angus99
Guru
I posted a version of this on the Defever owners forum but haven't heard back yet; I think it's general enough for this group.
There is a (female?) fitting near the bottom of each saddle fuel tank that has been plugged/glassed and possibly epoxied over by some PO. Not sure if this fitting arrangement is an original configuration . . . if it were, I suppose the lower fitting would be to allow any water and sludge thajt might be at the bottom of the the fuel to be drained off while the upper fitting allows clean fuel to be pulled from above during normal operations?
But why plug them? Looks like there were leaks in the past (or maybe stains while replacing or plugging the fittings). The cleaning service that inspected the tanks last year said they were in very good shape internally and did not notice anything amiss around these fitting on the inside but we didn't discuss them beyond that. Externally, the fittings feel very strong and I see no evidence of corrosion.
I'd much prefer to have working ball valves on the bottom fittings to tap water from the bottom of the tank, if that's their purpose, but I'm afraid to start pulling any of this material off the fittings until the tanks are completely drained (currently, there's only 25 gallons or so of fuel plus some powerful treatment in each tank).
So, is this a common configuration and am I correct about their purpose? Is the obvious solution the best--drain the tanks, cut away the plugs, inspect the fittings and replace them if necessary?
Thanks.
There is a (female?) fitting near the bottom of each saddle fuel tank that has been plugged/glassed and possibly epoxied over by some PO. Not sure if this fitting arrangement is an original configuration . . . if it were, I suppose the lower fitting would be to allow any water and sludge thajt might be at the bottom of the the fuel to be drained off while the upper fitting allows clean fuel to be pulled from above during normal operations?
But why plug them? Looks like there were leaks in the past (or maybe stains while replacing or plugging the fittings). The cleaning service that inspected the tanks last year said they were in very good shape internally and did not notice anything amiss around these fitting on the inside but we didn't discuss them beyond that. Externally, the fittings feel very strong and I see no evidence of corrosion.
I'd much prefer to have working ball valves on the bottom fittings to tap water from the bottom of the tank, if that's their purpose, but I'm afraid to start pulling any of this material off the fittings until the tanks are completely drained (currently, there's only 25 gallons or so of fuel plus some powerful treatment in each tank).
So, is this a common configuration and am I correct about their purpose? Is the obvious solution the best--drain the tanks, cut away the plugs, inspect the fittings and replace them if necessary?
Thanks.