What Gasket Material for Diesel Tank Inspection Port ?

[COLINFLTENG]

Made my gasket used soder gun work great thanks for the ideas Cheers Colin

[dsiddens]

On our boat the tanks are integral to the hull. The tanks are glass over plywood. On the top of the fuel tanks are 4" bronze (Perko) inspection ports. The "ring" portion has only 4 countersunk screw holes. At the very place you'd want a level surface there is a step up of additional glass of maybe 1/8" to 3/16". Rather than grind a level mounting circle I used some goo from a tube. (Horrors, what the hell is wrong with you!).

The product is called Yamabond. It came on the market probably 30+ years ago as a sealant for Yamaha engine (motorcycle) cases. It's gray, sets up very firm (less so than 5200), can fill the above gap, remains flexible, is impervious to diesel and gasoline. Sells for about $10 - $15 a tube and can be found at a Yamaha store.

[sdowney717]

strangely people want to use some rubber sheets which are expensive and degrade or cork when permatex gasket maker used on oil pans, valve covers of engines works cheapest and best.

http://www.permatex.com/products/Aut...sket_Maker.htm

like the black one, Permatex® Ultra Black® Maximum Oil Resistance RTV Silicone Gasket Maker.

Used by mechanics and me for years to seal oil into engines.

I just resealed a valley pan on an engine which uses a composition cork-rubber gasket.
This pan is separate from the intake and rather large and holds in hot engine oil.
I glued it on one side to the sheet steel pan with Indian Head gasket cement. The other side on the block got a heavy coat of lithium moly lube grease. and it is just perfectly sealed.

So I would either use the permatex or cork just like the valley pan.
http://www.amazon.com/Permatex-20539.../dp/B0008KLOG6

[aegean spirit]

hey, i did a tank job last year and replaced the gaskets with cork sheet paper, u can get it easily ,costs nothing and its the only material to withstand diesel , old school but just my opinion

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, dsiddens, and aegean spirit.

Cork, and other traditional materials, may not be suitable for use with biofuels (ethanol).

[David M]

There is more than one way to do this. I use nitrile rubber or Permatex Aviation grade sealant or both.

Amazon.com: Permatex 80019 Aviation Form-A-Gasket #3 Sealant, 4 oz. Bottle: Automotive

[aegean spirit]

hi, thanks for welcome, and u r right about ethanol, but IMHO cork for diesel tanks inspection hatches and senders, cork combined with indian head sealant works great. TTYL

[Detroep]

For those in western Canada (British Columbia) who want Buna-N for gaskets, I found a great source at Vanco Gaskets in New Westminster. Far cheaper than McMaster-Carr to boot.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by cdennyb

TRY TO GET AHOLD OF SOME "EPDM rubber". It's pretty impervious to any fuel and/or additives. My second choice would be a sheet of Viton/Buna-N but it'd be pretty pricey. The EPDM should cost about $18.00/sq ft in a .100 thickness.
Mcmaster Carr has some
Buna-N Material in sheet form: PN#1890T14 12" x 12" x 1/8" $23.00
epdm sheet: PN#8985K44 12" x 12" x 1/8" $18.15

OH, welcome to the board. It'll be fun.

No, No, No!!

Not EPDM, perhaps the WORST material, other than natural rubber. It is for water, steam, and sanitary waste. I'm a chemical engineer in the oil business and I am NOT guessing.

COLINFLTENG got it right. Nitrile is standard for this application, generally outperforming Viton for gaskets.

[SailorHarry]

I have had excellent service using sheet neoprene. Cleaned fuel tanks and replaced inspection port gaskets in 1998. Gaskets have sealed perfectly and are still good now. I clean the fuel tanks every two years.

[pbiJim]

I'm in the process of designing an O-ring gland for a repair part on an unusual diesel tank. While looking up material compatibility for diesel, I happened to stumble across this thread & thought that I would add a few pieces of information that I had uncovered in the process.

From Atlantic Gasket Gasket Materials – Closed Cell Nitrile Rubber "Style SBE41NIT and SBE42NIT closed cell Nitrile sponge is a pure Nitrile and is an excellent gasket material for sealing petroleum-based fuels such as gasoline, diesel and other aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons."

From Biodiesel.org: http://www.biodiesel.org/docs/ffs-pe...y.pdf?sfvrsn=4
Materials Compatibility
B100 Material Compatibility
B100 may degrade some hoses
gaskets, seals, elastomers, glues and plastics with prolonged exposure. Natural or nitrile rubber compounds, polypropylene, polyvinyl, and Tygon materials are particularly vulnerable...
... Teflon, Viton, and Nylon have very little reaction to biodiesel and are among the materials that can be used to update incompatible equipment

From McMaster-Carr: http://www.mcmaster.com/#about-o-ring-materials/=retj7d
N-Buna temp range -20F to +212F
Viton temp range 0F to +392F

[SailorHarry]

I bought a couple of sheets of neoprene from the local hardware store (Manasota Hdwre in Sarasota, FL) in 1998 to regasket my diesel tank inspection ports. Gaskets are still live nad sealing well after yearly tank cleanings. Can't expect much better than that.

[dagmyr]

Has anyone used Permatex Aviation Fom-A-Seal gasket maker to seal the diesel tank inspection port?

[delmarrey]

You would need to clean both surfaces with acetone really good.
Diesel fuel can creep into the smallest of cracks. Mixed with ATF diesel even makes a good rust braker.

[Compass790]

Garlock works great or a nitrile o-ring.