Fuel tank repair
Submitted by rossco21 on Tue, 2015-05-26 13:12
Hey guys just wondering who people use for Ali welding on fuel tanks. Need to get mine fixed due to a leak at the level sensor. Prefer North or the river. Cheers in advance.
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
Bloody brave ones
Hope you find one who will take on the job, has it had fuel in it
The Saint
Posts: 455
Date Joined: 30/01/13
I know you were chasing North
I know you were chasing North of river rossco, but Willie at Bullett Boats in Rockingham will repair fuel tanks.
Not cheap as he uses a process where he continually floods the tank with argon while he is welding to prevent an accident.
sea-kem
Posts: 14857
Date Joined: 30/11/09
There are tank degassing
There are tank degassing firms in the metro area. Get this done first before any repairs.
Love the West!
rossco21
Posts: 108
Date Joined: 15/06/10
Cheers saint, little bit far
Cheers saint, little bit far but may have to be the option. Just have to have a hunt around a bit longer. Cheers
turtl3tim
Posts: 203
Date Joined: 01/01/15
devcon? need-it? no good on
devcon? need-it? no good on alloy im guessing. like the saint said, it needs to be filled with an inert gas, alot of the old schoolers used to plumb a hose from a running car to the fuel tank to fill it with c02, much cheaper than flooding it with argon. u could have a fuel tank thats only held fuel for a year, and water for 20 years...but when empty the thing could still explode. honestly it could be cheaper to buy a new tank than have it repaired?
Good things come to those who bait.
Rob H
Posts: 5745
Date Joined: 18/01/12
there are several ways to do
there are several ways to do it, depending if you are welding it yourself or getting a business to do it.
Proper way-empty all fuel out as possible then ventilate (by force even better) for a few days then use a gas tester to certify it. Washing with detergent will also speed up the process and petrol evaporates very quickly.
Other way, you can reduce the risk several ways-drain then wash with detergent, drain and ventilate for as long as poss in the sun.
Filling it up with water to the top guarantees there is no explosive gases left though obviously you cant weld by any method if water is coming thru. However you can tip it to such an angle that the crack is at the highest point which means instead of a potential say 300litres of explosive vapour, there is only a couple of teaspoons of air behind the weld.
If you dont know what you are doing though, Id leave it to the experts.
Petrol tanks are much more hazardous than diesel, but both will evaporate with ventilation.
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
rossco21
Posts: 108
Date Joined: 15/06/10
Yeah it's going to be a
Yeah it's going to be a tricky one. The problem is not being cracked. It's where the level sensor screws in its only held down by six screws that go through 2 mm alloy. Two of the threads are now buggered and when the tanks full it dribbles out.
carnarvonite
Posts: 8627
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Bigger
Tap in bigger screws and use a sealant on each one as you put them back in. Don't use silicon as it forms small balls/ pellets inside the tank and will block the pick up.
Found about that the hard way, engine would cut out when pick up was blocked and once it stopped there wasn't any suction to hold the ball of silicon up and it would drop back to bottom of the tank, just waiting for another chance to do it all over again. Took about 4-5 times before I opened the tank and found it.
rossco21
Posts: 108
Date Joined: 15/06/10
Haha the problem there
Haha the problem there carnarvonite is it's the original ally tank that it came with from Quintrex. Therefore there didn't tap the holes out due to thin tank and they are self tapper type screws. I did float the idea of just trying one or two sizes up and the use of some sort of petrol tolerant sealant. But the good old thing of if that fails then I have a full tank that I need to empty. Which can mean oh well day on the water (what a shame) but at the moment time has been a drama. What sort of sealant did you end up using that tolerates petrol.. Whilst we were at coral bay we did try sealing it with a fuel tank and radiator kneed it type thing but that goes had like a bond where as this way I will be wanting a sealant that doesn't go rock hard that could crack and leak again.
carnarvonite
Posts: 8627
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Sikaflex
Try either the black or white sikaflex or get some rubber sheeting and cut out a full gasket that is at least 1/8 of an inch thick
Gunner966
Posts: 145
Date Joined: 23/04/13
Look up threaded nut insert
Look up threaded nut insert .
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
Few issues
There are a few issues with the repair. As said above the tank needs to be degassed.
At 2mm , if you weld a thicker plate over the flat surface where the sender fits, you will most likely get heat distortion and end up with a non flat surface so the sender will need a sealant anyway.
As a suggestion, place a thicker plate over the whole area, seal it and screw it down with mutable self tappers.
Then fit the sender to the thicker plate, again with sealant and threaded fasteners or self tappers.
There is a sealant for fuel tanks but I cant remember what its called.
If you need a small plate of 4mm alloy let me know, if you pick it up you can have it free.
Cheers Grant .
rossco21
Posts: 108
Date Joined: 15/06/10
Yep I have insertion rubber
Yep I have insertion rubber and was going to make a new gasket. Yeah surely there has to be a type of skis flex that is petrol tolerant.. The skis they had in coral was only general purpose and not for petrol. Gunner I didn't even think of nut inserts. Can get a hold of them and a gun really easy too.. Champ idea mate
Gunner966
Posts: 145
Date Joined: 23/04/13
Stay away from insertion
Stay away from insertion rubber - unless of course is petrol rated, go the paper type of gasket material and some loctite master gasket.
rossco21
Posts: 108
Date Joined: 15/06/10
Ok for the insertion rubber,
Ok for the insertion rubber, not sure if it is so I'll stay clear of it.. That could be the goer grant, that way it'd also give me a inspection hole of some sort. I'll keep that in mind about the alloy may have to take you up on that come round and even chat over a beer with you..
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
Pm
Pm me if you want to drop in, bring the sender and I might have time to cut the plate to shape for you .
rossco21
Posts: 108
Date Joined: 15/06/10
No worries grant. Any day
No worries grant. Any day more suitable than others?? Cheers again
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
PM
Pm sent . .