Best practice for DIY tank repair in 4x4ing is to flush the tank
several times then do any welding with the tank full of water, as in
right to the top of the filler and vent, zero air inside, period. Then
weld.

Yes, I have done this to my Toyota 4x4 while on a trail.

Insert disclaimer here...

Gas is explosive in confined areas and the water will displace the
oxygen preventing an explosion. If you can do likewise with the bilge,
flushing and filling, you should be relatively safe. I would also use
a reciprocating saw or some form of blade cutting that is less likely
to cause sparks as opposed to a die grinder or torch.

As for responsibility, you purchased a working vessel, fit and ready
for service. The onus is on the supplier to stand behind workmanship;
unless the boat was in some form of distress at some point I can see
no reason for a fuel leak, ergo workmanship.


On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 00:41:08 GMT, "habbi"
wrote:

The aluminum tank has aluminum pipes welded to it which go toward the side
of the hull and then 90 up 1' above the deck.(welded through deck.) Then the
rubber filler, vent and feed start. I plugged the filler and vent and then
pressurized the feed with 5psi. The air is hissing out of the tank but I
can't see where. Bottom line is the deck has to be cut open but I want the
vapours gone before attempting this. I have heard of people rinsing out
metal gas tanks from cars with water and then trying to weld them and they
still blew up. I guess what I am essentially dealing with is a very very
large empty gasoline tank which has a smaller 100 gallon gasoline tank
inside it.
What should expect from the builder which is in a different province and had
the boat shipped here. Should this type of problem be their responsibility
or mine? Again the boat is 1 year old.

"Bowgus" wrote in message
t.cable.rogers.com...
Or maybe the problem is the filler tube (maybe torn) or it's connection to
the tank (loose clamp)? And might I suggest you remove ALL the fuel from
the
boat (tank, bilge) before doing any work ... I assume by work you mean
cutting open the deck ... and let it air out for a coupla days before
doing
any work.

habbi wrote in message
...
I have a 31 aluminum work boat with an under deck fuel tank which must
be
leaking. The aluminum deck is welded in place. The tank is a 100 gallon
aluminum tank. The boat is only 1 year old. I removed the drain plug
from
the back of the boat and about 2 gaollons of gas came out, this leads me
to
believe that the crack must be on the top of the tank because the tank
is
almost full and this is the only time I ever opened the drain plug.
Before
I
do any work I want to make sure I don't have an explosion. If I fill the
bilge area with dishsoap and water and then drain it will this remove
all
dangerous vapours? Any other ideas?