Pros and cons

Wolly Bugger
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Pros and cons

Post by Wolly Bugger » Fri May 11, 2018 7:59 am

What are the pros and cons for fuel tanks, with the choice between, stainless steel, aluminium or plastic?

denis barden
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Re: Pros and cons

Post by denis barden » Fri May 11, 2018 8:14 am

The best for inbuilt tanks is Black Steel -These dont crack like Stainless Steel

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Re: Pros and cons

Post by repspec » Fri May 11, 2018 8:35 am

- plastic swells and can be had to fully tighten hose clamps on...and are only standard sizes
- S/S tanks are heavy and expensive
- Ally tanks are the way to go. Custom made (cheap enough $300-600 depending on size), light compared to S/S and still strong.

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Re: Pros and cons

Post by frozenpod » Fri May 11, 2018 8:41 am

The aluminium tank in our 32 year old boat is still the original tank from factory.

Hard to go passed a proven material that is arguably the most commonly used in production boats.

Texas
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Re: Pros and cons

Post by Texas » Fri May 11, 2018 11:23 am

As with most things wolly "oils aren't oils Sols"
Stainless steel from China is cheap and will rust
S/S from Sweden/Germany is expensive and shouldn't rust
That's all I know about the stuff
Gra

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Re: Pros and cons

Post by blacklab99 » Fri May 11, 2018 2:52 pm

Plastic tanks expand not much more than other materials, the main advantage is weight and corrosion free.
As frozen sais, his aluminium tank is 32 years old. its all down to fitting properly.
I've gone with the plastic tank on my rebuild for maintenance purposes as the floor is being glassed fully over with only small access ports over connection points, as far as tightening hose clamps go, they've been using these plastic tanks in some boat types for 20 years without having that issue.
The BIG KEY to any tank type, is fitting it properly !!!

Col

repspec
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Re: Pros and cons

Post by repspec » Fri May 11, 2018 3:15 pm

blacklab99 wrote:Plastic tanks expand not much more than other materials, the main advantage is weight and corrosion free.
As frozen sais, his aluminium tank is 32 years old. its all down to fitting properly.
I've gone with the plastic tank on my rebuild for maintenance purposes as the floor is being glassed fully over with only small access ports over connection points, as far as tightening hose clamps go, they've been using these plastic tanks in some boat types for 20 years without having that issue.
The BIG KEY to any tank type, is fitting it properly !!!

Col
Why would you seal the floor in??? What happens if the tank has a split in it... why not make a removable hatch/floor.

I had the exact same conversation with a well known winch builder when he was building his boat... his response was "its a brand new tank...how would it leak"...He sealed the floor in and the guys who built the boat screwed something into a corner of the tank. Would only drip slightly...but it took ages to find the problem...and then he had to cut the floor up and start all over again...

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Re: Pros and cons

Post by blacklab99 » Fri May 11, 2018 3:52 pm

Having a one piece floor is what I want, Simple solution, don't screw something thru the floor into the tank !
I will have access via hatches for cleaning, changing hoses etc, with bungs at either end for flushing, "what happens if" is deminished if you do it properly in the first instance. Took me a while to get my head around it, as it isn't the norm, until I found out boat builders have been doing it for a couple of decades without failures.
Again, if the plastic tanks are fitted to spec, like any tank, there's not an issue, most tank failures are either mechanical or incorrect fitting.
The advantages of having a clean floor, in my opinion, is far better, for deck covering, cleaning, and no shite or screw holes getting water into them, as per the normal set up on my CC.
Its a personal choice I'm comfortable with........

Col

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Re: Pros and cons

Post by smile0784 » Fri May 11, 2018 6:48 pm

Do plastic tanks still produse the condensation like ss tanks?

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Re: Pros and cons

Post by blacklab99 » Fri May 11, 2018 7:24 pm

Condensation causes are pretty hotly debated.
Some experts say its to do with temperature and the differentual between the fuel and the tank material.
Aluminium as a metal, is one of the better metals with regard to being able to adjust to ambient outside temperature quite quickly.
But, alot of "experts" are saying that its to do with the water content in the air and has nothing to do with keeping the tank full during storage or having it half empty. Go figure who to believe. I know my previous S/S tanks were always covered with condensation on the outsides especially during winter, Aluminium ones, not that much. Plastic, well, don't know, couldn't really say whether there better or worse than either.
Best solution, don't store the boat ,
just use it all year round and you wont have an issue !!!!!!

Col

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