Fuel In The Bilge
- Thread starter rajhnsn
- Start date
I had a similar problem in my old boat 1985 Ericson 30+. Traced all the fuel lines down and couldn't find anything. Decided to replace the Aluminum Tank, had no choice. Took it out and found a bad seam. This was a real project for a greenhorn. The old tank manufacturer was still around in Costa Mesa, CA. They still had the drawings of the tanks they made for Ericson and I lucked out. They fabricated one for 340.00 and that was that. I do not envy anyone having to replace a tank. The boatyard will charge you a fortune that is why I did it myself. Oday has a better placement for the fuel tanks than Ericson. I can attest to that.
One thing I added to my 28 was an electric fuel pump behind a racor filter. On the output side we added a T valve. This gives me the ability to scrub my own fuel. It's amazing how much crap I can remove from the fuel that way
I looked at adding a polishing system and a day tank but decided it was too much complexity and clutter. I mounted a pump and Racor 120 on a board and can pump the fuel into jerry cans to clean it then pump it back through the filter to put it back in the plastic tank. I also use this to fill the tank with new fuel in case of contaminated fuel at the dock.
Here's a couple shots of the cradle if it helps. I bonded it on the port side with some glass cloth and epoxy. On the starboard side it screws into the side the same way the old cradle did and also in the back. On the bottom I used shims shaped to the curvature of the boat to provide support and bonded those with epoxy.
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We let the old fuel tank sit outside for a few weeks. Eventually found a hole about 1/16th in the port, front lower just above the weld. Looks like it rusted through. There is clear evidence of the hole but it does not completely explain how the tank was able to hold half of its capacity for two months after the initial dumping of six gallons of fuel in the bilge. The only theory we have is that debris in the tank reclogged the hole. In any event the cradle for the new tank is installed and the new tank is ready for installation. The steering cable pulleys had to be removed and the cables needed to be detached from the steering quadrant. We plan to replace all hoses just to be sure there are no other leaks.
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The new tank is installed and fuel lines replaced. Just one question. The old tank had a red and black wire going from the fuel gauge that was installed in the tank. The red went to the underside of the fill opening and the black seems to go forward to the panel. Were these for grounding purposes or was the old gauge electric? Can I use these same wires for the new remote gauge? Why is the red connected to the underside of the fill opening? I guess that is actually 3 questions.
BTW: We used seat belt material anchored in the back of the tank connected to a 2 X 4 in the front. Threaded rod connected to the new frame under the tank was used to tighten the seat belts to hold the tank in place.
BTW: We used seat belt material anchored in the back of the tank connected to a 2 X 4 in the front. Threaded rod connected to the new frame under the tank was used to tighten the seat belts to hold the tank in place.
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The fill fitting at the deck is supposed to be grounded. This is in case of any static electricity that could cause a fire when the fill nozzle causes it to spark. I can't understand why they would use red wire though, 12 V DC by convention uses red as a hot wire. The tank is also required to be grounded, Maybe to save a little wire they used duplex and ran the red to the fill fitting and tied them both together at the tank then ran the black to the ground buss at the main electrical panel?
Interesting that you found your leak as a pin hole, very similar to my failure. New tank install looks solid.
Interesting that you found your leak as a pin hole, very similar to my failure. New tank install looks solid.