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Permanent Fuel Tank
I bought a 23 gal. tank from overstock.com for $140. It was made by Moeller and used on Lund boats. In 2011, boat manufacturers were required to install low permeable tanks when they ran out of their older stock. Low permeable tanks have a black nylon lining (as can be seen here). There are still a lot of older style permiable tanks being sold even though they are new old stock and unused. BoatUS did an experiment where they found that an old style 6 gallon plastic outboard tank lost almost a pint in 6 months. That's why gas goes bad.

Here is the tank installed and I'm back to the balsa repair project. The cutout in the V berth was for a porta-pottie (long gone and good riddance). It will be filled in with a removable filler piece to make the V berth larger.

The tank vent goes under the rub rail. If above the rub rail, any leak (which never happens) is spread all along the rail.

I thought that it might fit by just removing one of the supports for the V berth. Nope, they both have to come out. That's okay as it turns out that they are also just screwed directly into the balsa core.

Here is the gas fill hole. It is now taped and ready for epoxy putty to cover the exposed balsa and allow the fastenings to pass though epoxy rather than balsa. Where's that darn deck key?? Oh yeah, I don't need one for this gas fill! The turning tab pops up from its flush position.

Here is the tank installed and I'm back to the balsa repair project. The cutout in the V berth was for a porta-pottie (long gone and good riddance). It will be filled in with a removable filler piece to make the V berth larger.

To get the right angle on the fill and vent, canted holes were drilled through the V berth deck. No great loss, as this area on the CD 16 is right by the electrical and steering system. Nobody sleeps there.

Lining things up to make sure on chock placement and that the fill (to the right) will be accessible. The tank can't be tight against the underside of the V berth because of the fill and electric sender unit. I also need space between the tank and the berth for my proposed "ground tackle," which will get it's own album when I start that project.

This is about where the tank will sit, pulled up into chocks hung on the underside of the V berth. The straps that will suspend the tank have stainless buckles and are adjustable, which is important as the tank actually changes size depending on temperature and fill. Upper corner at right is where the fill and vent tubes come through the berth platform headed to the new deck fitting.

M

Here is the tank installed and I'm back to the balsa repair project. The cutout in the V berth was for a porta-pottie (long gone and good riddance). It will be filled in with a removable filler piece to make the V berth larger.

Marco Flamingo
Oct 5, 2015

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