Fuel Tank?????

[LCB]

Hello,

This might start a discussion. Is normal polyester resin fiberglass, (such as is ballast tank),resistent to gasoline?

Thank You,
Russ

[Randy Smith]

You are not thinking of using your ballast tank for fuel? Randy

[kmclemore]

Hello,

This might start a discussion. Is normal polyester resin fiberglass, (such as is ballast tank),resistent to gasoline?

Thank You,
Russ

NO. DO NOT USE GLASSFIBER FOR GAS TANKS. EVER.

Apart from the fact that the material is semi-porous to petrol, the material also gets slowly degraded by the solvents in petrol. But more importantly, unlike metal or polypropylene which will dent or give when impacted, glassfibre is hard and will shatter, leaving you with what what amounts to an explosion of fuel and if an ignition source is nearby, a rather large fireball.

[LCB]

Thinking about it.

I am now 66 years old, I have thousands of miles of sailing in my past. My boat has been on the trailer in the yard for almost a year while we built a house. Recently I have been working on it preparing to return it to the water, but I find that Sailing no longer seems so interesting, I still like the boat, but my body no longer wants the bother of sailing. To quote an old IBM slogan, Man was made to think, machines were made to work.

I never cared much for day sailing, when I put the boat in the water it is to go to a destination, often hundreds of miles away. The X offers the best combination of accommodations and trailer ability of any boat I have yet seen. It is far superior to any power boat of similar size and weight. Imagine how much more it would be with an economical engine and the ability to carry a hundred or more gallons of fuel with no loss of available interior room, or overloading. Now you could have a generator, and water maker, and both would weigh less then the weight savings of leaving the standing rigging behind.

I would not miss the mast, rigging and sails, half as much, as I would miss not using the boat.

Yup, thinking about it.

Russ

[ALX357]

boat with half-tank (85 gallons) would be unstable.

[LCB]

KMClemore,

Thank you. Our checks must have crossed in the mail. The Town that I live in here in Texas, boasts the second largest shrimp fleet in the country, so there is plenty of knowledgeable people. I spoke with three fellows who each claimed total and profound understanding of all things nautical, and fiberglass, unfortunately they disagreed with each other. Apparently there are plenty of boats using simple fiberglass tanks for diesel fuel. But no one knew for sure about Gasoline.

However you point out the only definite, (thus far), reason for considering not using the tank. It fractures not dents.

Perhaps a bladder???

Thank you again,

Russ

[waternwaves]

ALX,

IF the inside of the ballast tank was absolutely smooth, , a double layer hypalon fuel bladder (maintained on the vessel centerline) could be installed in the ballast void space during construction which would have fill necks run outside the hull. Water would then be introduced to maintain fill in the ballast. To meet CG reqs either a blower/vent double wall system would need to be employed or perhaps CG would go for Bilge vent fan ventilation and a hydrocarbon detection system tied in......

For my queen charlotte island trips I evaluated a bladder, but didn't like having it in the floor of the cockpit.

Me, I would double line the bladder and vent the fill line externally, But that much range.........heheheh with a 90 .........

such is the stuff cruising dreams and wallet nightmares are made of.......

[James V]

Has anybody put in permament SS tanks where the tanks are now with the flotation the removed?
Is there enough support?
Properly installed you should not need a blower.

[waternwaves]

James,

I have 2 18 gallon aluminum tanks in the existing locker spaces. deck covers under the vinyl seat cusions allow top access

A bit tight.....but having that all day full speed range is nice. 2 five gallon portables store nicely under the helm, for the dink and distant in town refilling.

Why would you want stainless (heavier ) over aluminum.(lighter).????

[Bobby T.-26X #4767]

i don't like the idea of 36 gallons of gas (256#...another Suzuki 50hp) on my "arse" end.
especially when trailering on that special "Roger Macgregor heavy duty, non-rusting" trailer (kidding, of course!).
that's too much weight for me.
and, if they're not removable/protable, you need the boat at the gas station to fill up.
i still choose 6 gal portable tanks.
and as many previos threads have shown, you can feasibly place 2 portables on each side of the helm...24 gallons total if needed.

TEMPO BRAND

NEPTUNE BRAND

i'm using the Neptune tanks and like the portability.
got them at ProBass Shops on-line.

[kmclemore]

I have a poly 18 gallon tank installed directly beneath the aft portion of the cockpit, in the center of the aft berth. There is an enclosure around it and it is vented to the outside air.

We never use that area for anything anyway - too hard to get to - and besides, it keeps my two sons from invading each other's "space", too!

You can see it in this picture:


Fill for the tank may be seen on the cockpit sole, just aft of the pedestal.


Leaves the two lockers free for holding propane bottles, the kid's deflated water toys, etc.

[waternwaves]

Nice thing about the large tanks tho............

ya dont have to fill them ........but it is there for my long cruises motoring trips.........

I only totally fill the second one if I know I am fairly sure to be out for a week or more.....

[Catigale]

My config is 12 gallon 'main tank' on the starboard side and a 6 gallon reserve on the port. On a cruise I sometimes carry a 5 gallon portable on the transom if I need to go get fuel, say on the NYS Erie canal.

I go back and forth about cutting and installing the deck plate in the seat to fill the 12 gallon tank, right now I fill it from the cockpit and connect the hose deep in the locker (a PITA) as the solution.

One thing I like about two tanks is the redundancy in case you get water in a tank, you have a quick way to deal with it.

I also purchased all the hoses and fittings to make a single action, one valve tank switch over system which I will put in this Thanksgiving.

[James V]

Dear Waterwaves, I had to go back and check "Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia Vol II" by Linda & Steve Dashew from Beowulf Press at www.setsail.com . (1200 pages, more than 2500 drawings and illustrations....good winter reading) They said that the Aluminum tanks was best. Stainless Steel has to be "heavy guage" in order to last a long time, but looks better and is heaver. Fiberglass is difficult to get tight enough to prevent minor leaks.
He also recomends that you should pressure test your system to 5 PSI and checks for leaks. Has anybody done this?
(please note that this is mostly in regards to diesel)

[Moe]

Pate Plastics has been manufacturing on-deck fiberglass gas tanks for small Boston Whalers for many years. I don't know the details about them, but know there are many in service.