fuel tanks

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hollandd

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has anyone had any experience of alluminium fuel tanks, i have been offered one to replace the mild steel one on my boat.
i ask this as on a previous engine the alloy washers on the fuel line connections were pitted when i looked at them after a couple of years.
barneyboy poole
 
I built an aluminium fuel tank [petrol!] for a Folkboat I had a few years ago, it was around 40l capacity. Worked out fine, I bonded it to the boats anode bonding system [static discharge protection]. Also, it never showed any sign of crack fatigue problems. My son also has an ali tank in a competion autotest car, it is rubber mounted. However people will advise against it due to the potential problem of fatigue failing, and probably for this reason I would always go for s'steel, this is what I have in my present boat. Would avoid mild steel. Providing not too large, cost should not be too bad. Good luck!
 
AFAIK, as long as you do not connect anything steel to it, or not where any immersion is possible, you should be ok. Surely, the trick would be to NOT bond it, and isolate it with the plastic tubes. Use plastic connectors as long as they will not be subjected to any loading, accidental or otherwise.
 
Had a boat with Ali tank for over 10 years. Tank was bonded to the boat's earthing system and mounted directly to GRP. No problems at all.
 
A scientist friend of mine was asked to find why an aluminium diesel tank had failed in a newish boat. He found particles of carbon in the tank from contaminated fuel. Graphite(carbon) and aluminium are far apart in the galvanic series and rapid corrosion had occurred.
 
If it is a diesel tank and you get the dreaded bug Cladisporum Resinae this bug corodes aluminimum aircraft tanks dramatically. So check for ibnternal corrosion on the bottom and be vigilant about water trapped at the bottom.
While I am waffling. The standard for light aircraft requires a min. .5% of total capacity water trap. This is a portion of the tank which can be thoroughly drained but can not be drained by the engine fuel system. This is usually a dimple in a flat bottom of about 1/2 litre capacity with a drain valve or tube while the engine pickup is a little above the bottom. It seems like a good standard for a boat too.
A narrow Vee bottomed tank will give better access to the fuel when it is low level but when heeled or in rough water.
olewill
 
Just a small point but almost all fuel tanks on trucks are Ali these days especially the "over-load" or long range tanks.
3 years ago I had the local truck tankman make me a Ali tank for our club rib - 100 ltrs and is still perfect.

Peter.
 
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