sides apart from the top have one or two part foam sprayed into the gap between the hull and the tank.

 

[petem]

Any news Bouba?

 

[petem]

Where's @Bouba he's gone very quiet?

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Where's @Bouba he's gone very quiet?

He's having the piss taken out of him on discord. He's put some more diesel in the tank and says he is going to pressure test it, maybe in a week or two if past performance is anything to go by.

 

[steveinnice]

He's having the piss taken out of him on discord. He's put some more diesel in the tank and says he is going to pressure test it, maybe in a week or two if past performance is anything to go by.

what's this "discord" that keeps getting mentioned?

 

[Fr J Hackett]

what's this "discord" that keeps getting mentioned?

A better place where Mike can vent his spleen over things we mustn't mention here and we can all take the piss out of Bouba and his milk float.

 

[steveinnice]

A better place where Mike can vent his spleen over things we mustn't mention here and we can all take the piss out of Bouba and his milk float.

Don't know Mike but I hope he's not the one I wound up on the " brown trouser moment" thread.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Don't know Mike but I hope he's not the one I wound up on the " brown trouser moment" thread.

No he's banned from here.

 

[stelican]

A better place where Mike can vent his spleen over things we mustn't mention here and we can all take the piss out of Bouba and his milk float.

Apt description

 

[Bouba]

They'll say undue stress caused by the passarelle DIY installation caused it

My passerelle was installed to Lloyds of London Navy Standard

 

[Bouba]

Alright guys…I’m back…
I took some time out to study for a French exam…I just got a little lost on the way back and ended up on the Discord forum ?…but I managed to extricate myself from there.. and here I am ???

 

[Bouba]

After pumping out exactly half a litre of diesel from the bilge every day for a long time…it stopped ! With about 200 litres left in the tank.
So I then did a pressure test

Many of you probably have these at home…what you may not realise is they are for bunging up drain pipes

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Tell us more. In French if you wish

 

[Bouba]

I used them to seal up the filler pipe.
You probably can spot the deliberate mistake… the small inlet in the bottom of the filler compartment is actually a drain overboard. I didn’t know this at the time so bunged it up as a precaution

 

[Bouba]

Using clamps and connecting outlets to inlets with hoses I sealed the tank as best I could

 

[Bouba]

Then I used a pump that could be set for very low pressure

 

[Bouba]

The result was pretty good…it held pressure quite well…so unless it is just the tiniest of holes…I decided to add fuel…very slowly, 10 litres at a time.
And that is where I am right now..I’m having a small weekend city break and when I return I will check if there is any diesel in the hull. If yes..then it’s a definitive result..a holed tank.
If the bilge is dry I will keep adding fuel 10 litres at a time …

 

[julians]

The result was pretty good…it held pressure quite well…so unless it is just the tiniest of holes…I decided to add fuel…very slowly, 10 litres at a time.
And that is where I am right now..I’m having a small weekend city break and when I return I will check if there is any diesel in the hull. If yes..then it’s a definitive result..a holed tank.
If the bilge is dry I will keep adding fuel 10 litres at a time …

If it's dry after adding all fuel,then what could have caused the deisel in the bilge?

 

[Bouba]

If it's dry after adding all fuel,then what could have caused the deisel in the bilge?

There was some weeping from where the fuel enters the engine and returns to the tank. I nipped it up and it was bone dry….it maybe possible that in fact it dumped a huge amount of fuel and that somehow secreted itself somewhere in the boat and just seeped it slowly into the bilge…..
Unlikely I know but I am clutching at straws…anything than remove the tank

 

[Mistroma]

It seems like a time-consuming method of not confirming the source of the problem. It might leak because you didn't seal something perfectly (hose, vent, etc.).

It would have taken much less effort to simply removed the hoses many weeks ago. If the leak stopped then you only had to add some fuel to see if it started again. No leak at this point would mean it wasn't the tank.

At least you can compress the timeframe now as any leak will be much faster when the tank is pressurised. I would still have removed the hoses before starting. Bending, squeezing and so forth might damage them and they might still be leaking for all you know. Total isolation removes that problem completely and it should be simple to seal the open pipes (e.g. Short length of hose with clamp).