• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

Diesel Tank replacement

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=3404

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=3585

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=6266&referrerid=28


What with several recent threads about fuel pumps, filters, and the mention of fuel tank repairs and/or replacement, I have a report on the diesel tank replacement in our boat.
The factory tank was quite small at 14 gal., 20 years old, needed to have the deck fitting and fill-hose replaced, and needed an upgrade to the vent hose scheme.

Old tank was removed mid-winter, along with fill hose and deck fitting. The tank had no leaks but the old analog gauge on top was seeping some diesel. The fill hose has been permeated for the last several years, and that diesel odor was affecting stuff in the forward hanging locker thru which it passes.

The hull under the port settee where this tank lives needed cleaning, de-molding, and then, like other projects before, sealing it from bilge water entering along the settee front. That settee front needed ventilators anyway. "Every project leads to 3 others." :rolleyes:

The settee top opening was widened out over an inch both ways, and new mahogany pieces were attached with epoxy and screws to support the top brackets on a heavier tank having more capacity.

The vent hose was re-routed to eliminate the old problem with sags in the hose run on its way along the underside of the aft deck joint to a vent fitting on the upper transom.
A new vent fitting is now at the inside top of the combing in the cockpit. (Another interesting project by itself.)

New ground wire now, also, from deck fitting to tank to engine ground.

The old deck-fill had lost its chain before we bought this boat and the O-ring was about shot. I installed a new SS Scandvik fitting with a built-in opener pivot tab.

Of course, with that old hose out of the forward hanging locker this was the ideal time to remove the old vinyl hull ceiling material and the hundreds of staples that held it. Filled the divots, cleaned the teak, and varnished out the locker inside. New hull ceiling epoxied in -- formica surface to match the factory counters, over a layer of 7 oz cloth, over a half inch of honeycomb. This makes for a smooth finished look and the composite material even adds some insulation, with very little weight. That locker is now about a useful inch deeper, too, FWIW.

The new tank was mocked up in wood to make the most use of the space without touching the hull. Coastline Tanks (https://coastlinemarinetanks.com )in Bellingham, WA, built it from my drawings. Total cost with delivery was $526. New tank is 1/8th inch, with a baffle, and two cleanouts... and included a sender for an electronic gauge now purchased and mounted in our instrument panel. The factory tank never leaked, but was only 090 thickness, the bare minimum.

We now have a 19 gallon tank! Not a huge change I admit, but it will help a lot on coastal trips. :)
Attached are some pics of the before, during, and after.

Loren

Note: Coastline web link updated 12-28-21.
 

Attachments

  • new-old-Lorez.jpg
    new-old-Lorez.jpg
    33.2 KB · Views: 152
  • New&OldTankAftEndsLorez.jpg
    New&OldTankAftEndsLorez.jpg
    34.3 KB · Views: 146
  • compartment-empty.jpg
    compartment-empty.jpg
    70.6 KB · Views: 155
  • LorezMockupandOldtank.jpg
    LorezMockupandOldtank.jpg
    94.8 KB · Views: 140
  • honeycomb-cover-underside-l.jpg
    honeycomb-cover-underside-l.jpg
    88.5 KB · Views: 175
Last edited:

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
just some more pictures

Here are a few more pictures of parts of this project.
Hope this is somewhat helpful to someone contemplating a similar project.
I have other photos if anyone wants some, especially sent at full rez, by direct email.
The honey comb composite settee top will get some more finishing and a paint job next winter, BTW.
The new (lighted!) fuel gauge is mounted just below the "tri data" ST-60 repeater instrument face.

LB
 

Attachments

  • new-Tank-in-placeLorez.jpg
    new-Tank-in-placeLorez.jpg
    51.6 KB · Views: 145
  • rough-in-honeycomb-seat-cov.jpg
    rough-in-honeycomb-seat-cov.jpg
    73.1 KB · Views: 135
  • fuelGuage-onLeft-lorez.jpg
    fuelGuage-onLeft-lorez.jpg
    133.1 KB · Views: 363
  • epoxy-and-mahogany-lorez.jpg
    epoxy-and-mahogany-lorez.jpg
    58.8 KB · Views: 140
  • Epoxy in Mahog. supports.JPG
    Epoxy in Mahog. supports.JPG
    30 KB · Views: 114
Last edited:

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
Very nice work! A great upgrade, and the change from 14 to 19 gallons is a 35% increase, that is quite significant. Thanks for posting this. RT
 

mherrcat

Contributing Partner
I'm guessing the access plates/bolts on the top of the tank sit about 3/8" to 1/2" above the surface of the tank? Is the sealing mechanism just a gasket of some kind? That might be a nice feature to incorporate into the tank I need for my E30+, but I would have to allow space for it between the top of the tank and the plywood deck that covers the tank. I guess I could decrease the height dimension of the tank a little to accomodate.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I'm guessing the access plates/bolts on the top of the tank sit about 3/8" to 1/2" above the surface of the tank? Is the sealing mechanism just a gasket of some kind? That might be a nice feature to incorporate into the tank I need for my E30+, but I would have to allow space for it between the top of the tank and the plywood deck that covers the tank. I guess I could decrease the height dimension of the tank a little to accomodate.

Yup, those covers do stick up a tad over a half inch. The new (and unfinished) settee lid has the bottom coring cut away for both plates and also the gauge sender.

I should have planned better and had those hanger tabs welded on with another 3/8" of down-set. Then the mods to the lid would have been minimal.

I believe that your chosen tank fabricator can guide you on the proper gasket material. I dealt with a company that specializes in diesel tanks, and left that detail up to them.

One caution: the more detailed and hyper-refined your drawing dimentions, the better will be the result...
"Trust me" on this point!
:)

Loren
 
Last edited:

timday5

Member II
Loren,

I was reading the USCG boatbuilders' handbook fuel tank section in response to a post on another thread regarding polyethylene tanks.

Anyhoo, looking at your tank, I'm wondering if it meets the requirement that "Each opening into the fuel tank must be at or above the topmost surface of the tank." (section 183.518). Here's the link: http://uscgboating.org/safety/boatbuilder/fuel/183-518.htm.

I assume whoever built your tank is or should be familiar with the USCG / Federal Law requirements, but it looked to me from the photos that your take and return openings are in the side of the tank?
 

EGregerson

Member III
tank openings

That's an interesting point. It doesn't appear that the regulation is more recent; such that older tanks are grandfathered in but maybe they are. The tank on my '87 E34 has only 1 opening on top: the gauge.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Interesting questions...

I had also heard that the traditional best practice method was to have the inlet on top. But then a shipwright and a marine diesel mechanic told me that this was because the older technology fill hose was not completely impermiable when liquid fuel was left inside. Not a problem with the newer hose construction.
:nerd:
Note that in our model of boat, the tank would have to be relocated to a completely different part of the hull in order to eliminate the upper forward side 1 1/2" fill point.
Interesting that Pacific Boats, builder of the Olson 911s and the first (and their only) Olson 34, designed this tank. Ericson then used the same 14 gallon tank in both models during their model run, '88 to early '90.
One could assume that this tank construction met all standards at that time. Or, they ignored a part of the standard. Twenty years later, who knows? :rolleyes:

Not wanting to reformat/change the whole tank location, I stayed with the factory layout.

While the tank builder did inded provide USCG pressure testing and written certification, one should note that they follow that tank fitting layout provided by the customer. One other thought is that the USCG "requirements" may apply to Inspected Vessels, i.e. passenger-carrying boats.

I would hope that a well-maintained boat such as ours would pass any rigorous survey, and indeed it did pass one when requested by the ins. co. a few years ago. (Note to skeptics: that was a full survey, and not abreviated just to pacify an insurer.)
Way out there in the future, though, who knows?
:confused:

LB
 
Last edited:
Top