Bladder for second fuel tank?

[Cruisingdad]

A caution on the gerry cans: in a sea they will get wet and you could very possibly get some water in them. In a storm they may be taken off, and anything tied to them. I read an article about them a while back... in Ocean Nav I think. They are a cheap solution, not the best solution.

Bladders are better and safer - but more time consuming, more difficult to install, take up more useable space, and are more expensive. Still, that is likely what I will use too.

- CD

[johnshasteen]

I do almost exclusively offshore sailing and Paloma only has a 19 gallon fuel tank. I carry one 2.5 gallon and one 5 gallon plastic fuel can on longer trips (500+ miles), never had a problem with either one and have only needed to add fuel once.

[kmahren]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

36-40' for $100,000 is still pushing it.

Actually, I find a fair number of boats available in that price range. Certainly not new ones.

In fact, if I look at the major production boats, I find quite a few newer than 1990. Caviot is, I have not actually looked at any yet, so condition is unknown. Will be starting the hard core search this summer. Retireing (semi) first of July. Spending a month fitting out my Sienna into a camper, and lining up prospective boats, and I'm OFF to it in August... Making a vacation out of boat buying. What more could someone ask in life?

[Livia]

Originally Posted by kmahren

Actually, I find a fair number of boats available in that price range. Certainly not new ones.

In fact, if I look at the major production boats, I find quite a few newer than 1990. Caviot is, I have not actually looked at any yet, so condition is unknown. Will be starting the hard core search this summer. Retireing (semi) first of July. Spending a month fitting out my Sienna into a camper, and lining up prospective boats, and I'm OFF to it in August... Making a vacation out of boat buying. What more could someone ask in life?

As encouragement, we bought a fantastic boat for under that sum - you'll find her!

Edited because I now realize that our boat is a foot under your preferences

[kmahren]

Originally Posted by Cruisingdad

A caution on the gerry cans: in a sea they will get wet and you could very possibly get some water in them. In a storm they may be taken off, and anything tied to them. I read an article about them a while back... in Ocean Nav I think. They are a cheap solution, not the best solution.

Bladders are better and safer - but more time consuming, more difficult to install, take up more useable space, and are more expensive. Still, that is likely what I will use too.

- CD

Cruisingdad,

Where do you intend to situate the bladder, if you go for it? Have you investigated how you will tie it into the system? i.e. pump from bladder to main tank or go directly to the filter? Gerry cans on deck add alot of topside weight, which I would think is not desireable either.

Ken

[Cruisingdad]

Originally Posted by kmahren

Cruisingdad,

Where do you intend to situate the bladder, if you go for it? Have you investigated how you will tie it into the system? i.e. pump from bladder to main tank or go directly to the filter? Gerry cans on deck add alot of topside weight, which I would think is not desireable either.

Ken

I have a few spots in my boat that it would work, but think I have decided on an area under the floorboards amidship. I can reroute the hoses to make it work.

You will need to come up with a way to fill it. The easiest and cheapest way is for a diesel transfer pump from the main tank. In essense, you flip the switch and it pumps it one way or the others (in this example, from the main tank and fills the bladder). Once filled, you turn it off and continue filling the main tank. When you want to refil the maintank (because you ran out of diesel), again, flip the swtich and reverse the process.

The issue here is that you are reliant on a pump to provide the diesel and it would not be as good of a system as plumbing it directly with valves like you might a second tank. The best solution is to plumb it just like a second tank, of course, with its own deck access, etc.

Whatever you do, remember that (depending on the size of the tank) you will add a lot of weight. I would search for a spot (hopefully under the floorboards) that will be centerline and well below the waterline.

Make sense??

- CD

Edit: You can use a series of valves to direct the to and from source and destination with a single pump.

[kmahren]

Originally Posted by Cruisingdad

You will need to come up with a way to fill it. The easiest and cheapest way is for a diesel transfer pump from the main tank. In essense, you flip the switch and it pumps it one way or the others (in this example, from the main tank and fills the bladder). Once filled, you turn it off and continue filling the main tank. When you want to refil the maintank (because you ran out of diesel), again, flip the swtich and reverse the process.

The issue here is that you are reliant on a pump to provide the diesel and it would not be as good of a system as plumbing it directly with valves like you might a second tank. The best solution is to plumb it just like a second tank, of course, with its own deck access, etc.

Whatever you do, remember that (depending on the size of the tank) you will add a lot of weight. I would search for a spot (hopefully under the floorboards) that will be centerline and well below the waterline.

Make sense??

- CD

Edit: You can use a series of valves to direct the to and from source and destination with a single pump.

Ran accross this on the internet:


Q Can I mount my Petro-Flex below deck?
A Coast Guard regulations do not permit in-hull locations. ATL recommends securely lashing the full bladder above deck for better gravity fuel transfer, safer venting and ease of clean-up should any fuel be spilled during filling.

you can read the bad news at atlinc.com/faqs_rangeextender.html

(since it seems I cannot add a direct link, just add an http to atlinc.com.)

This might become an issue with a below deck installation. It's always something!