Gas tank leak...

[gil marlin]

I already asked this question on another board and think I know what I have to do, but...

One of my almost new red polyethylene gas tanks has a leak. I thought it was from the connections so I fixed them and then it leaked again ruining my new deck coating. It appears that it is rubbing on a fastener and there is a pinhole in one corner. Can this material be repaired 100% or should I just buy another and fix the cause of the leak???

[welder]

Buy another and fix the problem.

Gas tanks are not to be played with , your LIFE is worth WAY more than a plastic gas tank.

[JETTYWOLF]

You can maybe cover the leaky area with that Sears Poncho, I hear they're the best!

(Just funnin' around, I saw your little saying there and thought, man thats funny!
I get people on my boat with stupid lil poncho's all the time. I'll have to remember that one...)

[gil marlin]

You can maybe cover the leaky area with that Sears Poncho, I hear they're the best!

I stole that from a Frank Zappa song, so be careful you don't use it on a Zappapfile or he might start saying things like Zircon encrusted tweazers and yellow snow...

I guess I'll just buy another tank, but it hurts me to toss a brand new tank with a little nick in it... :sad:

[JETTYWOLF]

Don't know what your boat is or complete circumstance are.
Fuel leaks are not something you want, even though you may have "just an outboard boat".

I'm certainly not one of those fishing guides that started with 2 million and still have a million after going into buisness. And would be exactly like you. I'd want to fix it, somehow.

I'm assuming it's a red Tempo type tank....not really expensive.

But, I repair plastic fish baskets all the time. Because they're 12 dollars!! Don't want to buy a new one when the bottom breaks out of one.

You may have seen them, UV protected type hard plastic orange in color. I fix them with a
soldering gun. I melt the plastic together. I'm invisioning your pin hole in the corner.....
And I know how I would remedy it. I'd melt over the "PIN" hole, and close it.

BUT.

Your next question was fixing it 100%. I have no clue. I guess a way to test it would be pressure test and do some soap bubbles like a patch on a tire?

I once had the same sort of deal happen on an aluminum tank, that sat on and secured too laminated 2x4's. The problem was, that the tank's corner over hung the boards, and being a pocket rocket 19' boat with a powerful 150 horses on it, the boat spent as much time airborne as it did in the water, with me at the wheel and throttle.

So I took the tank out and saw a 1/2inch long "split" in the aluminum. I pounded a round circle into the aluminum, sanded it clean as a whistle. And used low temp soldier to fill the circle indentation, on it.
The stuff you see at boat shows, where a guy is welding paper thin beer cans together, ever see those guys selling that stuff? I can say, it does work. It held for years and years then I sold the boat.

During re-installing, I bedded the tank into foam, which it didn't have before, and laminated a longer board into the hull. And never had a leak ever again.

My fix was quite radical, and could have been very expensive. Your's isn't.

Is your tank below deck locked away under screws and alloy, wood, or what? Or is sitting on deck exposed somewhat, under console???

Sounds to me, that it's not an expensive tank, meaning hundreds of $$, but rather.....maybe $89.99???

It's your choice. But always weigh the dollars versus the fix, versus the dangers, if any.

[S L Dave]

Long live Frank! Raising his lonely dental floss up in the sky.... Weather you dug the music or not, he was always interesting.

BTW,
I'd get a new tank.

[gil marlin]

Great Googly Moogly!!! I knew there was some FZ lurkers here... :lol:

The tank is an above deck Tempo brand and fits under the bait well/leaning post. The old ones were, well... old... and I replaced them with a similar size. I guess they fit into the space a little differently and rubbed on one of the S/S lag screws that secure the leaning post. I have never had much luck with adhesives and fuel in the past working on cars so I won't be trying to glue it up. Although there is no large bilge area with a motor in it, having fuel leaking under any circumstances is too dangerous for me. The paint I used on the deck was resistant to the spill, but after it soaked in for who knows how long, it softened and lifted the paint. Re painting the deck is a pain so I plan on building a tray for the 2 tanks to sit on that will protect the tanks and catch any seepage that might occur.

[JETTYWOLF]

Wow, that sounds very elementary to me, now.....
It's a small boat tank, I guess.
Heck, there's no question then.

You have no problem, and just thank goodness you don't have a bigger boat with large fuel tank problems.

I believe there was no need for discussion at all and it was a no brainer, after all.
When you have a softball sized hole in the hull. Then you may have a real problem.

You have a photo of this craft, to post?

[gil marlin]

I believe there was no need for discussion at all and it was a no brainer, after all. You have a photo of this craft, to post?

I'm no scientist and don't know that much about plastics... so I thought maybe there was a way to repair this material safely, since it appears there isn't, I will throw it in the landfill and buy another... I'll post a picture of my boat after I figure out how to weld the lens back on my camera...

[tracy]

here's the replacement I did, and I think it's the right answer on this site.



plastic in the landfill and aluminum can be recycled

[Jay Perrotta]

Favorite Zappa Quote...

"Tobacco is my favorite vegetable"

[gil marlin]

here's the replacement I did, and I think it's the right answer on this site.

When I had the deck off I considered below deck tanks or saddle tanks but decided there wasn't enough room. I would love to have aluminum tanks plumbed in properly, although the 2 12gl. tanks are a lot easier to take to the pump when you're in Mexico

[JETTYWOLF]

Good gawd.........
we're talking 12 gallons

Holy crap.

All this really never warrented discussion even.

"Oh well, thats 10 minutes of life I lost....George."
-qoute "Dave the, Seinfeld Sein-ologist"

[gil marlin]

Good gawd.........we're talking 12 gallons Holy crap. All this really never warrented discussion even."Oh well, thats 10 minutes of life I lost....George."

Yeah, I heard you the first time... The question was how to fix a plastic tank, something people use a lot on small Aluminum boats... Sorry I wasted your valuable time... :roll: :roll:

Thanks to everyone else for their comments...

[welder]

Gil, what motor are your running on yer boat ?

In a pinch offshore I would just put a screw in it to stop the leak but when I got home I would get a new tank.

[JETTYWOLF]

No one was even replying to your problem, till I did.

So thanks to no one.

[welder]

As a matter of fact , I was the 1st one to reply to Gil's problem.

Now play nice .

[gil marlin]

Gil, what motor are your running on yer boat ?In a pinch offshore I would just put a screw in it to stop the leak but when I got home I would get a new tank.

I have a 55hp Yamaha 2-stroke... I'm still planning on going up to a 90hp 4-stroke, but then I start looking at all these different makes of aluminum hulls here and that little voice says, get a bigger boat, get a bigger boat... :lol:

A friend of mine put a hole in his oil pan down in Baja one time... We took the pan off, put a bolt with washers on both sides and gooped the crap out of it... It didn't leak a drop, but about a year later he decided to have it repaired correctly and had it welded... it started to drip after that...
I did fix a hole in the tank of my VW offroad bus that I keep in Mexico. It had an unintentional screw through it and leaked when you filled it over 3/4 full. I used some of that gas tank repair putty and it hasn't leaked since. The boat is different though...in a pinch I'd figure something out too, but I swear I'm buying a new tank...