leaky tank

[gbmacca]

Hi Guys and gals,
Repainting the LAzarette in rear of my Chris Craft Constellation and scrapped away some surface rust on the fuel tanks to repaint.
Now I have a very slow 'seep'.
Is there any 'gunk' I can use which will repair - to a satisfactory standard - so as I don't have to remove ( pain in the arse) tanks from hold, send away to be repaired - then replaced?

Cheers

gbmacca

[tkeithlu]

Are you dealing with gasoline or with diesel? The problem is that if it's gasoline, any leak is dangerous. If gasoline, I'd move to replacement immediately.

Can you get the fuel level below the leak? If so, you could try cleaning the area with acetone and then applying an epoxy patch. But, don't think that that will be a permanent solution. There are likely to be other weak points waiting to become leaks.

[roberttigar]

I had a problem on a steel tank that leaked at the bottom where a weld was beginning to deteriorate.

JB Weld makes a product specifically for fuel tanks. Plopped on a large glob of the stuff and lightly clamped it. Works!!!
Bob

[JPA Cate]

It WILL work for a while, but in the case of the OP, if there's rust in the top, there will also be rusting spots where he cannot see them. An epoxy patch (we used some Marine Tex) to seal around a leaking fuel gauge on an aluminum diesel tank) will work. But the rust will still spread: rust never sleeps. Rust converters are only temporary. Of course, rust only happens where iron is present, so was not a factor with our patch.

Ann

[chrisr]

we used an epoxy patch very successfully on a steel diesel tank once on a previous boat. fortunately we were able to get the tank out to do the repair so relatively easy and completely effective

but would never ever try to repair a petrol tank...

cheers,

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

It WILL work for a while, but in the case of the OP, if there's rust in the top, there will also be rusting spots where he cannot see them. An epoxy patch (we used some Marine Tex) to seal around a leaking fuel gauge on an aluminum diesel tank) will work. But the rust will still spread: rust never sleeps. Rust converters are only temporary. Of course, rust only happens where iron is present, so was not a factor with our patch.

Ann

Dinged the gas tank on an old car once and patched it with Marine Tex. Was traveling without access to tools so did a quick and dirty repair IE crawled under the car as far as I could, reached in with a wire brush and hit it a few times, then reached in with a big glob of Marine Tex and smeared it around the spot.

Intended to do a better fix later but never got around to it and the repair was still good a few years later when I gave the car away.

BUT that was a car where a gas leak would be unlikely to cause an explosion and kill you. If the OPs boat is gas powered I would pull the tank and do a proper repair. Diesel I would give it a go with Marine Tex. I love that stuff.