New Secondary Fuel Tank from Deltaville Boat Yard

[chuckr]

Our jeanneau ds40 came with a 36 gal fuel tank and as full time cruisers we had to carry at least another 40gal in cans - we had space under our rear berth for another tank and went to Deltaville Boat Yard (DBY) for a feasibility and est . the space was very irregular - after a couple of reviews and measurements DBY did a lot of research on what could be put in the space - they built a wooden frame mock up and had a aluminum tank built - when the tank came back the mfger made did not follow the mock up and verbal communication from Matt, DBY mgrer, and it came back with the fuel intake about 2-3" to high - DBY simply raised the bunk a couple of inches to solve the issue without a lot of lose of head space - original est was about 40 gal - tank came back was actually 50 gal and we put 49gal in it on 1st fill -
DBY did an incredible job of design and installation allowing us to make our comments and suggestions all the way through and listened to us very carefully and took our suggestions into consideration and implemented some of them -- they set it up so we can use either tank --
the primary fuel filter was french designed and hard to find parts for and was buried in a cockpit locker - they moved the filter for easy access and put in a racor -
The work was first rate and best of all the tank cost came in less than estimated and the rest of the work came in right on est. -- no hidden cost no extras -
Deltaville Boat Yard did an incredible job and allowed us to get rid of all but 2 cans (just in case cans)
they are very busy so patience helps but it is really worth it with the professional installation we got -

chuck patty and svsoulmates
full time cruisers
on the hook solomons md

[Blue Stocking]

I love a happy ending. Looks great, my compliments to the yard.

[DeepFrz]

To bad they didn't install a couple of clean out ports. Something you will have to do in the future.

[chuckr]

there is a clean out port -- it is where we put a manual not electric tank guage - simply remove the screws and you have access to the tank internals --

chuck patty and svsoulmates
on the hook solomons md

[DeepFrz]

Is that the gauge in the corner nearest the person taking the photos? How does that "manual" fuel gauge work?

Is there a baffle in the tank?

[chuckr]

the tank is bafffled -- would not have it otherwise - don't need a lot of fluid movement if the sailing gets a bit rough - that we try to avoid by the way but can not always do -
yea the guage is in the upper corner - we had a choice of electrical as it was originally set up for electrical but i chose to switch that out with a mechanical one that has a float on it - so every once in a while we just take a peak under the mattress and see how much fuel we got

chuck patty and svsoulmates
on the hook solomons md

[Ram]

Originally Posted by chuckr

after a couple of reviews and measurements DBY did a lot of research on what could be put in the space - they built a wooden frame mock up and had a aluminum tank built - when the tank came back the mfger made did not follow the mock up and verbal communication from Matt, DBY mgrer, and it came back with the fuel intake about 2-3" to high - DBY simply raised the bunk a couple of inches to solve the issue without a lot of lose of head space -

Seems to me that I would not recommend an outfit that made such big mistakes, you were just lucky that you were able to rig the tank it to fit, you may just as well not have had a fit, - The real surprise is they made a mock up and still could not get it right! This is bad workmanship and bad management- I ran a sheet metal shop for 7 years and if I made a mistake like that we would not charge the customer or we would make it all over again -

Are we so used to not getting a good job we settle for this sort of thing and then praise the outfit here on CF that clearly did a crappy job ?

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by Ram

Seems to me that I would not recommend an outfit that made such big mistakes, you were just lucky that you were able to rig the tank it to fit, you may just as well not have had a fit, - The real surprise is they made a mock up and still could not get it right! This is bad workmanship and bad management- I ran a sheet metal shop for 7 years and if I made a mistake like that we would not charge the customer or we would make it all over again -

Are we so used to not getting a good job we settle for this sort of thing and then praise the outfit here on CF that clearly did a crappy job ?

Yours would have been the only shop I had ever visited (and I have been in a lot of them), that didn't have a scrap bin.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

Yours would have been the only shop I had ever visited (and I have been in a lot of them), that didn't have a scrap bin.

I Never said we did not make mistakes, or have a scrap bin- we made lots of mistakes over time everyone does! The difference between a good shop and a bad one is when we made a mistake that would affect the product we would- once we were aware of the mistake-at once make it right to the specs and not even let the customer know we screwed up( in the scrap pile it went ) or if it was delivered to the customer already because we missed the mistake and it could still be salvaged we would give a deep discount or even free and we would eat the costs- and/or make it a do over if needed!
-What seems very odd to me here is people pay big bucks for a half A*% job and are seemly very happy to the point of telling us how “good of a Job was done” When they themselves tell us of these mistakes-then recommend the outfitter!! Clearly many people have lowered the bar and will accept whatever they get- I would have sent it back and asked them to get it right before I lost some head room in my yacht!!!!!!!to me its unbelievable!

[Tellie]

I understand your convictions Ram. But sometimes fate has a way of working out. An extra ten gallons and a few lost inches might have me saying "Not what I ordered guys but the extra capacity is a bonus" Cut me a little break on price for the lost space and we'll try harder next time. Now, if I could not afford the space it would be a simple "Call me when it's right" But before I'd scrap it I'd explain to the owner the mistake and give him the option of keeping it as is, asking the owner if the ten gallons extra is worth the loss of space or promising to make it again. I know I do a lot of planning and prep for projects on my boat. But many times half way through I find something I missed and just find a better way to do it.

[chuckr]

Deltaville Boat Yard did NOT make the 2" error - the tank manufacturer did - let's get it right - not sure about your shop but scrapping an entire tank because the intake was 2" off was not the right thing to do - you do not even notice it in the rear berth - if 2" to you is a half a#$ job well so be it - we are entirely pleased with the work done by the tank mfger and for a slight inconvenience of raising the bunk 2" was no big deal - and my standard of work expected have NOT been lowered and NO I DID NOT LOSE 2" in my boat -
i am sure you are much more of a perfectionist than i am but then some people are

the Folk at Deltaville Boat Yard did a surpurb job in all aspects of their work let's get that straight -

chuck patty and svsoulmates
on the hook solomons md

[Ram]

Originally Posted by chuckr

Deltaville Boat Yard did NOT make the 2" error - the tank manufacturer did - let's get it right - not sure about your shop but scrapping an entire tank because the intake was 2" off was not the right thing to do - you do not even notice it in the rear berth - if 2" to you is a half a#$ job well so be it - we are entirely pleased with the work done by the tank mfger and for a slight inconvenience of raising the bunk 2" was no big deal - and my standard of work expected have NOT been lowered and NO I DID NOT LOSE 2" in my boat -
i am sure you are much more of a perfectionist than i am but then some people are

the Folk at Deltaville Boat Yard did a surpurb job in all aspects of their work let's get that straight -

chuck patty and svsoulmates
on the hook solomons md

Its your job and as long as your happy with it thats all that really matters, we all have to live with our own standards! I have to say 2" is a real big deal when your working to spec-if we were more than 1/8 inch off I would call that sloppy work and have my guys make it over again- if my guys could not do the job as required they would not have a job long-perhaps this is hard for you to beleave , but there are many shops that are able to make a mock up and deliver it , perfect--Im Happy your happy with the job!!