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Found bad pitting on my fuel tank??

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 10:13 pm
by mkcoxn
I was cleaning the area forward of my fuel tank on my 87 10 meter express standard cabin and found bad pitting on the forward panel of the tank, down low near the bottom. An "expert" came down and said replace or repair asap!

Does anyone have the blue prints or dimensions of this tank? It says its maid by FLorida Marine Tank. It is 242 gallons and .190 thick. My boat has the single tank in the center of the two aft cockpit stringers. The reason the pitting occured is because of a wooden platform someone previously made to make this area level to stow gear was up against the tank and it corroded. All the pitting was between the wooden platform/decking and the tank. The rest of the tank that i can see looks fine. I obviously can't see the bottom.

Any help would be great!

Mike

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:10 am
by RWS
Mike,

my boat sat in the water for 18 years before I bought her. (She's now lift kept)

When I repowered I pulled the tank, just to make sure everything on the bottom looked good. We found pitting at the rear, near teh bottom, obviously she spent some time with bilgewater from an inoperative rear bilgepump.

The tank was removed and built by a company in Bradenton, FL to exact specifications for about $600.

Before installing itwe coated the outside bottom half with a special 2 part epoxy to protect the tank.

The removal of that deck is actually quite simple, but is easier with 2 people one above and on below to handle the fasteners. Cut the caulk and pop that deck off.

I found some water intrusion from the rear seat fittings had damaged a bit of the balsa core of that deck. We repaired it from the underside while the deck was off.

Another tip, the rear bilge pump is mounted to the liner. With the tank out I cut out a small section of the liner allowing the rear bilge pump and switch to be remounted directly to the hull, allowing the pump to evacuate more water than the original design allowed.

Once you get the bugs worked out I believe you will be happy with your 10 meter.

RWS

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:12 am
by mkcoxn
RWS thanks for the tip.