Diesel tank material

[irwinsailor]

I will continue to look into changing the use of this tank, but what do you folks think about the idea of carring about 500 gallons of fuel? If you could would you if you were going cruising to many yet unknown places?

I will have to keep track of your voyage. It can be a real benefit to know where a super tanker is when supplies get low
Personally, I do not think it is an unreasonable amount of fuel, especially if you intend to traverse places that require allot of motoring, such as the ICW, and the San Juans. However, if you do not plan to do much motoring, you will have all this fuel sitting in your tanks for a long time. I could think of quite a few things that I could add to the boat within that weight catagorie. I would also consider using it for fresh water before I would diesel.

[irwinsailor]

Fresh water should not be a issue. We carry about 250 gallons and we have a 700 GPD watermaker. Carring extra fuel will have the benefit of not needing to buy where it costs more for fuel.

Nope, it sounds like water will not be a problem. Again, if you plan to burn that much fuel, it is reasonable to have it. My intention is to use the engine as little a possible. In fact, that is one of the concerns I have about moving to a trimaran, as I am under the impression that I will have to motor sail more often to get upwind.

[irwinsailor]

I do motor much more than I would like to. It does seem that when we want to go somewhere there is no wind or the wrong wind etc. When we become fulltime sailors then we can just wait for better winds.

[irwinsailor]

I made contact with the tank builder!! Now it will be just wait and see what he thinks.

[GordMay]

There’s some interesting comments on Polyethylene & Fibreglass Fuel Tanks in the USCG Boating Safety Circular 79 (April ‘97) article - “There are NO Maintenance-Free
Metallic Fuel Tanks”
Goto: http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/pdfs/BSC79.pdf
Specifically page 4, FRP & PE Tanks

[irwinsailor]

Are there any tests that I can make on this tank that will help me to make a decision. The tank builder has not yet replied .

[irwinsailor]

I have received word from the tank builder. The tank is baffeled. He does not think that the fitting area any good for fuel . and I should pressure test it for several days at 5 lbs presure. He said what I thought I would need to do only I would have pressure tested to more like 25lbs. That could have been a problem.

[NoTies]

Hi Gunner, yep, 25 lbs could have been interesting. Pressure testing will give extremely varied results with any change in temperature so make sure you take the last reading at the same temperature as the first with a good "soak" time if there has been significant temperature change. This variation will be a lot greater if you are performing a hydrostatic tets (tank full of fluid with small air gap). You will be trying to establish 2 things, watertight integrity and structural integrity. To test for watertight integrity it is not necessary to pressurise, simply fill with water for 3 days and observe leakage/level. Structural integrity can be better tested over a shorter time by filling with water, leaving a small air gap and pulsing from 0-5 lbs repeatedly. I would suggest approaching it cautiously and using a specialist.
Pete

[Alan Wheeler]

I have a mate that works for AirNZ. They were filling a plane with oil from a 44Gal drum. They normally have a pressure regulator set at 3PSI to blow the tank and force the oil out. They had a young apprentice helping. The apprentice had plugged the high pressure line directly into the drum fitting. He was standing there on the deck of the truck with air hose in one had and the other on the Drum, looking strangly puzzled as all the others were running away from the area.