Fuel Tank

The tank that I took out of my boat was a 5 gallon cruise-a-day tank, full of diesel and had sat for 7 years.  It was so thin in some spots I didn't dare breathe on it when taking it out.  It was sitting on the plywood shelf in the port locker, not even strapped down or anything.  Went halfway around the world like that.  I'm going to reinstall a similar setup, but I'm going to use a 3 gallon plastic tank, strap it down and vent it.  I'm not going to install a deck fill, cause the less holes the better.  If I ever get a jag of bad fuel, it's not an ordeal to remove and clean the tank.....

I also had an old filler on the deck but did not use it. The tank comes up the the top of the locker. There is a very short 2" dia tube welded to the top of the tank and has a screw top on it. It just clears the seat hatch. To fill, just open and fill. This is legal every place I have been, but if you fall asleep while filling, the overflow goes into the boat rather than on the deck and then overboard. For a fuel guage, I open the fill hole and look down or put a wooden dip stick in. My tank is made from stainless, but I have since read that it will not last as long as aluminum of the correct thickness. I did not worry about expansion, but I never fill it to the last inch. The vent line goes up to the inside top of the cockpit coaming and then to the stern. So it is long and gives some more volume for expansion before overflowing overboard. I have never had a problem with spillage.

This is something I learned the hard way causing me no end of trouble after building and installing tanks in my last boat.If you do put an external vent in it should at all points be at least 30 degrees from the horizontal as fuel or water can fill the pipe creating a mysterious air lock that could stall your engine,even a big one when enough vacumn builds up.If fluids can stand in the vent pipe you will get airlocked.The more vertical the better.Amazing how something so seemingly trivial could shut you down.

Good day John!

Because of the Petter diesel it sounds like your boat is of the same vintage as mine, so perhaps my boat's set up will help you.

I currently have a Tempo 11 gallon tank that lives in the port-side cockpit locker.  This tank is a replacement and I recently discovered was poorly fitted -- instead of resting on its plywood base it sits on one of its corners pressed hard against the hull of the boat -- a situation that is neither good for the boat nor for the tank.

Based on the dimensions, I believe that the original tank on my boat was a similarly sized tank by Vetus.  Its rounded corners would have made it a much better fit.  Unfortunately Vetus tanks carry a Vetus price tag which is probably why the Tempo was used as the substitute. 

The good news is that I bought a 5.5 gallon Vetus tank on E-Bay over the winter.  Since I am lucky if my boat consumes more than a gallon a season, this will be sufficient for my purposes and if I can mount it in the main engine compartment then I free up a cockpit locker to boot!

Perhaps my old Tempo tank would be of interest to you?  Unfortunately shipping a smelly fuel tank will be a problem so unless you are close to Montreal...

Cheers!

Christopher

Question, what does everyone have for fuel tank size.  Mine is 20 or 25 gals and takes up the whole starboard cockpit locker.  The fill pipe has very little room and actually curves back up  a little before going into the tank.  To my surprise, the fuel in it is at least 3+ years and there is still a 1/4 tank left.  I was wondering if I should pull this one and put in a smaller tank.  Thoughts or comments.  Thanks, jklee