DHV90
Well-Known Member
Hello everyone,
My boat still has it's original 1981 mild steel fuel tank which holds 33 litres. It's very rusty on the outside, the filler pipe appears to weep slightly and despite it probably being ok Im constantly worried about it leaking and after an overfilling incident let some diesel out of the breather I've been more worried and bought a 22l plastic fuel tank to use as a back up and was looking for a bit of wisdom really. The original tank was built for the space, fills from deck and is all nicely fitted and with some time could probably be taken out, spruced up and put back, but after that its still steel with no inspection hatch and no gauge. The plastic tank was £35 and I would need £20 of fitting to fit it semi permanently, restoring the original tank would cost more and take way longer.
The options I was weighing up include:
1) rip out the old fuel tank, clean up the under seat storage area and then fit and plumb in the plastic tank. Bear in mind the deck filler cant be used with the plastic tank so the tank would either have to be taken into the cockpit to be fueled or carefully refueled with a 5l jerry can in situ under the saloon berth. It obviously vents through the lid as well and the smell is a concern but I cant work out whether the inconvenience of the filling situation would be manageable or extremely irritating and potentially dangerous?
2) find a way to fit both tanks, there is plenty of space on the boat that I could store the plastic tank somewhere in the forepeak and run a hose back to a Y piece before the filter or something with a switch so we have the main tank still and the auxillary plastic tank. This would also give me the option of easily removing the old tank over winter to spruce it up a bit before chucking it back in with a new filler hose
3) just use the old fuel tank and be careful not to overfill. I feel like this could be one of those things that I wish i never got started on! I know that there should be plenty of metal left on the metal tank that the rust is no serious problem, the filters always clean so the inside must be ok, but i always look at it and feel concerned! Should i just forget about it and carry on for a couple of years?
thanks in advance!
My boat still has it's original 1981 mild steel fuel tank which holds 33 litres. It's very rusty on the outside, the filler pipe appears to weep slightly and despite it probably being ok Im constantly worried about it leaking and after an overfilling incident let some diesel out of the breather I've been more worried and bought a 22l plastic fuel tank to use as a back up and was looking for a bit of wisdom really. The original tank was built for the space, fills from deck and is all nicely fitted and with some time could probably be taken out, spruced up and put back, but after that its still steel with no inspection hatch and no gauge. The plastic tank was £35 and I would need £20 of fitting to fit it semi permanently, restoring the original tank would cost more and take way longer.
The options I was weighing up include:
1) rip out the old fuel tank, clean up the under seat storage area and then fit and plumb in the plastic tank. Bear in mind the deck filler cant be used with the plastic tank so the tank would either have to be taken into the cockpit to be fueled or carefully refueled with a 5l jerry can in situ under the saloon berth. It obviously vents through the lid as well and the smell is a concern but I cant work out whether the inconvenience of the filling situation would be manageable or extremely irritating and potentially dangerous?
2) find a way to fit both tanks, there is plenty of space on the boat that I could store the plastic tank somewhere in the forepeak and run a hose back to a Y piece before the filter or something with a switch so we have the main tank still and the auxillary plastic tank. This would also give me the option of easily removing the old tank over winter to spruce it up a bit before chucking it back in with a new filler hose
3) just use the old fuel tank and be careful not to overfill. I feel like this could be one of those things that I wish i never got started on! I know that there should be plenty of metal left on the metal tank that the rust is no serious problem, the filters always clean so the inside must be ok, but i always look at it and feel concerned! Should i just forget about it and carry on for a couple of years?
thanks in advance!
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