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Old 11-13-2015, 08:10 PM   #21
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well rt, if you look a bit on the net you can find anything and all kinds of uninformed people to substantiate any position you may take. As a former proffesionall welder I can say with certainty that the welding apprentices (put nicely) in your first example dont have a clew. The second example seems to be a company trying to prevent accidents caused by employees similar to your first bunch. I can understand that, and yes, welding a fuel tank is serious business. As is heart surgery, but its done successfully everyday. Granted its by proffessionalls that know what they're doing. In both cases. If done correctly people dont usually die.
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Old 11-13-2015, 08:30 PM   #22
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I've given up commenting about welding on this forum several years ago. I'm convinced everyone on this board knows better than I what I can and cannot weld.

Btw. I prefer to weld fuel tanks as full as possible too. As stated earlier in this thread, no oxygen no boom boom. But then again, what could I know?
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Old 11-13-2015, 08:42 PM   #23
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Gentlemen (Kulas& Steve&Tina), thank you for chiming in with your experience on this. I felt like I was kind of hanging out there without much more then being able to say it happened and that the weld held for as long as I owned the boat.

And RT & Marlin, I don't blame you for doubting this. When the yard called me and told me that it could be done safely, I told them "If you say so, I'm just glad I am a 1000 miles away." Believe me, with the millions of dollars investment in their Big Time marina and repair facility in the middle of a population center in Maryland, they were not going to let some half drunk homer light a torch to "see if it works".

Before the welder did his magic, we had determined that the cheapest and easiest way to change that tank was to take it out of the side. This was a yard that stated they could cut the hull, repair it to stronger specs than new, and have the job done in 1/3 the time of removing the engine, cutting the old tank and producing and installing a new tank.

Like I have said before, when you have a repair present itself on one of the older Taiwanese boats, you start digging for the big boat units to pay for it. This was one of the more pleasant surprises I ever had in boating.
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Old 11-13-2015, 08:43 PM   #24
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I agree with CP. I think someone once said "not having any idea what you're talking about in no way inhibits the ability to speak".
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Old 11-13-2015, 08:44 PM   #25
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sorry ,firefly, your anecdotes carry all the weight of a helium balloon in this discussion--having said that-- I think the picture on your profile is really cool!!
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Old 11-14-2015, 07:36 AM   #26
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Originally Posted by Capt.Bill11 View Post
My suggestion, search this forum for one of the many threads on this and all your questions will be answered. Many times, with many different answers.
Yes and there is more than one right answer if you can believe that!
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Old 11-14-2015, 08:05 AM   #27
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If it is necessary to weld a fuel tank a full tank is the better way to go with some dry ice dumped into it prior to welding. The dry ice will replace O2 with CO2. No worries on the inside of the tank. I have seen it done numerous times.
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Old 11-14-2015, 08:51 AM   #28
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Yes and there is more than one right answer if you can believe that!
True that!
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Old 11-14-2015, 11:20 AM   #29
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Replacing fuel tanks

An oil tank retrieval team were working on a property down the block removing an oil tank, so I went to the boss and asked him how much to take my de commissioned above-ground tank away while they were around. He quoted $200 so we had a deal. It took minutes to bring in the excavator and take it away. They used a large grinder with a cutoff wheel to cut it into sections and the small amount of fuel inside caught fire. The chap didn't seem concerned and he told me that the fire would smother itself, which it did. So it seems even cutting out your old diesel tank is not without risk of fire! BTW that 35 year old tank was in still in excellent condition.

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When we were looking at purchasing the subject of tanks came up and one On my my commercial fishing buddies told me not to worry about it as welding fuel tanks is done all the time. I got the sense that few of these guys spend money replacing tanks.


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Old 11-14-2015, 11:31 AM   #30
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I worked for and am still close enough I may go back in the spring, for a company that made a fortune in removing underground heating oil tanks for the last 15 years or so.

While they are careful and haven't had any fires/explosions, they follow the basic rules but no way close to what some people would belive is necessary in dealing with, cutting up or repairing diesel fuel tanks.
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