aluminium petrol tank or plastic

[s1jor]

petrol tank has a whole in it, antone reccomend alluminium or the plastic ones around???????????

 

[18rabbit]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

I think you are asking aluminum or plastic?<br /><br />Current thinking is plastic won’t corrode and get a hole in it like your old tank. I’m ok with plastic for smaller tanks, up to 15-gals or so. And plastic doesn’t allow as much condensation to form inside the tank. Aluminum can’t be beat if installed properly. The biggest problem with aluminum is the tanks often aren’t installed properly and they corrode. Aluminum is a must for larger fuel storage, hence the lack of any large, plastic fuel tanks.<br /><br />Bottom line: it depends on how the tank is/was installed.

 

[s1jor]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

the tank was installed from the factory, (Mariah) in 1997, i think its a 22ish gal tank, Installed properly involves what?????

 

[s1jor]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

sorry one other question, speaking to the guy at the boatyard today, he was reccommending the alluminium tank, but said it should be at least 5 mm thick alluminium, any advice?????????

 

[bayman]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

There are plenty of below deck plastic tanks in that size range. I think they would do fine.<br /><br />If you end up going with aluminum, make sure there are no metals which are more 'noble' touching the tank as that would help to cause corrosion.

 

[s1jor]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

trouble is the plastic tanks aint quite as easy to come by over here in the uk as the aluminium ones are????

 

[bayman]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

That's odd, I wonder why that is. I thought there were a good many marine retailers there which offering about anything you could find anywhere.<br /><br />I did a search on Plastimo.com for "petrol tank" and only found one - an 80 litre tank.<br /><br />Seems discouraging...

 

[s1jor]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

yeah the uk are about 20 million years behind the usa, so we'll get them eventually

 

[swist]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

The boating industry is also behind the times here and everywhere - modern cross-linked polyethelyne tanks can be made very large and are just as strong as aluminum, and are far less subject to corrosion. This is a case of "we've always done it that way" for no good reason.

 

[amirm]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

One of the "proper" things to do with Aluminum is to make sure it is not packed with foam around it which can collect moisture, leading to corrosion.<br /><br />Amir

 

[swist]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

One of the "proper" things to do with Aluminum is to make sure it is not packed with foam around it which can collect moisture, leading to corrosion.

Correct, but many manufacturers foam them in anyway. And even if they are properly installed, salt water and aluiminum are enemies and it's going to get to it sooner or later. IMHO the industry should have switched to cross-linked poly as so as it was available. It's just a better material from all aspects in the 20-100 gal range common in recreational vessels.

 

[s1jor]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

looks like i'l gonna have to get an aluminium tank, is it worth trying to coat the tank with epoxy or something to try and slow down the corrosion ?????

 

[Buttanic]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

You might want to look into having one made out of fiberglass. I just had a 75 gallon fiberglass tank made and it was less expensive than aluminun and no corrosion worries.

 

[KIGuy52]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

Can you order one from a US website? <br />BoatUS.com online store has a large selection of tanks made from various materials.

 

[s1jor]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

been to the alot of the us site and the tanks are all either to deep or too long, i need one of the belly tanks, and the tank we have just taken out was obviously specially made for the boat by mariah, cause it doesn't seem to be standard size, where did you get you fibreglass one made from???? boatyrad????

 

[Buttanic]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

I had it made at a local fiberglass repair and fabication shop. They duplicated the old tank which was galvanized steel.

 

[umblecumbuz]

Re: aluminium petrol tank or plastic

s1jor,<br /><br />Try these UK people. They'll make a plastic tank to your dimensions:<br /> www.tek-tanks.com<br />Or this UK firm: <br /> www.seamarknunn.com/<br /><br />If you decide to use alu, then bond it into circuit with other metal components on your boat, or fit a sacrificial anode to it. This will minimise electrolytic corrosion. <br />Painting it will minimise atmosopheric corrosion.