New fuel tank from where?

[YachtAllegro]

Hi

After an episode of the dreaded diesel bug I'm contemplating changing Allegro's fuel tank for a new one which I could keep clean more easily. Specifically, I'd like one with some sort of "sump" at the bottom in which water / sludge would collect, plus a tap on this sump to drain off any accumulated gunk from time to time. Suprisingly, this doesn't seem to be part of the design of tanks on a few of the more obvious supplier's websites that I've just looked at. Anyone any recomendations for something along those lines? It doesn't need to be large - current tank is 50l and never gets more than half empty in a season.

Cheers
Patrick

 

[prv]

Tek Tanks will make a custom one to whatever design you like, though you will pay for this flexibility.

Pete

 

[Tranona]

Would have to be custom made. As you have discovered most tanks use a dip tube that stops short of the bottom of the tank.

 

[pvb]

You won't find an off-the-shelf tank with a sump. But what you might do is fit an off-the-shelf tank at a slight angle, so that any water would collect at the lowest point. Then have a pick-up pipe going right down to this lowest point, with a little brass hand pump so you can suck any water and crud out on a regular basis. The engine's pick-up pipe obviously needs to be an appropriate length to avoid the bottom (say) 20mm of the tank.

 

[YachtAllegro]

Interesting. Fitting a tank at a slight angle seems a possibility. But I can't believe I'm the only person to have thought of this - why is some sort of crud-collecting sump not a standard feature, at least on more expensive tanks? Is there a disadvantage I've not thought of...

 

[prv]

I can't believe I'm the only person to have thought of this - why is some sort of crud-collecting sump not a standard feature, at least on more expensive tanks?

On both of our boats, there was no possibility for a sump because the tank sat directly on the hull. I think that's quite common.

Pete

 

[Tranona]

Interesting. Fitting a tank at a slight angle seems a possibility. But I can't believe I'm the only person to have thought of this - why is some sort of crud-collecting sump not a standard feature, at least on more expensive tanks? Is there a disadvantage I've not thought of...

Used to be a feature when fuel was dirtier than it is now and boats were shaped so that it was possible to fit a sump under the tank. Unfortunate you have experienced bugs but it is arguably uncommon and can be treated/prevented with a bit of care.