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Roy M · 09-12-2009, 17:24

Speedo, tell the insurance company's surveyor (the only person who really will matter) that your tanks are composite epoxy tanks with graphite. He will be impressed and you can swear on a stack of bibles that you are telling the truth. This is so a non-issue that it reminds me of the type of political drivel that is currently being circulated about death committees, climategate and intelligent design. No one is being forced to do anything they are not comfortable with. If you don't want to go to bed with new technology, then hang on to your cherished belief systems and leave the radical element to diddle among themselves. And stick with marline, linen sails, hemp sheets and caulking hammers! Change is challenging. Don't push yourself where you don't feel comfortable. Sorry, Speedo, this was not directed at you.

Editor's note: Sorry, we have had to ramp up the dosage. Roy M should be calming shortly, but we have fears that his tolerance for powerful meds may be problematic in the future. Perhaps this is another side effect of epoxy psychosis, the uncontrollable urge to shoot one's mouth off with the least provocation about anything composite. Perhaps a Kevlar restraint might be usefully applied.

04 Marine · 09-12-2009, 19:06

Back yard boat builder...that an insult that should never have been offered up. You know a great many of us pride ourselves in the quality of our work. Many take great care to build things far better that some production line guy who can't wait to get home and crack open a beer.

So milkreed100 if I'm a back yard boat builder, does that mean you need two hulls because they only float half as well...maybe you need the training wheels, in this case hulls because you can't keep a mono hull upright. Back yard boat builder is a really poor choice of terms to describe someone who will spend 1,000 of hours doing something that for the most part is better and stronger than most production boats. The really nice outflow of the project is that you know every nook and crannie of the boat because you built it with your own two hands. Back yard boat builder...that term really gets my hackles up, it just a really demeaning phrase.

speedoo · 09-12-2009, 19:58

No problem, Roy M. Of course you are right about the surveyor. The fuel tank I need to replace has to be close to the bilge, unfortunately and there is no way to prevent contact with bilgewater. Which is why I am looking seriously at a composite tank. And I know at least one surveyor who will consider that advantage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roy M

Speedo, tell the insurance company's surveyor (the only person who really will matter) that your tanks are composite epoxy tanks with graphite. He will be impressed and you can swear on a stack of bibles that you are telling the truth. This is so a non-issue that it reminds me of the type of political drivel that is currently being circulated about death committees, climategate and intelligent design. No one is being forced to do anything they are not comfortable with. If you don't want to go to bed with new technology, then hang on to your cherished belief systems and leave the radical element to diddle among themselves. And stick with marline, linen sails, hemp sheets and caulking hammers! Change is challenging. Don't push yourself where you don't feel comfortable. Sorry, Speedo, this was not directed at you.

Editor's note: Sorry, we have had to ramp up the dosage. Roy M should be calming shortly, but we have fears that his tolerance for powerful meds may be problematic in the future. Perhaps this is another side effect of epoxy psychosis, the uncontrollable urge to shoot one's mouth off with the least provocation about anything composite. Perhaps a Kevlar restraint might be usefully applied.

mikereed100 · 09-12-2009, 20:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by 04 Marine

Back yard boat builder...that an insult that should never have been offered up. You know a great many of us pride ourselves in the quality of our work. Many take great care to build things far better that some production line guy who can't wait to get home and crack open a beer.

So milkreed100 if I'm a back yard boat builder, does that mean you need two hulls because they only float half as well...maybe you need the training wheels, in this case hulls because you can't keep a mono hull upright. Back yard boat builder is a really poor choice of terms to describe someone who will spend 1,000 of hours doing something that for the most part is better and stronger than most production boats. The really nice outflow of the project is that you know every nook and crannie of the boat because you built it with your own two hands. Back yard boat builder...that term really gets my hackles up, it just a really demeaning phrase.

I suppose it does.

A casual reading of my post will show that the words are the USCG's, not mine. FWIW I agree that a (carefull here) "not-for-pay-builder-of-his-own-boat" can put out a better product than a professional.

By the way, I like your idea of an acrylic inspection port.

Mike

clockwork orange · 09-12-2009, 23:10

Very interesting thread, i fully agree with Roy M about using plywood tanks (except for the BS about Gougeons developing the method,,they didnt, its been commonly done before they came on the scene) I have built many a tank for diesel and waste over the last 35 years out of ply/glass/epoxy and i have seen many done with polyester also,hundreds of thousands of large fiberglass fuel storage tanks are in use the world over replacing the rusting out steel ones which have been removed from under gas stations after leaching fuel into the watertable.On the subject of black iron tanks,Capthead wrote that he has them in his 1966 Grand Banks 42 and that most iron tanks rust from the outside so you just need to keep them painted,WRONG, a few years ago i had the displeasure of replacing the port,tank in the engineroom of, in fact a 1966 GB 42 just like his,the tank is fairly large and has a low corner where condensation collects and cant be drained off so it had rusted the corner out and had been leaking for quite some time and had totally saturated the bottom planking with diesel,of course no provision had been made for removal and it would have meant a huge demo job to get it out so i removed bottom planking since it needed replacing anyway,cut out some frames and took it out the bottom,had a new tank made and put it back the same way and rebuilt the bottom.The owner didnt want to spend anymore money to replace the other tanks which were not leaking yet and sold the boat before it went back in the water.The new owner who is retired and a do it yourselfer subsequently replaced the starboard tank and the aft tank just for peace of mind during a 5year refit.All the paint in the world was not going to save that tank. Incidently he also replaced the 2 beutifull copper water tanks because they had soldered seams (and he was worried about poisoning the grandkids),a shame as those tanks were in perfect condition after 35 years.Weve also replaced enough steel tanks and aluminum tanks that i wouldnt consider either of them suitable materials for this purpose, in my opinion they are both ticking timebombs as most builders make no provision for ever replacing them and unless you are capable of doing the work yourself it can be a very expensive job to have done profesionally(we replaced an aluminum tank in the bilge of a Gulf 32 pilothouse this summer and it was an $8500 job.)
Steve.

rebel heart · 13-10-2010, 21:42

Just bumping this to say that my black iron tanks (that are 36 years old) are in terrific shape and have no problems (minus looking dirty on the outside). I have some pictures on my blog if you search "fuel tank cleaning" if anyone is interested. I was worried from all the nay-sayers about the black iron, but it's fine (in my case).

grant e · 31-07-2013, 16:38

I just bought a 1978 CT 35ft Trawler. It has iron tanks 150gal each. The outside surveyed well, and they look sound with no leaks. I am going to have them cleaned in october, and will probably coat up from the bottom with Ceram-Kote, a cerramic coating probably 8-10 inches, anyway that is what the distributer said. Also I was wondering if a person could put a bladder into an old fuel tank. On mine They have aprox a 10inch inspection hole. Just wondering.....Grant

Roy M · 31-07-2013, 21:13

I am familiar with bladder tanks, having used them for a transPacific crossing (we established the world record for first crossing with diesel outboards). The problem with installing them inside another tank is that the bags allow slosh in all directions, which could lead to premature wear on the fabric, when it's hidden out of sight. Better to have solid tanks with built in baffles to reduce the slosh. Don't take shortcuts with tank construction.

**roverhi** · 31-07-2013, 23:11

The only truth in a black iron tank is the 'black' which is the result of paint they use to make it black. Metal tanks are either made out of Monel, Stainless steel, mild steel or aluminum. If the tank is black, it's mild steel. Mild steel tanks work fine if they don't sit in saltwater. The same goes for Stainless. If the tank bottom is constantly wet with salt water, as in a bilge tank, will last only a few years. Our SS water tanks only lasted 3 years in the bilge. If mounted out of the bilge and not subject to salt water intrusion, they will last a long long time. Steel especially as the diesel protects the metal from oxidation.