Replacement Fuel Tank Recommendations?

[Ben Jammin]

Upon removing the 12-gal aluminum diesel fuel tank in my 1979 Hunter 30 for cleaning, I found it was leaking from multiple pitted areas in the welds. I called around about getting all the slime cleaned out and re-welded, but it was considerably more costly than a new tank. There's no inspection/access plate, so that would need to added too.

So I'm looking for recommendations on new tank brands and materials. I'm thinking rotomolded cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE), but aluminum isn't much more expensive, guaranteed no permeation, and a 40-yr life isn't bad. I've searched the forum for other comments and found a recommendation for Inca Molded Products, and someone that didn't like Moeller (not sure why). I've also been looking at tanks made by Scepter/Ameri-Kart, RDS, Ocean Link, (results from a Google search). Am I overlooking anything good?

Any recommendations on a good source would also be appreciated. I'm not in a big hurry, so online/mail order is fine.

Oh, and let me know if anyone wants the old tank. It could be repaired, but new tanks are $200, and I'm not really set up to clean and weld it.

 

[Jim 5757]

Definitely get rid of the old tank. Suggest Ronco tank ...

 

[Jim 5757]

Or maybe not... Ronco site only shows water and holding tanks.

 

[FastOlson]

Best material is usually said to be 5000 series aluminum. I replaced our stock diesel tank with a custom one from Coastline, in Bellingham, WA. Really Nice folks to work with. My advice is to make a solid mockup and then send your drawing based on that. We found that replacing the stock tank that way let us go from 14 to 19 gallons in the same space.
http://coastlinemarinetanks.com

I documented the changeover in a thread on the ericsonyachts owner site, if you decide that you want to consider that route.
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?6303-Diesel-Tank-replacement

 

[Ben Jammin]

Thanks Jim. The first thing I did when I got the boat was discard the leaky holding tank and old hoses. I've looked at Ronco for a replacement for that, but have been working on higher priority tasks first. I checked them, but saw a note on their sanitation info page:
* CAUTION: DO NOT USE FOR GAS AND/OR FUEL STORAGE *

 

[dwain6805]

Take your old tank to these guys. They can copy it exactly and they will deliver the new one. Price used to be +/- $10/gallon for larger sizes, your's might have a minimum. They are in La Mesa, not too far from you.
http://www.americantanks.net/marine_tank_projects.php

 

[Ben Jammin]

FastOlson, nice write -up and pics on the other forum! $500 is more than I wanted to spend, but with a custom shape I could definitely either increase capacity or make more room in the engine compartment for batteries or whatever. And I would like to have a well under the pickup that I can drain water and contaminants from, like aircraft tanks, but I haven't seen that on any standard tanks. BTW, honeycomb composite settee top?! Awesome!

Dwain, thanks, I'll give them a call. I just drove through La Mesa yesterday on the 8. Maybe they can do some customization as well.

Jim, I realized that the Ronco warning probably applies to the sanitation procedure, not the tanks. But like you said, I don't see anything called a fuel tank on their website.

Ben

 

[SailormanDan]

I went with an aluminum one from RDS Manufacturing through West Marine. Wasn't a "drop-in replacement", but I made it work. Decided on aluminum vs. plastic because of the reduced smell.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

You need a fuel tank and if you just have a new aluminum tank made, your troubles will go away very quickly. If you want to add to your troubles, mess around with tanks that aren't made for the job and worry more about your nickels than doing the job right.

 

[jibes138]

I am using a moeller tank. It came with a cleanout cover already installed. I had to buy a new sender that included the fitting for the return line but overall the 24 gallon tank and sender was about 250 bucks. For your smaller tank I'd expect a lower cost. I haven't had any problems with odors in over three years.

 

[Ben Jammin]

Thanks for the input so far. T-Bird, you sound like me when I'm at work, but when they're my nickels I tend to worry about them more (and so does my CFO). I do have to remember that my time is worth something and I didn't buy the boat to continually be re-visiting old projects instead of sailing. They old tank was just a rectangular thing sitting on a plywood shelf over the prop shaft seal. The shelf is intended to hold the batteries too. It would be easy to drop new plywood in there and get a new generic rectangular tank. But I'm feeling inspired by FastOlson, and I think I can use the empty space below the shelf and have a bow tank (well, stern tank) made that would hold more fuel and still leave more room for batteries. The shelf is rotten, so I need to rebuild it anyways. I don't think I need huge capacity for my 12-hp Yanmar and coastal cruising plans, but I might as well use the available space. And the low point in a bow tank provides a place for water and debris to collect so I can suck it out.

I checked out the American Tanks website, and turns out they have done a lot of work for the company I'm working for. I've emailed them, maybe I'll give them a call today. I looked at the RDS tanks on the West Marine site, but I'm hoping I can get a custom tank built for about the price of most of those.

Ben

 

[smokey73]

Try Ezell tanks in Florida. They made many of the tanks for the hunters and have many of the original drawings. They made a replacement tank to the original drawings but with a thicker aluminium, extra cleanouts and extra fittings for a fuel finishng system. Great people and easy to work with.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I checked out the American Tanks website, and turns out they have done a lot of work for the company I'm working for. I've emailed them, maybe I'll give them a call today. I looked at the RDS tanks on the West Marine site, but I'm hoping I can get a custom tank built for about the price of most of those.

Ben

Good plan!