Plastic Fuel Tank
 

I needed to replace my gas tank and bought a plastic 29 gallon tank
made for installation. However the old tank was 60 gallons and 37"
wide, 42 inches long and 10 inches deep. The replacement is 26" wide,
43 inches long and 9 inches deep. My question is from front to back
the tank fits in snug, but has 2 openings (are these what they mean
when they say baffles ??) and is not restricted in any other way and
has plenty of room on the sides and top. I keep reading that the tank
will expand 3% when I put gas in and was wondering if by having the
small areas of the front and back snug like it is, will cause me a
problem. Any help or words of wisdom are appreciated.

Jim

On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 11:03:32 -0700, Jim wrote:

I needed to replace my gas tank and bought a plastic 29 gallon tank
made for installation. However the old tank was 60 gallons and 37"
wide, 42 inches long and 10 inches deep. The replacement is 26" wide,
43 inches long and 9 inches deep. My question is from front to back
the tank fits in snug, but has 2 openings (are these what they mean
when they say baffles ??) and is not restricted in any other way and
has plenty of room on the sides and top. I keep reading that the tank
will expand 3% when I put gas in and was wondering if by having the
small areas of the front and back snug like it is, will cause me a
problem. Any help or words of wisdom are appreciated.

Jim

Baffles are internal partial walls inside the tank. The object of a
baffle is is to reduce sloshing around of fuel inside the tank.

If the two holes you are talking about are on the outside of the tank,
then they are not baffles. One is probably meant to go to the motor, and
the other one is probably meant as a vent. If your motor is a diesel, you
will probably need a third hole for the fuel return line. (If you already
know this, my apologies!)

Unfortunately I don't truly know whether you need more expansion room or
not, but I doubt it. Most plastic won't be hurt by a little flexing,
especially if it is designed to be used as a fuel tank in a boat.

HTH!

--Mac

I myself would pack solidly all around a plastic tank so there was
absolutely no way it could possibly rupture ... but that's because my
experience is with my tank (metal) which is up front in my runabout and on
occasion takes some severe pounding. And I've read there's a possibility of
static buildup with plastic (maybe an urban legend) so you might want to
look into that and grounding.


"Jim" wrote in message
m...
I needed to replace my gas tank and bought a plastic 29 gallon tank
made for installation. However the old tank was 60 gallons and 37"
wide, 42 inches long and 10 inches deep. The replacement is 26" wide,
43 inches long and 9 inches deep. My question is from front to back
the tank fits in snug, but has 2 openings (are these what they mean
when they say baffles ??) and is not restricted in any other way and
has plenty of room on the sides and top. I keep reading that the tank
will expand 3% when I put gas in and was wondering if by having the
small areas of the front and back snug like it is, will cause me a
problem. Any help or words of wisdom are appreciated.

Jim

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 00:14:11 +0000, Bowgus wrote:

And I've read there's a possibility of
static buildup with plastic (maybe an urban legend) so you might want to
look into that and grounding.


I don't think its an urban legend, but tanks sold in the US for use as
fuel tanks will probably be made of static proof plastic. I think the DOT
or some other Three Letter Agency (TLA) governs these things. I imagine
other industrialized countries are the same, more or less. If the tank
isn't explicitly sold as a fuel tank, then all bets are off.

Anyway, if the old metal tank had a grounding strap maybe it would be a
good idea to ground the new plastic one, too. But this is definitely not
my field of expertise...

--Mac
[older message deleted]