Buying a boat with original fuel tanks...

geoleo said:

Cost probably $4000. take a week working hard.

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To clean out fuel tanks and polish the fuel? Seems like a lot? I had mine done in a day and for $750. Tanks emptied and then washed, new inspection port gaskets made/installed, fuel polished. Maybe I am missing something on what you are describing.

firstbase said:

To clean out fuel tanks and polish the fuel? Seems like a lot? I had mine done in a day and for $750. Tanks emptied and then washed, new inspection port gaskets made/installed, fuel polished. Maybe I am missing something on what you are describing.

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Well he is in the Keys, has 2-300 gallon very old tanks that have never been touched . To do it right and get them clean of the gunk it takes a pressure wash to all surfaces, a drain , a rinse, a air dry and a careful inspection. In the Keys there are very few companies that can do this and Keys prices are sky high for everything. Perhaps the company that did yours could come down there and do his?? Who was it?

geoleo said:

Well he is in the Keys, has 2-300 gallon very old tanks that have never been touched . To do it right and get them clean of the gunk it takes a pressure wash to all surfaces, a drain , a rinse, a air dry and a careful inspection. In the Keys there are very few companies that can do this and Keys prices are sky high for everything. Perhaps the company that did yours could come down there and do his?? Who was it?

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OOOPps didn't see post he changed boats!!!!!!!!!!!!

Near 10 year of diesel in ours
About 3000 litres of it (800 gallons)
Never had a problem, never clogged the 1000fg
Continued on our merry way and here we are 2 years later
Only changed out the filters the boat came with a few months ago
They were spotless, zero pressure on gauges.

geoleo said:

Well he is in the Keys, has 2-300 gallon very old tanks that have never been touched . To do it right and get them clean of the gunk it takes a pressure wash to all surfaces, a drain , a rinse, a air dry and a careful inspection. In the Keys there are very few companies that can do this and Keys prices are sky high for everything. Perhaps the company that did yours could come down there and do his?? Who was it?

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Maybe it is the Keys driving the price up. I had mine done while on the hard at Crackerboy Marina in Riviera Beach last November. I will go through my paperwork and get the name if you wish as I don't remember the full name... referred by the marina...something Tank Services but that's not very helpful. Had a well stocked service truck setup with mega filters, barrels to hold fuel, pressure washers, etc. Two very nice and seemingly knowledgeable guys who encouraged me to watch, look, and ask questions.

Not sure when I was more nervous, the day I got the thumbs up on the fuel tanks or when, as a first time twin diesel owner, I docked stern-in to my somewhat tricky slip for the first time. Both were awesome days. I have had some that were much less awesome since then but those two rocked.

I have a trick I use for testing the general interior condition of my old iron tanks that don't have a bottom drain. Mine are setup with dipsticks that are accessed through holes in the sole. I place a little dab of water sensing putty (available from fuel oil distributors) on the end of a dowel and drop it through the hole until it reaches the bottom of the tank (this is also the low spot of the tanks). I swish it around and pull it back up. If water is present, the putty turns blue. If crud is present, it will stick to the putty. On my 40 year old tanks I have never found either in the 16 years I have owned the boat.
Tator

Hey guys! Yep I moved on from that boat. I really do think somebody will have a nice boat, but taking nearly 3 months to get some repairs done was way too long.

We happen to find the blue 47’ Marine Trader that I posted pics of in another thread. While this one hasn’t been sitting nearly as long as the other, it’s still a 1986 with the same original tanks. So because if everyone’s help here, I have a very good understanding of what I’m getting myself into.

Steve91T said:

Hey guys! Yep I moved on from that boat. I really do think somebody will have a nice boat, but taking nearly 3 months to get some repairs done was way too long.

We happen to find the blue 47’ Marine Trader that I posted pics of in another thread. While this one hasn’t been sitting nearly as long as the other, it’s still a 1986 with the same original tanks. So because if everyone’s help here, I have a very good understanding of what I’m getting myself into.

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Only 3 months for a refit? Not long at all.

OldDan1943 said:

Only 3 months for a refit? Not long at all.

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Uh sure if you consider replacing batteries, a couple of battery cables, having the injectors rebuilt and the fuel polished a refit.

Steve91T said:

Uh sure if you consider replacing batteries, a couple of battery cables, having the injectors rebuilt and the fuel polished a refit.

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That's my point, 3 months is not long.

OldDan1943 said:

That's my point, 3 months is not long.

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You’re kidding. Batteries and cables 1 day. Fuel polishing only takes a few hours...call it an afternoon. And also, the mechanic sent the injectors out to be rebuilt because the engines were blowing black smoke. He was running it on 3 year old diesel! He should have had the fuel polished first.

I've started many long sitting diesels with the fuel plus conditioner in almost every case. Other cases had little or no fuel. I never had a failed injector or an engine that wouldn't burn the fuel. On the engines sitting 20 years, I added a proper conditioner, installed a circulation pump drawing from the tank, thru the filters and returned. After the tank was circulated several times, I circulated thru the engine fuel lines. Engines sitting for shorter periods, I add conditioner and let the engine circulate the fuel if it has a high return, otherwise a pump.
My current boat sat for 6 years, no prior mothballing, no issues. There should be a detailed post somewhere. Now I use Archoil 6200. Still running on the same injectors in 2 mains and 2 generators. 1st dose should be 3x normal. Best conditioner I've ever used. Also is a combustion enhancer that will give a 6-10% increase in mileage with new fuel. Available at archoil.com, Amazon or ebay.
If you want details, PM me.

"He should have had the fuel polished first."


An injector delivering too much fuel , or not clean enough to properly spray fuel will not be helped or harmed by polished fuel or fresh fuel, or unpolished fuel that gets thru a OK filter bank..

FF said:

"He should have had the fuel polished first."


An injector delivering too much fuel , or not clean enough to properly spray fuel will not be helped or harmed by polished fuel or fresh fuel, or unpolished fuel that gets thru a OK filter bank..

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Personally, I will take in the simplest/cheapest approach first. But it doesn’t matter now, that Boat is not my problem now.

Tator said:

I have a trick I use for testing the general interior condition of my old iron tanks that don't have a bottom drain. Mine are setup with dipsticks that are accessed through holes in the sole. I place a little dab of water sensing putty (available from fuel oil distributors) on the end of a dowel and drop it through the hole until it reaches the bottom of the tank (this is also the low spot of the tanks). I swish it around and pull it back up. If water is present, the putty turns blue. If crud is present, it will stick to the putty. On my 40 year old tanks I have never found either in the 16 years I have owned the boat.

Tator

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Tator - are these factory or added? I don’t seem to have them on my BW40, sadly.

They look to be factory installed, but I don't know for sure. Look around the top middle portion of your tanks and see if you have an extra threaded inlet that you could have a dipstick made up and installed in.

Tator