Just after G5 after the ride home in the rain, I was draining the bilge to remove rain water when I noticed a small amount of fuel in the water. I pulled out all the flotation to clean some off and to try and determine the source. I was able to look over most of the bottom but could not find anything.
After the the Lake Geneva show, and more rain, I found more fuel in the bilge. Not much, but enough to cause a stink. That was when I noticed a small pool of fuel in the motor well. I discovered that priming the tipped motor was a bad idea and attributed the fuel in the bilge to possibly being from the carbs draining into the well and possibly seeping into the bilge.
When I was checking the bilge yesterday, I noticed what I thought to be a lot of water in the bilge up front, soaking the carpet mats. The smell of fuel was much stronger yesterday. I pulled out the mats and tipped up the trailer to allow the "water" to be drained out the bilge plugs in the transom. I caught the drainage in a pan to later pour into a glass measuring cup to see how much was fuel and how much was water. I had never seen this much liquid in the bilge before and was concerned I had a major hull leak. I could not see any evidence of damage or any loss of hull integrity.
When I dumped the liquid into the measuring cup, I was surprised to see it was all fuel. I drained about 1 1/2 qts out of pure fuel and about 1 oz. of water. YIKES!!!! Apparently one of the seam welds on the AL fuel tank was poorly formed and slowly opened up to where a leak could be detected. I drained the fuel from the tank and pulled it out. Glad I made it easily accessible. Along the side on the bottom seam weld I found a section about two inches long that was weeping fuel. The weld looked good, but there must have been poor weld penetration and lack of fusion along the toe of the weld or a micro crack developed along the toe. This tank was tig welded and the weld was smooth and well formed.
I did a search for a new tank and decided to go with a Moeller tank of similar size and shape. The AL tank was made by RCI. If you have one, I suggest checking it for leaks. The new Moeller tank I ordered is the below deck style and is supposed to be less permeable. It is a little taller, but the same footprint as the RCI tank. I will need to relocate the fuel filler, but that will make filling easier as I will not use the gooseneck I had on the RCI, so that is good. It also hold two more gallons.
I mixed up some Dawn and hot water and flushed out the hull with that and lots of water. The carpets were tossed and everything else cleaned. I'm glad I did a thorough job encapsulating the hull as I doubt anything leaked into the wood. I'm also glad I designed the soul the way I did so I could get at most of the bottom to be able to examine and clean it. It is also comforting to know that I do not have a hull breach.
The AL tank was pressure tested and checked for leaks before I installed it. Nothing showed up at that time. The leak apparently increased over the last month since it was first filled as there was no evidence until after G5. Possibly the 1400 mile trip caused a weak weld to open up. The mounting was solid and performed as suggested in a website on mounting AL tanks in boats. At any rate, I will be using the Moeller tank, which appears to be much better.
Roberta
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to purchase below deck fuel lines too, which also minimizes some issues that may occur with chafing from the natural vibration.
I went with AL because I did not like the permeability of the plastic, but the new Moeller's claim to be better. Hope so!!
