Gas tank installation question

[BLITZ]

just purchaced a 76,23cc. previous owner has moved the gas tank about 14 inches forward. The tank appears to be resting on the hull. Previous owner said that this is the way seacraft installs the tank. Any info on tank installation and mounting would be helpfull.
BLITZ

[skipjake04]

I am no pro but from what I have seen on this site and the people I have spoken to on installing my tank there has to be something between the two. For one you have to have it supported and two you will wear the tank out or your hull. Fiberglass will eat through the aluminun where they rub together is what I have been told. From everything I have seen there is supports fibeglassed in and then a rubber "absorber" between the tank and supports, then braced or secured to the stringers or a brace between the stringers. Hope this is what you were looking for.

[76Red18]

I am no pro but from what I have seen on this site and the people I have spoken to on installing my tank there has to be something between the two. For one you have to have it supported and two you will wear the tank out or your hull. Fiberglass will eat through the aluminun where they rub together is what I have been told. From everything I have seen there is supports fibeglassed in and then a rubber "absorber" between the tank and supports, then braced or secured to the stringers or a brace between the stringers. Hope this is what you were looking for.

be careful with rubber, i think theres some posts in here about it being corrosive.

[strick]

rubber has carbon in it which will react with the aluminun and cause pitting.

strick

[JohnB]

Shields rubber and hose has a closed cell neopreme that has no carbon in it, that is designed to be used for that application. It comes in 2" wide by 1/4" strips, and cost about a buck a foot. It is glued on to the tank with 5200, so it doesn't really touch the tank anyways. The other alternative is foam, which I would suggest NOT using. It holds water against the tank and WILL corrode there.

As for the supports, I looked at a tank last week that came out of a buddies proline, and it was touching the hull on the corners. It didn't fail there, but it was VERY thin where it was rubbing. BTW, it had holes in it where the foam had held water against it.

When I did my tank, I put neopreme strips every 16 inches attached with 5200 on the bottom, and then 5200ed it to the platform. I have bulkheads in front and back of the tank, and put neopreme strips between the tank and the bulkheads.

[BLITZ]

Thanks for the info. But my real concern is weather the tank should be supported by the hull alone or should it be supported by the heel or some way supported form the stringers. I believe there is some rubber between the tank and the hull, is this the way tanks were installed originally??

[LTsHoney]

Blitz, I recently replaced an aluminum tank in my 18'CC w/ a 40 gal poly tank. I'll try to forward pictures. Original tank wasd foamed in (bad idea), removed all foam, cleaned and painted hull interior, made a support rack to evenly distribute weight of the tank against the hull using epoxy coated wood forms and vinyl stringers. Set in new tank and secured to hull stringers. So far so good, no movement, no leaks, plenty of air circulation. A worthwhile project.

[LTsHoney]

Here are the pics (I hope) [image]http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk31/LTsHoney/[/image]

[Islandtrader]

See if this works. For LTs Pictures.
Gas tank install

[LTsHoney]

The pics are viewable. Thanks, how'd you do that?