Replacing 90 gal. alum. fuel tank, where to buy?

TheRock

TheRock

Active Member
We have to replace our 90 gal. (340 liters) aluminum gas tank in our 22" walk around boat.. We got the tank out today.. it needs replacing. Where do we go to find a new one in Victoria ? The biggest stock tank we can find is 55 Gal. Alum tank from West Marine.. takes a week to order from California for $600. They also have a similar one in size in plastic.. Tried Trotac marine, they can only order the same size 55 Gal. Any one know of any other places in Victoria that sell larger size fuel tanks? Or have to get one custom built... any recommendations ? I was thinking Jenkins marine? Any advise greatly appreciated !
 
Why does the whole thing need repalaced???whats wrong with it?? my had 3 holes when I got mine and took it to a guy and he cut it out and patched over it.

All I know it was going to cost me a fortune to replace it

give me a call dan if you want more info.


Wolf
 
lifetimer boats in duncan will make custom ones, i had one done for my grady @ 200gallons.. not sure of the price but it had to be done.

also, just a thought; why dont you put in a 70 and a 20 or 60 and 30 for a main and auxillary/backup tank?

To fish or not to fish,
What a stupid question!
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish, and he will sit on a boat drinking beer for a life time :D
TGIF =Thank God It Floats
 
Our engine was completely cutting out running at "Wot" your traveling along and instally the motor shuts off... it would start up again no problem and run.. travel a bit more and it would just die out again.. its been happening allot lately.. defiantly a fuel restriction. We had the boat at S.G, they replaced a torn full pump diaphragm. They did not diagnose the problem for us. We pulled the tank out yesterday and found the problem, it was a clogged/stuck anti siphon valve at the top of the tank. The engine has been running with a restricted fuel flow.. wich in turned caused the fuel pump diaphragm in the engine to rip. Who knows what other strains/damage the engine had from a restricted fuel flow.

We got the tank out.. a good thing cause we have some floor board work to do at the same time.. we inspected the tank.. the out side has some aluminum pitting going on some places... Would feel more comfortable just throwing in a new tank and be done with it..

Where do you go to get it reconditioned? then all we need is to change the anti siphon value/feeder tube going into the tank. Such a small little piece can cause so much problems!
 
Well be prepared to pay for one then $$$$ if its not leaking and it just needs patch work thats your call but I personally would patch it then take every measurement and find someone to build one for you. run it for the summer as know this is the the most busiest time to get something built. at the end of summer when you have down time then change it.

Wolf
 
quote:Originally posted by wolf

Well be prepared to pay for one then $$$$ if its not leaking and it just needs patch work thats your call but I personally would patch it then take every measurement and find someone to build one for you. run it for the summer as know this is the the most busiest time to get something built. at the end of summer when you have down time then change it.

Wolf
Click to expand...

but remember if you patch it and then replace it your forking out money twice for a patch job and then the cost to make a tank again, and then you gotta remove the tank again, drain all the fuel again, take off the floor boards and everything again, seems much more efficient if not realistic to do it while its open and ready to go, and even if you cant use thr boat for a couple weeks your still saving a whole lot of time and work and effort for the longrun.
 
Yes it is a major job to get the tank in and out every time. We further inspected our tank, we did a pressure test, we laid it on some news paper and then filled the tank with water and left it for a few hours... we could find no leaks.. we have decided to re use the tank. Just learned there is a paint for aluminum, you polish the out side of the tank and then you paint it with this special paint. It prevents the aluminum from corroding and pitting. Looks like what we are going to do and replace the anti siphon valve. We took the gas tank feeder tube out and took the anti siphon valve apart, it was clogged with small debris. There is an in line filter in the fuel tank feeder house just below the anit siphon valve and it was 90% plugged. We did find lots of small debris in the tank when we drained the gas. Lesson learned ! check your fuel tank feeder in line filter and anti siphon valve !!!!!
 
I did the same thing Dan but I also got some of that thin Rubber trotac has and glued it to the whole bottom half of the tank so that no salt water oil etc would reach the alum tank and prevent the rubbing of the tank and put foam around it as well on the side I dont think it was going to move butdid it anyways better safe than sorry.

Nebarb my patch job was 50 bucks a new one was close to a grand so you can see why I went that way.I made the floor this time easy to get at a couple of screws and the whole thing lifts off. very easy to do bit of trim and it almost looks like a pro did it LOL LOL


Good luck Wolf
 
quote:Originally posted by wolf

I did the same thing Dan but I also got some of that thin Rubber trotac has and glued it to the whole bottom half of the tank so that no salt water oil etc would reach the alum tank and prevent the rubbing of the tank and put foam around it as well on the side I dont think it was going to move butdid it anyways better safe than sorry.

Nebarb my patch job was 50 bucks a new one was close to a grand so you can see why I went that way.I made the floor this time easy to get at a couple of screws and the whole thing lifts off. very easy to do bit of trim and it almost looks like a pro did it LOL LOL


Good luck Wolf
Click to expand...

Thanks Roy, our tank was sitting on 3 strips of rubber. Interesting though, underneath the rubber where the tank was sitting on that area had some corrosion. The rest of the tank was completely foamed in had almost no corrosion. It was big job to chip all that foam out around the tank. We have to re foam it now... do you know if Trotac sells that structure foam ? Or the cheapest place to get it ?

We're going to create a new access panel in the back so its easy to take out so we can service the in line tube filter in the gas tank every year.. before we had no access to it..
 
I totally did the whole tank just not strips as seen from prevoius systems as you just noted. Dont know if trotac has that foam but I am sure Industrial plastics will I think it is a 2 part if I remember correctly they have moved now if you didnt know!!!! they are right across from the BMW dealer ship on cloverdale just down from the harley davidson shop .

Wolf
 
quote:Originally posted by TheRock

Interesting though, underneath the rubber where the tank was sitting on that area had some corrosion. The rest of the tank was completely foamed in had almost no corrosion.
Click to expand...

Could be a couple of things Rock,

1. Rubber can cause a galvanic reaction with aluminum as rubber contains carbon which is reactive.

2. aluminum forms a natural protection on the surface and is quite durable by itself but needs to be kept dry or you can get "crevise corrosion" Thats where moisture is trapped with out oxygen. You don't want to bury the tank but have it breath. Getting wet is ok as long as it can dry. Coating it with some thing should be ok as long as moisture does not get trapped between the coating and alumn.

Heres an interesting link

http://marinesurvey.com/yacht/fueltank.htm#Crevice


fish.gif
 
quote:Originally posted by TheRock

Interesting though, underneath the rubber where the tank was sitting on that area had some corrosion. The rest of the tank was completely foamed in had almost no corrosion.
Click to expand...

Could be a couple of things Rock,

1. Rubber can cause a galvanic reaction with aluminum as rubber contains carbon which is reactive.

2. aluminum forms a natural protection on the surface and is quite durable by itself but needs to be kept dry or you can get "crevise corrosion" Thats where moisture is trapped with out oxygen. You don't want to bury the tank but have it breath. Getting wet is ok as long as it can dry. Coating it with some thing should be ok as long as moisture does not get trapped between the coating and alumn.

Heres an interesting link

http://marinesurvey.com/yacht/fueltank.htm#Crevice


fish.gif
 
Just don't let Five Star Marine in Comox do any work on your gas tank!

They totally screwed the pooch on a job in my old boat a couple of years ago.

The had a "custom built" tank put in the boat and it leaked from day one. I thought maybe it was residual gas in the bilge from the previous leaking tank they removed. Nope - it got worse, not better.

We had a guy rip the tank out and send it back to them. We discovered that they had not put fresh rubber down, they reused the old one which was ragged and in pieces.

They "repaired" the tank, we pressure tested it and it was "OK". In inspecting the tank, I noticed that the welds on the tank were horrible - they looked like a 14 year old kid in metalshop had done it! No wonder it leaked.

Put the tank back in and it was leaking withing two weeks!

When I suggested that they should bite the bullet and get Daigle in Campbell River to build a tank, Five Star responded by saying "that's not how warranty works."

So, how does warranty work when my boat blows up or catches fire and someone is killed? Just ask'n, is all.

Also, make sure whoever is building your tank is certified to build gas tanks for boats. I never did find out WHO built the tank, but I'm lead to understand it was someone in either Courtenay or Nanamimo.

Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
 
Just don't let Five Star Marine in Comox do any work on your gas tank!

They totally screwed the pooch on a job in my old boat a couple of years ago.

The had a "custom built" tank put in the boat and it leaked from day one. I thought maybe it was residual gas in the bilge from the previous leaking tank they removed. Nope - it got worse, not better.

We had a guy rip the tank out and send it back to them. We discovered that they had not put fresh rubber down, they reused the old one which was ragged and in pieces.

They "repaired" the tank, we pressure tested it and it was "OK". In inspecting the tank, I noticed that the welds on the tank were horrible - they looked like a 14 year old kid in metalshop had done it! No wonder it leaked.

Put the tank back in and it was leaking withing two weeks!

When I suggested that they should bite the bullet and get Daigle in Campbell River to build a tank, Five Star responded by saying "that's not how warranty works."

So, how does warranty work when my boat blows up or catches fire and someone is killed? Just ask'n, is all.

Also, make sure whoever is building your tank is certified to build gas tanks for boats. I never did find out WHO built the tank, but I'm lead to understand it was someone in either Courtenay or Nanamimo.

Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
 
I "thought" that fuel tanks had to be built to a specific standard and by someone who has the "compliance" stickers to place on the tank indicating who it was built by and that it complied/was tested to the relevent TC standard. My perception was that was why metal tanks were so expensive.... we've always built aluminun supports into our localy made boats for larger plastic bow/stern tanks to avoid the issue/expense.

True? or yet another myth I've been supporting?
 
I "thought" that fuel tanks had to be built to a specific standard and by someone who has the "compliance" stickers to place on the tank indicating who it was built by and that it complied/was tested to the relevent TC standard. My perception was that was why metal tanks were so expensive.... we've always built aluminun supports into our localy made boats for larger plastic bow/stern tanks to avoid the issue/expense.

True? or yet another myth I've been supporting?
 
Went to Trotac today, and they sell black Neoprene sheets, it looks like rubber but its not its Neoprene its what they recommend to put under your fuel tanks. I always thought it was rubber but its not.
Roy, I think you got the same stuff under your tank.. did you get it from Paul ? its not rubber.. its actually Neoprene. you glue it to the bottom of your tank and seal the edge after so water can never get in-between the aluminum and the neoprene and the neoprene won't corrode your aluminum like rubber does.

Took the old gas tank to Jenkins Marine to get looked at.. its only .09 thick aluminum with some deep pitting going on some areas.. was not worth to fix for a boat we are planning to keep for a long time... recommended me to Associated sheet metal where they build certified tanks.. went there and gave a better price than most places I tried so far.. with 1/8" (.125) thick aluminum they will use to make a new tank for us. If all goes well, next week we will have a new tank built.

Just learned there is a product called "Nyalic" its a clear coating for aluminum... I just bought a can of it to clear coat our new gas tank when we get it..
Spacecraft proven protection
.clear protective coating
.preserves metals
.highly corrosion resistant
.protects up to 10 years

I hear guys use it to clear coat the out side of aluminum boats..
sounds like a great product...
 
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