Sealing Diesel Fittings

[Stevens 47]

I am in the building stages of a new diesel tank in my boat. I am building the tank into the bilge, using epoxy and glass. I am planning on using a SS barbed thru hole fitting to accept the 1 1/2 fuel supply line. I have ordered nitril gasket that will compress when I tighten up the fitting. My question if was to apply a sealant around the nitril, epoxy and SS what type of sealant would be appropriate. Thanks in advance.

[Pblais]

My question if was to apply a sealant around the nitril, epoxy and SS what type of sealant would be appropriate.

Nitril is a seal. You don't normally need a sealant when you use a gasket. Nitril is a good choice. The compressionn of the seal is supposed to work all by iteslef.

Everything Pblais said...

In addition, never use teflon tape on diesel system fittings. Little bits can come off and make a real mess downstream.

[cat man do]

Can I ask why you wouldnt just glass in a fiberglass tube as a supply and pickup?

[Stevens 47]

Thanks all for the feed back.

Can I ask why you wouldn't just glass in a fiberglass tube as a supply and pickup?

I spent allot of time debating this very thing. The area that the fill connects to tapers to about a 4" section. I am building sections of the tank then tabbing them into the bilge and laying up all together inside the bilge, because of the complex angles in the tapered area I was not 100% confident that I would not get any pin holes in the hard to access areas. In the end the SS thru hole was less time consuming I will build a support saddle adjacent to the barbed fitting to attach to the fill hose. I plan to pressure test the tank on completion, will post some pic when complete.

[James S]

I've read many times that is is preferable to have the fill port extend into the tank some distance to help minimize the foaming when filling...
Good luck with this!! Pics?

[David M]

If and when you do need a sealant for diesel, this works great.



And yes, never use Teflon tape in a diesel fuel system. It actually can leak as well.