fuel tank removal

R

Rob Cheshire

.
Oct 30, 2019
34
Thanks everyone for all the help with the teak glue and cleat
measurements. Now, I have another dilema. How do you remove the fuel
tank (vega # 2766) located in the keel? I would like to check it for
leaks and possibly replace it. Any suggestions for replacement?
Cheers,
Rob and Lou Anne Cheshire
Isis # 2766
 
M

mphalv

.
Sep 29, 2001
195
Why remove it? Do you see or smell fuel int the bilges. I once found the
fuel intake hose rotted and leaking fuel. I would check hoses and clamps
before pulling the tank. Or open the top plate, oump the tank dry and
inspect from the inside. Mechanic inspection mirrors work very well in this
type of situation because the hose had rotted under the cabin floor.
 
R

ronbodkin

.
Oct 30, 2019
77
Hey all,
I wanted to revisit this old thread. I planned to take on this task
this past weekend but I ended up taking my 19 month old son with me
and couldn't do the work. I did at least, look at it after he went
to bed, and have a few questions.

1) there are three fuel lines coming out of the top of the round
plate, and i can't think of why there would be three. One may be
the line, the other a vent and the third? One seems to have a small
valve on top.

2) One of the connectors for the tubes is right over top of one of
the small screws that hold the plate on so I can't take the screws
out to remove the plate. I guess my only other option is to remove
all three lines from the other end at whatever they are attached to.

3) when you removed the tank did you remove the large filler hose at
the other end first? Otherwise I can't see how you would pull the
tank.

4) Are you sure this thing will come out after i do all that? it
looks like an awefully small hole in the cabin floor for that big
tank. Are your batreries mounted in the floor too?The reason I want to do this is that, like a nuckle head, I pulled
the hose off the Bilge pump which is under the tank so now I have no
automatic bilge pump.

This concerns me since I may be having the stuffing box woes
emerging, and no automatic means of getting rid of the water could
be a very bad combination.

Any help would be appreciated

Ron
V2751
 
M

marcin_palacz

.
Jan 17, 2005
99
Hi,

A week ago I tried to remove the fuel tank from the bilge
of my type II Albin Vega (V1958, 1973) and I failed!

Only now I have found the description of
the tank removal procedure, announced on this list two years ago
It turns out that I tried to do less or more the same,
but it did not work.

Looking at the picture
it seems to me that in my boat the inspection plate
is located somewhat higher than in V1639 Voilla.
I mean there is less space between the
upper edge of the inspection plate and the cabin sole.
(this is just an impression, I can not be sure).

Anyway, when I try to hoist the forward part of the tank,
it does not go out, because the inspection collar gets
blocked against the cabin sole (it is located too high!).
So I never reach the situation shown in the picture

I actually removed the plumbing plate, so I should have more space
than shown in the pictures, but it is not enough.

I tried to look beneath the tank, and it seems that
it stands on something, which looks like an empty
metal (brass?) box. The box is light - I can slightly
move it (reaching it with a stick).
Is it normal to have such a box in the bilge, below the tank?

Any suggestions how to perform better with the tank
removal next time I go to the boat?

Thanks in advance,

Marcin

V1958 "Lotta"
Gdańsk/Warszawa, Poland
 
D

deltavol

.
Oct 31, 2019
4
Hi Martin,

I removed my fuel tank from Mk 2 Billy Ruff'n, V1750, about 4 years ago.

I remember it was difficult to manoeuvre it out, until I detached the filler tube at the deck filler end. That gave me some more room to pull the tank up and back as the filler tube came with it. The tank came far enough back to get at the filler tube and get it off the tank. The tank came out fairly easily after that.

Good luck,

John
 
S

stevebirch2002

.
Nov 8, 2001
1,818
It is helpful to have the boat out of the water when you remove the tank as the sides of the keel flex inward under water pressure making a tight fit worse.

Mike Freeman (Chairman VAGB)
 
P

pjacobs55

.
Oct 30, 2019
1,459
I recall reading somewhere ... maybe on this forum .... that the tank
comes out easier if the boat is out of the water. Something about
there being no water pressure slightly squeezing the keel sides
against the tank?
Peter
#1331 'Sin Tacha'
 
P

pjacobs55

.
Oct 30, 2019
1,459
I knew I'd read it here !!!
Seriously though, it was mentioned many moons ago ... just struck me as
a bit weird. Maybe applying a vacuum to the tank would collapse the
sides a bit and help?
Peter
#1331 'Sin Tacha'
 
M

marcin_palacz

.
Jan 17, 2005
99
Thanks for all the suggestions on how to remove the tank.

The boat is out of the water, the tank is empty.
The tank can be moved a bit back an forth,
lifted 20 cm or so, but it does not come out.
The metal plate covering the inspection hole
is removed, as well as all the pipes, i.e.
there is no metal part attached to the tank,
it's just plastic.
The log is of course removed, the batteries as well.

Nobody commented on what one should find beneath the tank,
in the bilge. A metal box, or a support, which the tank
is standing on, is that normal?

Is it possible that any stuff beneath the tank somewhat
moved in the bilge, in the way that it restricts
the tank movements, and makes it impossible to lower
the aft part of the tank, which is necessary to avoid
the collison of the inspection collar with the cabin sole?

How about bilge pump pipes? Perhaps they block
the tank movements somewhat? I have two of them.

Marcin
V1958, "Lotta"
Gdansk/Warszawa, Poland
 
A

albinvega1493

.
Dec 15, 2006
139
I pulled mine out a year and a half back, but I don't remember any
problems. I did have to remove the log sensor and the hoses from
the back. I also removed the plate off the top, and that allowed
the top of the tank to give a bit on the sides. Mine had a U shaped
fiberglass channel about 6 inches high underneath that it was
sitting on. As I recall, I let the back of the tank drop down as
far as it could, slid the tank forward (the keel gets wider the
farther forward you move, and then pulled it out at a 45 degree
angle or even steeper. I had two large bilge pump hoses in the back
of the keel, but they didn't seem to interfere with the removeal of
the tank. If you don't want to fight gravity, you could try filling
the bilge with water and the upward pressure/bouyancy of the tank
could help somewhat.
 
A

albinvega1493

.
Dec 15, 2006
139
Seems to me that putting a fuel tank in the bilge was a dumb idea?
2 years ago, my intake hose clamp rusted out and leaked fuel out of
the intake, and water into the tank. Of course, since the intake
hose clamp is under the combi, you couldn't reach it either. I
pulled my tank out and put an 18 gal moeller tank in the right
cockpit locker. Seemed like a more logical location to me. I once
had a 32 foot Islander that had a fresh water tank in the bilge --
also a dumb idea, unless you use it for black water storage. Come
to think of it, why couldn't you convert the old vega fuel tank to
black water storage for the head? Just an idea.

Larry Bissell
"Kemanalea"
SF Bay area
Albin Vega 1493
albinvega1493@...
 
J

j.hunter9999

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Oct 30, 2019
574
I finally set about removing my fuel tank. I echo Marcin's comments. A lovely idea, the
lasso and pully system. But, that fuel tank is not coming out without a fight. I am going
back out tomorrow with a dremmel and cutting off the fill tube, along with anything else
that needs cutting. If that doesn't work, we'll be cutting the cabin sole

Jack.
 
I

imbissfrank

.
Mar 28, 2011
261
Amen Brother Steve,
I couldn't get my fuel tank out either and ended cutting a small section of the cabin sole out next to the battery compartment. Big mistake !!!! I fibreglassed it back in, but it still squeaks and flexes a little. I now wish I had simply left the tank in bilge. Frank Gallardo Jr
sv Cin Cin V-2184
"May the warm wind at your back not be your own"
 
J

j.hunter9999

.
Oct 30, 2019
574
Good news! Fuel tank removed! 5 hours yesterday and 30 minutes today. I finally took
my dremel out there and cut away the forward 6 inches of the tank. After that it was a
snap. I probably narrowly averted a major explosion or something similar, but all is well.

There is a metal "step" in the bottom of the bilge on which the tank rested. I'll probably
remove it, but not until the small bit of remaining water thaws in the spring.

Thanks for the advice about not cutting away the cabin sole. I was seriously considering
that as an option. Glad I checked the forum before heading out to the boat this morning.

Jack.
 
A

albinvega1493

.
Dec 15, 2006
139
Jack

Don't cut the sole. Cut the tank out and throw it away. I'll sell
you an 18 gal tank you can put in the cockpit locker for $40 plus
shipping, (new moeller tank with fuel guage) I bought 3 at $60 each
and put one in my vega cockpit locker. The tank shouldn't be in the
bilge anyhow.

Larry Bissell
Kemanalea (Hull 1493)
SF Bay Area
707-537-5522 (cell)
 
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