Help please with batt box and pet tank placement regs.

[tat]

Hi, I'm a beginner with all this. Have bought a cabin cruiser with outboard, 22 feet, and doing it up from shell. Enjoying it very much. I have got the 90-page boat safety certificate to refer to, but I am a little unclear about petrol and battery storage to comply with the regulations.

I am using sealed batteries, so can I just put them in the metal battery box and place it on the deck, or have to have it raised so that it can drain overboard if they leak, because these are the sealed type?

Secondly, re. the petrol. Well, is this the same thing, does it need to be contained in some kind of box and with drain to outside? I will be using a typical outboard tank, portable, with the fuel guage, etc. Now does this tank need to be in a container so it can drain to outside if it leaks?

There is a superb place for it in the little alcove at the back of the boat next to the outboard, and this place has a shelf moulded at the time of the boat. The wooden door has rotted away, but it is a great shelf, and it has a drain hole to outside. It would be ideal to place the petrol tank, but it is only about five inches high on one side. Would I have to build this up and plastic line it to above the height of the tank.

I'm thinking that it should b ok, but i just don't know.

Please help if you can. If I haven't made myself clear enough then please ask me for more info.

Cheers, etc.........

[Old Snipe]

Portable tanks only need to be strapped down securely.

Batteries also need to be secured. Batteries do not have to be in a box per say, but I would advise you to do so. The terminals should also be protected with covers. Modern marine batteries are sealed a lot better they used to be, but having a nice housing for them is always a plus.

I am removing my on board fuel tank over the winter and replacing it with a portable fuel tank. My Islander has a huge lazarette that gives me a lot of options for locating a tray for a portable tank.

[Draikhyan]

Originally Posted by tat

I am using sealed batteries, so can I just put them in the metal battery box and place it on the deck, or have to have it raised so that it can drain overboard if they leak, because these are the sealed type?

It's fine to place the box on deck and i wouldn't worry about leakage, but make sure it and the batteries inside are firmly secured. The reason batteries should be placed in a box is to a) prevent fireworks because a metal object was accidentally dropped on the battery poles and b) to prevent the batteries from becoming wet causing them to drain.

Secondly, re. the petrol. Well, is this the same thing, does it need to be contained in some kind of box and with drain to outside? I will be using a typical outboard tank, portable, with the fuel guage, etc. Now does this tank need to be in a container so it can drain to outside if it leaks?

1) The tank should be secured. A strap should suffice. 2) Since it's gasoline make sure no fumes can build up, so keep it out in the open or place it in a ventilated bun. 3) Spilled gasoline or diesel cause a deck to become very slippery.

[tat]

Thank you both very much for that info. Just what I wanted to hear. Things are quickly taking shape in all departments of the job, and the project is coming together before my eyes, and I'm really happy with it.

Another thing. I'd recorded a tv programme, 'Britain on Film', just bits of newsreel and home movie from the 50s 60s 70s. This guy is shown launching his pleasure cruiser, about 20 ft. He has his wife and two young kids with him. He stops the car next to the canal bank (not a slipway in sight), unhitches the single axel trailer and runs it up to a brick by the bank edge which the wheel runs up against, and then he simply tips up the trailer and nudges the boat with his shoulder to launch it into the water, with a fair bit of a splash. The wife and kids are holding ropes to halt it. The canal was a place where it was a bit wider than usual, as you can see quite often. And that was it, off they went.

It makes a lot of sense to me. I want to trailer this boat about a bit. It has got me thinking about launching and how interesting and fun it can be. It was so simple, just tipped it up and in it crashed, like a lifeboat launch down the ramp.

What would be your reservations about taking this approach, and what would you consider if you was going to launch in such a way....or maybe you have launched like that?

[sailorboy1]

and here I always thought the purpose of battery boxes was to PREVENT leakage (i.e. to contain spills)