Dougcole
Guru
OK, this one is not a fun project, not fun at all.
Port side tank started leaking in 2018, had an access plate cut in the side and had the tank repaired from the inside, cost about $1,500. It held for 6 1/2 years, so not bad, but it started leaking again in the same spot on the aft bottom a couple of months ago, so I decided to replace the tank. The boat has been in the water at the yard for two weeks now, it's a good yard and they have been letting me do as much of the labor as I can to offset the costs.
I did not want to lose much capacity, and the yard manager felt really strongly that being able to drop an identical to the old tank in place would save a lot of labor hours. So we pulled the motor and got the tank lose in the er to see what we would need to cut. After a lot of head scratching we decided to cut the floor and not the tank. Here is why:
1. The aforementioned cost savings of the reinstall of an identical tank.
2. Keep the same capacity (we cruise remotely, sometimes far from fuel docks). The current tank is 150 gallons and after a lot of measuring we calculated that if we cut the old tank and not the floor, we would lose close to 50% of the capacity of the tank. That was just too much loss for me.
3. I considered going to two smaller tanks, but the build cost on two tanks was much higher than a single bigger tank. Also, the plumbing would have been a challenge, and adding a second fill would have been a lot of labor.
4. I'm a good carpenter, and I could do all the floor cutting myself saving significant labor costs. It's been scary cutting, but not super challenging.
5. We are putting the cuts in a way that will allow us to pull the starboard tank through the same holes if (when) it starts leaking. Unfortunately, we will have to pull both motors to get the starboard tank out. One note on this in case you are wondering; there is no possible way to get either tank out on a single either without pulling the engine. The tanks are too long to fit through the engine room hatch.
6. One plus is that the engine came out easy. I worked with my mechanic on the disconnect, and the engine fits easily through the cockpit doors. He is charging me $350 for the disconnect and $350 for the reconnect.
7. I pulled the house battery bank, the electronic shifters, the inverter and moved a lot of wires to make access better.
I cut opened up the forward part of the ER hatch this morning, all the way up to the bulkhead. We thought we could roll the tank on its side and pull it out, but there is not enough room. So I had to cut a second opening on the aft side of the ER this afternoon. I will finish it tomorrow and I'm optimistic that the tank will come out at an angle from there.
It's downright depressing seeing my nice clean ER and salon in its current state, it's been a very discouraging couple of weeks, but I hope I am going to get on the right side of this project tomorrow. Wish me luck, please. Pics below.
Port side tank started leaking in 2018, had an access plate cut in the side and had the tank repaired from the inside, cost about $1,500. It held for 6 1/2 years, so not bad, but it started leaking again in the same spot on the aft bottom a couple of months ago, so I decided to replace the tank. The boat has been in the water at the yard for two weeks now, it's a good yard and they have been letting me do as much of the labor as I can to offset the costs.
I did not want to lose much capacity, and the yard manager felt really strongly that being able to drop an identical to the old tank in place would save a lot of labor hours. So we pulled the motor and got the tank lose in the er to see what we would need to cut. After a lot of head scratching we decided to cut the floor and not the tank. Here is why:
1. The aforementioned cost savings of the reinstall of an identical tank.
2. Keep the same capacity (we cruise remotely, sometimes far from fuel docks). The current tank is 150 gallons and after a lot of measuring we calculated that if we cut the old tank and not the floor, we would lose close to 50% of the capacity of the tank. That was just too much loss for me.
3. I considered going to two smaller tanks, but the build cost on two tanks was much higher than a single bigger tank. Also, the plumbing would have been a challenge, and adding a second fill would have been a lot of labor.
4. I'm a good carpenter, and I could do all the floor cutting myself saving significant labor costs. It's been scary cutting, but not super challenging.
5. We are putting the cuts in a way that will allow us to pull the starboard tank through the same holes if (when) it starts leaking. Unfortunately, we will have to pull both motors to get the starboard tank out. One note on this in case you are wondering; there is no possible way to get either tank out on a single either without pulling the engine. The tanks are too long to fit through the engine room hatch.
6. One plus is that the engine came out easy. I worked with my mechanic on the disconnect, and the engine fits easily through the cockpit doors. He is charging me $350 for the disconnect and $350 for the reconnect.
7. I pulled the house battery bank, the electronic shifters, the inverter and moved a lot of wires to make access better.
I cut opened up the forward part of the ER hatch this morning, all the way up to the bulkhead. We thought we could roll the tank on its side and pull it out, but there is not enough room. So I had to cut a second opening on the aft side of the ER this afternoon. I will finish it tomorrow and I'm optimistic that the tank will come out at an angle from there.
It's downright depressing seeing my nice clean ER and salon in its current state, it's been a very discouraging couple of weeks, but I hope I am going to get on the right side of this project tomorrow. Wish me luck, please. Pics below.
