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#1
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Plywood fuel tanks
I am rebuilding a Nova Scotia lobster boat to go cruising in the Carribean.
I am thinking of building epoxy covered diesel fuel tanks. Anabody having any experienec with those? Thanks Luc MV/ Julie C Montreal |
#2
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Plywood fuel tanks
I believe you'll do better if you coat the inside of the tanks with
fiberglass, using the epoxy resin. Had a friend build some tanks that way and they served quite well. Sure, the expoxy is supposed to be a good moisture barrier itself, but the added expense of the 'glass is well worth it. Dick Behan "Sir Karl" wrote in message ... I am rebuilding a Nova Scotia lobster boat to go cruising in the Carribean. I am thinking of building epoxy covered diesel fuel tanks. Anabody having any experienec with those? Thanks Luc MV/ Julie C Montreal |
#3
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Plywood fuel tanks
R.W. Behan wrote:
I believe you'll do better if you coat the inside of the tanks with fiberglass, using the epoxy resin. Had a friend build some tanks that way and they served quite well. Sure, the expoxy is supposed to be a good moisture barrier itself, but the added expense of the 'glass is well worth it. Glass yes, epoxy no. I believe Vinyl ester resin is the prefered choice for fule tanks. Richard |
#4
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Plywood fuel tanks
cavelamb himself wrote:
Glass yes, epoxy no. I believe Vinyl ester resin is the prefered choice for fule tanks. You believe wrong. Lew |
#5
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Plywood fuel tanks
Lew Hodgett wrote:
cavelamb himself wrote: Glass yes, epoxy no. I believe Vinyl ester resin is the prefered choice for fule tanks. You believe wrong. Lew Awright Lew, Maybe marine gas is different from mogas these days? I've had sevearl aircraft tanks built with epoxy fail. But never a failure with Vinyl Ester. Auto fuels these days have more solvents than gasoline. And those solvents will leach through epoxy and polyester. YMMV, but I'll stick with ve. Richard |
#6
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Plywood fuel tanks
cavelamb himself wrote:
Awright Lew, Maybe marine gas is different from mogas these days? I've had sevearl aircraft tanks built with epoxy fail. But never a failure with Vinyl Ester. Auto fuels these days have more solvents than gasoline. And those solvents will leach through epoxy and polyester. YMMV, but I'll stick with ve. SFWIW, I don't get on boats with gasoline propulsion, so my perspective is probably skewed. Since this is a 40 ft boat, doubt it has gasoline propulsion, so never gave a gasoline tank a consideration; however, were your epoxy tanks that failed properly coated with tank resin? It makes a major difference. Lew |
#7
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Plywood fuel tanks
Lew might have been more helpful in his answer.
Vinylester resin is preferred for fuel tanks because most fuel tanks hold gasoline - gasoline is incompatible with most (but not all) epoxy resins. Your tanks are diesel so you probably could use epoxy - except that diesel increasingly laced with alcohol and even ethanol which is usually not compatible. Below is a link to some instructions from West - while they say you can use West epoxy they sure don't sound enthusiastic. They also note that fuel tanks are heavily regulated by federal law. While you can build your own tank, if you want to sell the boat (at least in the US) you might have an interesting legal exposure. You also may have challenges obtaining insurance on the boat if you admit to the homebuilt tank. http://www.westsystem.com/ewmag/18/pdf/tanks.pdf If you do go ahead - as others have suggested use a layer or two of cloth. Also, if the tank is over 20 gallons or so, don't forget baffles. Carl |
#8
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Plywood fuel tanks
Carl wrote:
Lew might have been more helpful in his answer. You need to apply epoxy "tank resin" as the final interior coating for a fuel tank if you expect it to survive as defined by federal CFR spec. Laminating epoxy and knitted glass provide the strength and protection of the plywood core. Epoxy tank resin, a totally different epoxy product, provides not only protection for the laminating resin, but also a non porous interior tank surface. Lew |
#9
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Plywood fuel tanks
Lew might have been more helpful in his answer.
Vinylester resin is preferred for fuel tanks because most fuel tanks hold gasoline - gasoline is incompatible with most (but not all) epoxy resins. Your tanks are diesel so you probably could use epoxy - except that diesel is increasingly laced with alcohol and even ethanol which is usually not compatible with epoxy. Below is a link to some instructions from West - while they say you can use West epoxy they sure don't sound enthusiastic. They also note that fuel tanks are heavily regulated by federal law. While you can build your own tank, if you want to sell the boat (at least in the US) you might have an interesting legal exposure. You also may have challenges obtaining insurance on the boat if you admit to the homebuilt tank. http://www.westsystem.com/ewmag/18/pdf/tanks.pdf If you do go ahead - as others have suggested use a layer or two of cloth. Also, if the tank is over 20 gallons or so, don't forget baffles. Carl |
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