New fuel tanks

[GregS]

After having my starboard fuel tank rupture while heading out to Cypress Island, it became quite clear that 50 years is too long to trust the old fiberglass tanks. So, yesterday I took my starboard tank up to Bellingham at Coastline Equipment and ordered two new aluminium tanks. They are using my old tank as a template for the new tanks. If you have a 1959 Skagit with the saddle tanks and are looking to replace yours, I suggest you call them and order two more tanks using my template. The cost is $360 each tank. You can reach them @ 360-734-8509. May seem expensive but I will be able to simply put the new tanks in place, screw them in and hook up the hoses and I will be ready to go. Moeller makes great plastic tanks but they do not have the connections in the right places and they don't do custom orders. I think the Moeller tanks were about $230 before the customizing you will have to do. By the way, my tanks were not glassed in place as one might suspect. They were simply resting against a frame and were screwed into place by a total of 4 small screws. Took me ten minutes to remove them.

Greg Jr.

[sparks]

tanl\k

my 58 17 skagit would they be the same size

[GregS]

I don't think they are the same. Mine are 20 plus gallons each. Look at them and if you can measure the length. I think mine are 65 inches long and taper from about 8 inches to approximately 2 inches at the bottom. I know that Jeff Ault's tanks hold the same amount but are different shape on his 1958 20 footer.

Greg Jr.

[Scott McDade]

Darn it all

I'm a little envious of your custom tanks, Greg. They sound perfect. I ended up ordering Moeller 18 gallon side tanks from Overtons; paid about $175 each, but then I also had to get connection hardware (everything on Fran's 20 was badly in need of replacement - hoses, deck fills, etc., so there was no getting around those expenses.) But as you point out, the fill fitting isn't in the right place so I'll have to move the deck fills about a foot forward, leaving a 2" hole to patch. The other thing that has me concerned about the polyethylene tanks is that I think they'll need to be covered with a side wall or box of some type. They just seem too vulnerable to rupture if they got hit with something heavy and sharp. Aluminum seems like a better solution in that regard, too. There was no attachment system on our old fiberglass tanks. They were just tabbed in, but the tabs were really brittle and no problem to remove. So, I assume I'll be re-tabbing the polyethylene tanks - will that work, I wonder? Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and install these Moeller tanks, and hope I'm not sorry I didn't send 'em back and order from your supplier. Another $400? Heck, it's only money.

[mikekronick]

Seems to be fuel tank season. Scott, tell Fran the tanks are on their way as she ordered me to do. I got two 24 gal. hoping that will keep me going for an hour or two. I'm shooting for weekend after this to have every thing up and running. We might be able to make an event for a change.
Mike and Judy

[ChuckB]

Polyethylene does not have as much of a problem with condensation, ie. water in the fuel, as the metal tanks can. And they are non-conductive. Two advantages...
ChuckB

[GregS]

Scott, the Moeller are supposed to be quite stout and are not supposed to bulge out. Having never used their tanks I cannot comment on that. My aluminium tanks will have an internal baffle to cut down on the sloshing around. Chuck is correct about the condensation but I have a battleship sized Racor filter in line so I don't worry too much about the water.

Greg J.

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Fiberglass tanks rupturing!

Can you be a bit more specific about your tanks rupturing? What exactly failed?
I kept the two fiberglass saddle tanks in the Saratogan. They are 7 feet long and 16 inches high. One had old gas sitting in it for 20 years. The other was dry. I cut 4" holes in the top between the baffles and went in and cleaned them.

Put in new senders and withdrawal tubes and glassed up the access openings.
I always pressure test fuel tanks. About 4.5 to 5 psi for alumium tanks. The fiberglass tanks would only take 1.5 psi and the were bulging with that pressure. Did hold though.

Some time later after installation I again pressure tested them and one tank didn't hold. Went to all the trouble to pull the tank back out only to find I'd left the drain plug out!

Scott mentions tabbing. Has been my experience on the Saratogan that all the tabbing needs to be replaced. All tabbing is considered secondary bonds and they arn't very good and as Scott mentions are easily torn out.

Tim

[Skagitguy]

Tim, I replaced the 1959 Dorsett Tempo ( they had Dorsett printed on the tanks , but whoever saw that behind the wall ? ) 18 gals Tempo 25 gal with new longer range tanks as one of them had rupture coming over the mountains from California. As you can see Marty & Joe built "boxes" for the two to seat in. No bulging problem with these...thicker walls. I think i got in at the tail end before Tempo went out of business. The grey 3" PVC pipe up above is for the controls etc. Chuck

[GregS]

Tim, mine developed a series of small holes on the bottom. The new gas eats away at the old fiberglass and after time...they leak...a lot apparently and real sudden! It was very scary as I had gas in the bilge area. I switched off the bilge pump, don't want any spark action! Anyway, I noticed the portside tank has a small stain developing so I am replacing that one too. The aluminium tanks should do quite well. If you have any suspicions of a leak developing then replace them. It was like driving a bomb. Since I had no tow back to the dock I jammed the throttle forward, thus violating the 7 mph rule on the slough. At 7 mph it would have taken me almost a half hour to get there. At 35 mph the trip was a lot quicker. Hopefully I didn't upset anyone but this was an emergency.

Greg Jr.

[Dick Dow]

Tanks - Et Al

Tim,

I'm not sure how the diesel will react with the glass tanks, but the new gas eats them alive.

I've been toying with the idea of cutting the hull-side of my old tanks in the Skagit and having new inserts welded up to fit inside them, or - finding a bladder tank that would work.

I managed to keep them working for about three years with a thorough cleaning and application of Gluvit on the inside, but they are breaking down again, so it's time to give up and do something more permanent.

Adventures!

Dick

[Charlie]

Greg, I'm interested in getting tanks using your work order and exact pattern. They will go in a Skagit 20' Express that Marty will rework for me. I called Coastline and without your last name or the work order # they could not locate your order. Can you help me? Call, eee or reply please. Thanks for your help.

Charlie Johns
West Richland, Wa.
509-554-0984
hardinglake@yahoo.com

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Tanks, Tanks, Tanks...

Charlie -

It's Greg Silcox.

Scott McDade -

I would advise against trying to tab in the new plastic tanks with fiberglass tape--it just won't work, since the tanks will expand slightly when filled, probably breaking the tabs. (And the glass cloth won't stick well to plastic anyway.) Better to fit the plastic tanks into a semi-loose box structure, keeping them in place but allowing for a slight bit of expansion/contraction. When filled, and especially when temperatures rise, the plastic tanks will swell sideways and expand about 4% overall in size...so you don't want to hold them in place rigidly.)

One idea, when boxing in plastic tanks, is to insert some strips of foam rubber around the sides, between the box structure and tanks--something that can squish in slightly when the tanks expand, and keep them from rattling around when semi-empty.

- Marty

[Charlie]

Thanks, Marty I will call them again on Monday.
Charlie

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

3M Fuel Tank Coating

3M makes a fuel tank coating. Is made primarily for steel tanks, but will work on any tank material. Is called Tank Clad. Paint it on the inside of tanks, so will require access ports be cut in the top. The Saratogan saddle tank that had gas in it for 20 years had gelcoat damage in the bottom. These tanks were made over a male mold, and were orange gelcoat inside. I epoxyed the interior where there was gel coat damage. I've had diesel fuel in them since december and so far do leaks. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I think the problem with the original fiberglass tanks starts with the cracking of the gel coat. Then gas seeps into the fibers and works it's way through over time. I don't know how thick the 20 footer saddle tanks are, but the Saratogan saddle tanks are pretty thin and as I mentioned above could only take 1.5 psi. Tank clad could be a cost effective fix, but I like the idea of new custom aluminum tanks bolted in.