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Hi All,
I was curious about how people have handled our aging fuel tanks. My new-to-me P424 has been cruising for the past 7 years, but mostly in protected waters.I’m about to do an offshore delivery in bigger water and I’m a little concerned that there might be years of sludge in the bottom of the tank, that is just waiting to get stirred up and cause me trouble.
My racor is totally clean and the vacuum gauge shows a 0 when motoring/sailing. I’ve taken the tank down to half-full and refilled it. Still, I see no sign of debris in my filters. I’d like to think this is a good sign, but still no telling what’s lurking at the bottom.
Has anyone here done a “good cleaning” of the tank? Did you have to put in “access ports”. Every fuel polisher I speak too is trying to upsell that to me. I’m not crazy about the additional work, dollars or “holes” in my tank. But perhaps this is the best course.
Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Anything would be most welcome.
Thank you,Paul
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Paul,
This subject has come up before, most recently a month ago. My comment then
was as follows:My 424 had been sitting on the hard for unknown months when I bought her.
One of the very first things I did, just before (mostly) motoring her 300
miles up the ICW to another boat yard, was to remove and replace that foggy
portlight in the cockpit sole so I could see through it, and pull the
30-year-old fuel sight gauge and replace it with a new one, readily
available from any marine store for $10 or $15. While those things were out,
I secured a hose to a long stick with wire ties, gently lowered the end
through the sight gauge hole to the tank’s deepest point, which is at the
forward end of the tank, and used a hand pump to suck out about a gallon or
so of fuel from there. To my delight it came up clean and free of water, so
I figured (correctly, as it turned out) that it was safe to use. If it had
come up ugly, I would probably have pumped out more until it showed clear,
or if it looked too far gone, arranged for polishing.Of course, I had the advantage of a boat that had been on the hard for a
long time. Any water and most dirt in the fuel tank would long ago have
settled to the deepest part of the tank. But even if your boat has been
sitting in a calm slip for a week, I believe you’d find most if not all of
the gunk settled to the bottom.Of course, you can unwittingly take on dirty fuel anytime. I have been saved
more than once by having twin Racor fuel filters / water separators between
the tank and the engine, with a valve to switch from one to the other
instantly if one gets clogged by sludge.Reef early,
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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Paul,
When I purchased Sarah in 2000 I was also concerned about sludge and water
in a then 20 year old tank. I considered doing something similar to what
Tor did or renting a fuel polishing set up. Never did either. In the
first year of my ownership I took Sarah to Bermuda and back. The trip over
was almost all motoring. When I got to Bermuda the Racor filter was clean
and no water in the bowl. So I figured the tank was clean and worried
about other things.
In 2008, after a lot more off-shore motoring, I repowered and replaced the
fuel tank. When the yard was getting ready to remove the tank they first
pumped out all of the fuel with a big 125VAC pump. Initially they dropped
the hose down to the bottom of the tank. They started the pump and it
immediately collapsed the hose. They pulled up the hose and it was clogged
with sludge. As everyone says “I’d rather be lucky than good”.
So I’d recommend doing something like what Tor did rather my ignorance is
bliss approach.Regards,
John Stevenson
http://www.svsarah.comOn Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 2:48 PM, Silverheels wrote:
Paul,
This subject has come up before, most recently a month ago. My comment then
was as follows:My 424 had been sitting on the hard for unknown months when I bought her.
One of the very first things I did, just before (mostly) motoring her 300
miles up the ICW to another boat yard, was to remove and replace that foggy
portlight in the cockpit sole so I could see through it, and pull the
30-year-old fuel sight gauge and replace it with a new one, readily
available from any marine store for $10 or $15. While those things were
out,
I secured a hose to a long stick with wire ties, gently lowered the end
through the sight gauge hole to the tank’s deepest point, which is at the
forward end of the tank, and used a hand pump to suck out about a gallon or
so of fuel from there. To my delight it came up clean and free of water, so
I figured (correctly, as it turned out) that it was safe to use. If it had
come up ugly, I would probably have pumped out more until it showed clear,
or if it looked too far gone, arranged for polishing.Of course, I had the advantage of a boat that had been on the hard for a
long time. Any water and most dirt in the fuel tank would long ago have
settled to the deepest part of the tank. But even if your boat has been
sitting in a calm slip for a week, I believe you’d find most if not all of
the gunk settled to the bottom.Of course, you can unwittingly take on dirty fuel anytime. I have been
saved
more than once by having twin Racor fuel filters / water separators between
the tank and the engine, with a valve to switch from one to the other
instantly if one gets clogged by sludge.Reef early,
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
Original MessageQuote:Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
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I would strongly suggest purchasing a vacuum gauge that replaces the T handle in the Racore filter. It will tell you when the filter is clogged or before it clogs.
AlanSent from my iPhone
On Aug 29, 2013, at 3:10 PM, John Stevenson wrote:
Paul,
When I purchased Sarah in 2000 I was also concerned about sludge and water
in a then 20 year old tank. I considered doing something similar to what
Tor did or renting a fuel polishing set up. Never did either. In the
first year of my ownership I took Sarah to Bermuda and back. The trip over
was almost all motoring. When I got to Bermuda the Racor filter was clean
and no water in the bowl. So I figured the tank was clean and worried
about other things.
In 2008, after a lot more off-shore motoring, I repowered and replaced the
fuel tank. When the yard was getting ready to remove the tank they first
pumped out all of the fuel with a big 125VAC pump. Initially they dropped
the hose down to the bottom of the tank. They started the pump and it
immediately collapsed the hose. They pulled up the hose and it was clogged
with sludge. As everyone says “I’d rather be lucky than good”.
So I’d recommend doing something like what Tor did rather my ignorance is
bliss approach.Regards,
John Stevenson
http://www.svsarah.comOn Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 2:48 PM, Silverheels wrote:
Paul,
This subject has come up before, most recently a month ago. My comment then
was as follows:My 424 had been sitting on the hard for unknown months when I bought her.
One of the very first things I did, just before (mostly) motoring her 300
miles up the ICW to another boat yard, was to remove and replace that foggy
portlight in the cockpit sole so I could see through it, and pull the
30-year-old fuel sight gauge and replace it with a new one, readily
available from any marine store for $10 or $15. While those things were
out,
I secured a hose to a long stick with wire ties, gently lowered the end
through the sight gauge hole to the tank’s deepest point, which is at the
forward end of the tank, and used a hand pump to suck out about a gallon or
so of fuel from there. To my delight it came up clean and free of water, so
I figured (correctly, as it turned out) that it was safe to use. If it had
come up ugly, I would probably have pumped out more until it showed clear,
or if it looked too far gone, arranged for polishing.Of course, I had the advantage of a boat that had been on the hard for a
long time. Any water and most dirt in the fuel tank would long ago have
settled to the deepest part of the tank. But even if your boat has been
sitting in a calm slip for a week, I believe you’d find most if not all of
the gunk settled to the bottom.Of course, you can unwittingly take on dirty fuel anytime. I have been
saved
more than once by having twin Racor fuel filters / water separators between
the tank and the engine, with a valve to switch from one to the other
instantly if one gets clogged by sludge.Reef early,
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
Original MessageQuote:Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
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Several years ago, I kept clogging up the tank pick-up tube and fuel filter with gunk from the bottom of my fuel tank. I hired a fuel polishing company that drained the talk. In the area, behind the engine we cut an access port into the tank near the top that allowed internal cleaning of the tank surface. This solved the immediate problem.
As a next step, I designed a built a fuel polishing system that recirculates the fuel in the tank. The system is very similar to the one you can purchase (but cost me a lot less money to build). It is composed of a fuel pump and diesel filter and a lot of valves and is independent of the main engine fuel system. It can be used to polish, act as an aux fuel filter, or work as an independent fuel pump for the engine.
Since the cleaning and installation of the polishing system, this problem (thus far) has not occurred again.
Steve
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The aluminum tanks installed by Pearson develop leaks after about 25 years. Look for signs of fuel stains behind the engine to the left or right of the tank. Fuel in the bilge is a sign of trouble.
I had a local yard clean my tank many years ago. They ran a suction hose down into the bottom of the tank and sucked out the sludge. Baffles in the tank prevent the hose from getting to the starboard side of the tank from the fill hose however. You can remove the fuel gauge and stick a small hose down that side though.
Putting an O-ring under the fuel fill cap will keep water out of your tank. Keeping the tank normally full reduces lung capacity and helps keep water out too. A little bit of water will promote algae.
Some owners put in their own polishing system. Unless the tank is agitated somehow, I don’t see how this can get the sludge off the bottom of the tank.
Rich
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When Whiffler was repowered about 14 years ago the tank was removed and a coating was put onto the inside that was supposed to protect the tank long term. It was done by a previous owner so I do not know the exact nature of the coating. Thus far it has held up – we shall see in the future.
Steve
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The fuel tanks on the early 424s, such as my #2, were steel, and they seem
to have stood up much better than the aluminum tanks. Don’t know when or
why Pearson switched, possibly because they gave up on the 424 replacing
the OI 41s that were coming out of the charter trade. I think I read
somewhere that the USCG required steel tanks on charter boats back in the
70s and 80s.Regards,
John Stevenson
http://www.svsarah.comOn Fri, Aug 30, 2013 at 11:56 AM, Steven Weinberg, Ph.D.
wrote:Quote:When Whiffler was repowered about 14 years ago the tank was removed and a
coating was put onto the inside that was supposed to protect the tank long
term. It was done by a previous owner so I do not know the exact nature of
the coating. Thus far it has held up – we shall see in the future.Steve
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Silverheels’ 1978 fuel tank is steel. When I bought her, the tank had a few
patches of surface rust on the outside, which I treated and painted where I
could see and reach. I have no way of knowing how it’s doing inside, but
have seen no hint of iron oxide in the fuel and filters. I’m reluctant to
fix something that isn’t broken.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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