Electrical System and Gas Tank Life Expectancy F-36

[cuppa]

Hello,

Looking for some feedback from current f-36 owners, I am looking in to purchasing an f-36 and was wondering what the average life expectanct is on the Gas Tanks and the electricl system. The 36 that I am looking at is an 1982. Just looking to see if there are a couple more years left or 20 more years? I know each vessel is different but I am sure some one with exp in this vessel can say..

Same with the 6.5 Onan. it supposedly runs but it a rust bucket?
Thanks
Brian

[Danny Bailey]

I have owned a 1980 F-36 since 2004 and have had no more than what I consider normal electrical problems. The wiring is not tinned and anywhere it has been exposed to salt water there is corrosion.

I just pulled my galvanized steel gas tanks out for a diesel repower and they were in good condition for their age. Could have gone another 10-15 years easily.

My 6.5 Onan was not operational when I bought the boat. Replacement parts for these generators are outrageously high. I did patch it up and ran it until last summer when the fuel pump went out. It came out last month as part of the diesel repower and is considered junk / scrap metal. Yours, like mine is probably salt water cooled and almost rusted through inside the water jacket.

[cuppa]

thank you...



any non owners or any one else have comments..

[prowlersfish]

I Have had very little electrical proplems on my F36 just light sockits in out side (nav) lights and termals in the fuse block in the flybrige needed cleaning no big deal . not bad for a boat built in 1977 ,I had a 77 F30 also very liltle electrical proplems other then fixing what the former own did . both boats have had the fuel tanks replaced .they came with galvanized tanks if you find they are aluminum then you know they have been replaced . is there 20 of life years left for this boat ? I would think so .


On the genset if works clean it up use it till it brakes any time you get from it call it a bonus

[mintregila]

I had a 1984 F36 for 5 seasons. The main tanks were in good shape and had alot of life left in them. I replaced the aux tanks because the previous owner had not used them for about 10 years and they were in poor condition.

The genset lasted me 3 seasons. Pay close attention to the exhaust system as they were prone to rotting out. They are expensive to fix and I was up to about $1200 invested before I pulled it and put a Kohler in with a sound shield. I agree with the previosu post. Anything you get from it without a big investment is a plus but I would budget for a replacement.

[JuiceClark]

My Onan looked pretty good even as I had it hauled down to the junkyard. I'm not screwin' around with leaking gas exhaust and 1K of dead weight. If you must have a/c when at sea, buy a new, lightweight diesel genny. Or, like I did, throw a Honda 2K portable in the cabinet for an emergency and forget it.

I had one problem with a rebuilt engine in my 1982 f-36 and that's all (not the boats fault) in 3 years of rather hard usage. No problems really. I give much of the credit to the simple and rather rugged design and construction of the F-36. However, the rest of it I give to the fact that I completely replaced all wiring and plumbing in the boat as soon as I bought it. You see, electrical stuff often breaks because it's not getting enough juice or amps are surging because of bad connections. Putting new electronics in with old wires is just silly. It only took three weekends for this dummy (I'm a stock portfolio manager - not an electrician!) to completely rewire and replumb the entire boat. It was actually kinda fun...the wiring is all orderly now and understandable and I don't have to worry about hoses breaking, etc. It didn't even cost $300 to do it either.

Fuel tank? Well, I replaced my 4 galvanized with 1 aluminum because I didn't want crap in my fuel or to blow-up. But if it ain't broke, you can put that off a while.

Tony in Sw FL
1982 F-36
http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/ ... 59430&url=