Tournament 19 fuel tank install question

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proftomda

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My 1992 Tournament 19 is getting a new fuel tank this winter. Old tank is out and I'm trying to figure out how to correctly fit the new tank. When I pulled the old tank, there were 3 rubber seals that ran side to side across the tank compartment. There is a pvc drain pipe that runs the length of the compartment and those 3 seals were laying acrross and on top of the pvc pipe. One area of the pipe was flattened from the weight of the tank and fuel. There were 8 wood wedges that anchored the tank snugly in the compartment against the compartment walls.

My question is should I simply lay the tank on top of the pvc pipe and seals or somehow anchor it above the pipe with the wedges, which then begs the question what are the 3 seals for? I have talked to grady white customer service but their knowledge base doesn't go back as far as a 1992 boat so they arent sure how to advise.
 
Sounds like a poor way to set the tank in the compartment......the weight of the tank flattened your bilge drain.....I would change the PVC bilge drain so its round again. Then I would epoxy and glass in supports or sleepers as they call them for the tank to sit on.....the tank should solidly rest just above the height of the PVC drain tube....you only need strips of the rubber to be adhered to your tank with 5200 and then placed on top of the sleepers..this places any movement/rubbing between the rubber and the sleeper support, not between rubber and your tank itself....then to hold it in place use wedges, including the same rubber strip/5200 technique as below, or better yet, have the new tank made with brackets and holes to screw the tank into the stringer and bulkheads....you will probably need a spacer block between the bracket and stringer/bulkhead....

do a search on this site...there are several posts with pictures showing how the guys have done it....
 
Excellent reply and thanks for the info. I can easily understand what you were describing. I have already ordered epoxy resin and micro balloons so I will go get a sheet of 3/4 plywood and glass it in. I have 1/8" silicone rubber strips. That should be ok dont you think?
 
1/8 inch should be fine...just make sure the strips are completely 5200 in, ie, no place for water to ever get between the rubber and the tank..full glue up. Any radius and sharp edges on the wood strips going to the hull....nice rounded sweeps....you can cut the wood that way or make epoxy fillets.
 
Are you sure the 5200 has no affect on the aluminum? as far as corrosion or reaction? Do you also 5200 the neoprene strips to the boat? or only to the tank. I am getting ready to replace my "87 offshore tank and can use all the help/ advise I can get. I have the tank(from Florida Marine) and it seems really tight . The tank came unfinished, just raw aluminum (same as the original tank) but most pictures I see for tanks getting replaced are painted or coated. Florida Marine said that the paint had no corrosion benefit, just made it look pretty for $100 more. Any suggestions?
 
Fisheyedfool:

Since we are both going thru the same thing at the same time, I can recap what I am doing currently. First, my original tank was larger than the tank opening so I had to cut it into pieces to remove. I have ordered a new tank from Florida Marine approximately 3 inches shorter so it can fit thru the tank opening. While the tank is being made, I am fabricating a new tank support system. The original support system was only 2 rubber bulb type seals running across the width of the tank. That was the only separation of the bottom of the tank from the hull. After 20 years, those 2 rubber seals were bent up and completely squished flat. I couldn't fathom that that was the only thing the tank was sitting on. Called Grady White CS and they were somewhat confused also. No one there could remember how tanks were installed 20 years ago but CS and engineering both agreed that a better tank cradle needed to be installed similar to what they are doing now. With the wonderful and patient help from Grady White, their engineering dept suggested affixing plywood blocks impregnated with epoxy resin to bottom of tank compartment. I have installed 10 blocks approximately 3" x 6" in size and then glued with 3M 5200 1/8" thick silicone rubber sheet on top of each block. Florida Marine tanks told me that my tank will arrive painted with some sort of gray paint. I am going to coat the tank on POR 15 paint. After drying completely, I will glue with 5200 the same type 1/8" silicone sheet on the bottom of the tank and then install. I will continue to use the same wedge type anchoring system along with the 2x4 bracing across the top of tank. Hope that helps.
 
5200 should have no effect on the tank...it is a widely used adhesive for gluing in the rubber strips.....just make sure its completely glued in, ie, no gaps or voids...the edges of the rubber should look like caulk around your bathtub.....
I don't know about gluing down the strip to the hull...most people secure the tank in 3 ways...one is the use of welded on angle brackets that are lagged to all 4 sides, into the long side stringers and the short side bulkheads....another is the use of wedge blocks, basically doing the same thing, 2 along the bulkheads and 3 along each length against the stringers and then screwed through the wedges and into the bulkhead and stringers..that was most likely the way the factory did it...you should glue rubber strips to the tank in these wedge areas to protect the tank from rubbing.....third is to foam in the tank, but the foam can't be the only means of securement....you must still use wedges or brackets...the tank cannot move more than a 1/4 inch in any direction, (I think thats the number) but you need to confirm that with Coast Guard regulations..it tells you what the maximum movement can be.

As far as piant or not to paint....paint itself won't do much at all....there are 2 frames of thought...one is to allow the bare aluminum to oxidize itself which leaves a protective coating of aluminum oxide on the surface...this is how it was left from the factory//probably give you 20 years of life..the key is to keep the coffin box as dry as possible....if moisture is a constant in the coffin, you will see the wet spots oxidfize much faster, leaving a white powder on the surface...these areas will pinhole through much quicker, shortening the life of the tank...especially around the welds

the second school of thought is to put a coating on the aluminum to barrier coat it from moisture all together....you have to first prep the aluminum by sanding and etching and then quickly drying before putting on a coat of either barrier coat epoxy such as Interprotect 2000 (at least 3 coats) or use the black nasty epoxy called coal tar epoxy...both are supposed to block moisture intrusion...but you have about an hour to get all 3 prep steps, ie sand, etch and first coat , before the aluminum begins to oxidize....the biggest issue with barrier coating failure is that if you scratch or damage the coating during installation, moisture will find that bad spot and slowly get in between the coating and the metal...once that starts, it keeps on going, trapping moisture in the bubbled areas....so you need to be careful...

a new way of coating it useing the Line-X truck bed liner....looks great and is very tough....but the jury is out on its long term effectiveness as I don't think anyone has 20 years of data to prove how well it works.....
 
proftomda said:
Fisheyedfool:

With the wonderful and patient help from Grady White, their engineering dept suggested affixing plywood blocks impregnated with epoxy resin to bottom of tank compartment. I have installed 10 blocks approximately 3" x 6" in size and then glued with 3M 5200 1/8" thick silicone rubber sheet on top of each block. quote]

Not sure about using a bunch of small individual blocks, but I guess it will work....my sailfish used two wooden lengths that glued to the hull in polyester resin....so it supported the belly of the tank along its entire length front to back.....I would use thickened epoxy to bed in the new wood after prepping the hull surface with a grinding wheel, but I would also glass over the wood, down to the hull for added strength and guarantee of no movement...just 2 layers of 12 oz cloth will do it...bed the wood, make a nice 45 degree fillet along the edges, like clauk in a tub, then glass over with 1208 and epoxy...then do everything else you mentioned.
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Thanks for all the info, I will let you know what is under my tank when I pull it next month. Hopefully with no hiccups
 
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