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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.

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

Here is the fuel management system gauge installed. Directions said to keep it at least 20" from the radio. I don't know which interferes with which, but it meant moving the radio.

And then I found this on Ebay. No longer made, it is a fuel management system that measures fuel usage per hour, total fuel usage, and has an adjustable low fuel alarm based on fuel usage. It is supposed to be accurate within about 1 liter on my 90 liter tank.

When looking for a fuel gauge, I came across this metering device that records fuel usage in liters per hour and total liters. Seems like it will be much more accurate than a gauge with a little needle waiving between E and F.

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.

M

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

Marco Flamingo
Jan 5, 2016

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