Evidence of a fire on the fuel tank?

[upayipwn]

Hey All,

I'm currently in the process of redoing my fresh-water faucet system on a 1990 204c. I've owned the boat for 3 years now and, maybe somewhat foolishly, have never taken the middle floor section out for any sort of inspection. Granted the boat has never given me a need to.
As part of this restoration process I was thinking about threading the pump directly into the tank to remove some hose runs from the water loop. The pump's instructions prefer that install to running a feed hose.

However, when I popped the floor open to get at the fresh water tank to remove it, I noticed what looks like ash or scorch marks on the fuel tank. Now that I've seen these scorch marks i have concerns about adding more electrical components into this compartment near the fuel tank..

Does anyone have any idea what may have caused this? Maybe a previous failure of whatever those wires are running to? I assume that is my fuel level gauge.

Also, does this compartment drain into the bilge or should I pump out that water in the bottom?

 

[glacierbaze]

Scrape off the black, and see what's under it. Maybe a pin hole someone tried to repair, hopefully they emptied the tank, and filled with water beforehand.

 

[Bloodweiser]

That is curious. Any noticeable damage on the deck plate?

 

[Meanwhile]

I had dried tuna blood that looked very similar.

 

[leeccoll]

No ideas, but mine had similar damage on my old tank prior to replacement. Figured the boat didn't blow up so I didn't sweat it too much. Probably some welding is what I assumed.

As for drainage, all the compartments will gravity drain into the bilge.

 

[upayipwn]

Scrape off the black, and see what's under it. Maybe a pin hole someone tried to repair, hopefully they emptied the tank, and filled with water beforehand.

Next time I go to the marina i will try picking at it and see what happens. It'd be nice if this was just a particularly ugly patch job.

That is curious. Any noticeable damage on the deck plate?

No, the underside of the deck plate was very clean. The access hole sort of lines up with where this buildup is though.

 

[Bloodweiser]

Maybe some tried some brazing on it? Any signs of that? Otherwise.. Boats have history.. Motor runs and it floats.. All good.

 

[upayipwn]

I had dried tuna blood that looked very similar.

Interesting, i will give the tank a good cleaning and see what it comes up looking like. Any particular cleaners you recommend?

No ideas, but mine had similar damage on my old tank prior to replacement. Figured the boat didn't blow up so I didn't sweat it too much. Probably some welding is what I assumed.

As for drainage, all the compartments will gravity drain into the bilge.

Great, starting to sound like this sort of buildup on the tanks is fairly common.
It makes sense that it'd drain, but around the bilge pump was dry that's why I was concerned.

Maybe some tried some brazing on it? Any signs of that? Otherwise.. Boats have history.. Motor runs and it floats.. All good.

I haven't cleaned off the section yet to really take a look. But you're right. Its ran fine for 3 seasons with no problems so I am starting to think this is a non-problem.

 

[leeccoll]

So one thing that I found on my coffin to bilge drainage is a PO put a stop on the last drain pipe before the bilge. The drain pipes are dead centerline on the hull in both coffins.

Pulled it out after finding this out when I pulled both floor hatches to fix the soft spots.

Doubt this will need to be addressed by anyone else, but point being unless you purchase the boat new from Grady, you can't predict what transpired on the previous watch.