ABS? Fuel tank!?!?

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Jonza

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Hi Y´all. I managed a few days at my summerplace in the middle of the Baltic sea ( Fårö, Gotland, Sweden) and I thought I´d launch my very first dinghy, an 8 foot Norwegian Pioneer and the 2 hp Yamaha manualy wind starter OB (I bought it when I was nine (9) years old) only it has a chipped gas/petrol tank. I suspect it is made of ABS soo... how to quick-fix this? Small whole only but still - what to use - epoxi? Must have hyperfast intel from the board, now...gasp..!
Cheers Jonas
 
Few coatings are good for sealing gasoline. One is POR15 which will recoat the inside.
Such a tank sealer in use you would tape it up, pour in the gas tank sealer, rotate it around etc.. pour out the excess.
http://www.por15.com/POR-15-Fuel-Tank-Sealer_p_64.html

You would have to clean the tank good, like put in gravel, water, soap and shake it a lot.

Otherwise, you can use maybe JB Weld epoxy, or some other gas resistant epoxy, but it likely is only temporary fix.
 
There are several "wet wing" airplanes that carry gasoline in the interior of the riveted aluminum wing, sealed with a black sealer applied as a liquid, sloshed around and dumped out. Google will give you lots of details. I'm sure there are some jet fuel tanks made the same way, in which case the sealer compatible with jet fuel would no doubt work with Diesel.
 
I do not think the tank will be ABS as gasoline will wreck it. Do a google search.

http://www.gilsoneng.com/reference/ChemRes.pdf

I think you will find the tank is made of polyethylene, most likely high density polyethylene [HDPE]. Polyethylenes, all of them , are not good candidates for gluing of any kind without special techniques. They can be hot air welded, similar to gas welding except using hot air. Best is something like Nitrogen for a non reactive gas.
 
Don't have a reply, but I have a 2007 Mainship 400. One of the aluminum fuel tanks developed a leak on the bottom, which appears to be due to corrosion.
Diesel is seeping out from the bottom of the tank into the bilge. I just pumped that tank dry and now need to replace it.

Is there a poly replacement tank out there for the saddle tank? I believe it holds approximately 150 gallons mas y menos. Thanks Captain Ron D.
 
pro-seal fuel tank sealant is the name of stuff used in aircraft fuel tanks.

Terry
 
I have used some NAPA or other auto parts store fix it stick on leaky gasoline tanks in the past. Guess what...They work

pete
 
I do not think the tank will be ABS as gasoline will wreck it. Do a google search.

http://www.gilsoneng.com/reference/ChemRes.pdf

I think you will find the tank is made of polyethylene, most likely high density polyethylene [HDPE]. Polyethylenes, all of them , are not good candidates for gluing of any kind without special techniques. They can be hot air welded, similar to gas welding except using hot air. Best is something like Nitrogen for a non reactive gas.

+1 I agree with C lectric, most likely not ABS, mostly likely HDPE. If you can manage to carve a sliver off a mounting tab there is a destructive burning test that can help you determine what it is. Obviously don't do that around the fuel tank!

https://www.injectionmould.org/2019/04/02/plastic-material-identification/

Its best to do a burn test with a clean burning torch rather than a match so you don't get a confused odor. PE will be so distinctive you will recognize it immediately as the odor of smoke from a candle that has just been blown out.

Does the tank look something along the lines of this?

fuel-tank-assembly-for-yamaha-more-2-stroke.jpg

It is a fuel tank from later years Yamaha 2 HP. Yours could be much older and therefor differently shaped or colored. One other possibility, but I don't have the experience to have seen it, is that in the early days of making plastic fuel tanks, before the more modern HDPE's became the norm, there were two other materials used - a crosslinked PE and nylon. Crosslinked PE is virtually impossible to repair. It has the impossible glueing/epoxy issues of HDPE and will not fuse under hot air welding. (I'm not sure if it was ever used in the blow molding setting required to make a tank like you have.) Nylon gives rise to some possibilities of repair, it can be welded with hot air but I have no experience with repairing it in that manner. It should be able to be repaired with epoxies solutions rated for fuel.

I don't know how common hot air welding equipment is where you are. It is basically a hollow soldering iron hooked to a regulated low pressure air supply. They are specialized and here in the US a bit expensive (not something most handymen would have, usually only repair/fabrication shops specializing in working with those plastics. Like other specialized forms of welding, there is a bit of a learning curve.

BTW, attempting to use a torch (even if you have the tank empty of vapor) will be self defeating as the heat required to melt/fuse the tank and filler will cause the plastic to ignite and degrade, making it a very brittle repair that may not even hold fuel after its first impact/vibration.

There are products available here in the US that claim to bond to HDPE, but I wouldn't trust them to work. I don't know what those products' availability is in your neck of the world. Generally they seem to be types of expoxies. Some of the products talked about above (such as the products used to seal aircraft wing tanks) are a two component crazy sticky product that might temporarily work with the plastic. These will be difficult to find locally, unless you have access to a company that for example, sells everything needed to build a kit aircraft to the public.

Your very best bet will be to find a new replacement tank, or an intact used tank to replace yours.
 
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Ronco Tanks makes many sizes of tanks of HDPE.

https://ronco-plastics.com/product-category/boat-tanks/

Contact them to see if their offerings are fuel suitable. I think they are.

I have never used any of their products. Just have seen recommendations here and elsewhere.


I have , a long time ago [30 yr] , welded HDPE with a hot gas torch. Used nitrogen. The torch was about $1,000 plus the regulators needed as nitrogen is a high pressure tank/bottle.

Like all welding processes to be successfull requires a lot of practice. Not something you would just be able to jump into doing. That said there are usually good fabricators of custom tanks around but you will need to ask.
 
Another thought for you - I don't know much about how the 2 HP Yamaha with integral fuel tank works.

Does it have a fuel pump or is it gravity fed?

My guess is gravity fed. If that is the case you are stuck with repairing or replacing the tank. If it DOES happen to have a fuel pump it gives rise to the possibility of plumbing in an external fuel tank like larger outboards use...

(and I just realized that all of us for some reason are replying to this today, when in fact the original post was from 2016!!!:rofl: )

The the OP happens to see this it would be interesting to see what he did almost 4 years ago!!!
 
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"Is there a poly replacement tank out there for the saddle tank? I believe it holds approximately 150 gallons"

Plastic tanks are usually smaller as it is difficult to install walls inside to stop the fuel from sloshing hard enough to blow out an end.

4 -- 40G tanks might work, BUT plastic fuel tanks must be put in place , filled for a few days, allowed to expand , then properly secured.
 
The question was brought up again in Post # 5 so yes, replying sort of to a 4 yr old post but
Captain Ron D asked for into about his problem.
 
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