Diesel Resistant Sealant

[pearley]

Water is getting into my diesel tank coming under the filler where it is screwed to the gunnel. 

Any recommendations for a good diesel resistant sealant.

[matty40s]

Who was your builder Pete, I may have some other explanation if its who I think it is and sealant doesnt solve the issue....

Sikaflex should do it.

[pearley]

Matty, Aintree boat. As you can see, feeler gauge (Tesco milk bottle) slides right under implying no sealant.

 

 

 

[pearley]

Would that be ordinary Sikaflex? I see they do one called NT specially for tanks but comes in packs of 20!

Edited September 11, 2021 by pearley

[Tracy D'arth]

Neoprene rubber  gasket is the correct way, not glue.

[MtB]

I don't see how water getting in under the flange could enter the diesel tank anyway. It would run down the outside of the filler tube and end up in the bilge.

 

I think it's getting in some other way.

[ditchcrawler]

3 minutes ago, MtB said:

I don't see how water getting in under the flange could enter the diesel tank anyway. It would run down the outside of the filler tube and end up in the bilge.

 

I think it's getting in some other way.

I bet the filler tube just hangs down inside the tank

[pearley]

11 minutes ago, MtB said:

I don't see how water getting in under the flange could enter the diesel tank anyway. It would run down the outside of the filler tube and end up in the bilge.

 

I think it's getting in some other way.

 

7 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I bet the filler tube just hangs down inside the tank

The filler tube is a 2 inch steel pipe welded to the tank and the underside of the gunnel. The chrome filler just sits inside that steel tube. 

There is water laying at the elbow where the steel pipe goes across to the tank, veryfied by water finding paste in the end of a dipstick.

I don't know what I'm going to find when I remove the filler but want to be prepared.

[matty40s]

10 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I bet the filler tube just hangs down inside the tank

This. Is the most likely scenario.

 

We had a new Aintree in last year Pete, and the top of the rudder shaft hadnt been welded to the upper deck underneath where the bearing sits. This meant that every time the rudder was at an angle, water forced up the tube(fairly normal) entered the diesel tank.

The only way we proves this to Aintree was forcing compressed air down the filler, blocking the vent, and watching large bubbles come out from underneath the uxter plate.

[MtB]

Ah. On my boat with that deck fitting, I have a length of flexible tube Jubilee-clip fixed onto the hose barb outlet of the deck filler. 

 

Mind you, the cap seal still lets water in! 

[Tracy D'arth]

5 minutes ago, matty40s said:

This. Is the most likely scenario.

 

We had a new Aintree in last year Pete, and the top of the rudder shaft hadnt been welded to the upper deck underneath where the bearing sits. This meant that every time the rudder was at an angle, water forced up the tube(fairly normal) entered the diesel tank.

The only way we proves this to Aintree was forcing compressed air down the filler, blocking the vent, and watching large bubbles come out from underneath the uxter plate.

Seen exactly the same lack of weld on a Collinwood shell. I wonder why!

[matty40s]

16 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Seen exactly the same lack of weld on a Collinwood shell. I wonder why!

Well, Aintree assured the boat buyer that they had sacked the welder after days of denying there was a problem.

It was only after being questioned on who had signed off the tank pressure tests that an admission came forth.

Perhaps he went a couple of miles up the road and got a job at the other Liverpool boat builder.

 

 

[MtB]

26 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Well, Aintree assured the boat buyer that they had sacked the welder after days of denying there was a problem.

It was only after being questioned on who had signed off the tank pressure tests that an admission came forth.

Perhaps he went a couple of miles up the road and got a job at the other Liverpool boat builder.

 

 

 

In the light of this I suspect a lot more might come to light if you had a policy of informally pressure testing every Aintree and Collingwood boat diesel tank that came in to your yard Matty. Aintree and Collingwood need to look at their quality control and inspection procedures.  Responding by saying they have "sacked the welder" as the solution suggests a very poor management culture and attitude. 

 

 

[matty40s]

I did say sacked in past tense, he had been removed prior to this incident being discovered. We have found Aintree generally to be very receptive to owners concerns and snagging issues overall from what we have seen.

 

However, C....enough said.

[cuthound]

4 hours ago, MtB said:

 

In the light of this I suspect a lot more might come to light if you had a policy of informally pressure testing every Aintree and Collingwood boat diesel tank that came in to your yard Matty. Aintree and Collingwood need to look at their quality control and inspection procedures.  Responding by saying they have "sacked the welder" as the solution suggests a very poor management culture and attitude. 

 

 

 

When I was working for a company building data centres, which are mainly American owned, the clients would often insist on a very public sacking of those who made (in the eyes of the client) serious errors. These people were usually highly skilled and difficult to find replacements for.

 

In many cases these people were publicly sacked and as they went out of the gates they received a call saying that they were not really sacked and to report to another site and never work on a job for that client again. 

[MtB]

2 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

When I was working for a company building data centres, which are mainly American owned, the clients would often insist on a very public sacking of those who made (in the eyes of the client) serious errors. These people were usually highly skilled and difficult to find replacements for.

 

In many cases these people were publicly sacked and as they went out of the gates they received a call saying that they were not really sacked and to report to another site and never work on a job for that client again. 

Good point. A company i once worked for would glibly tell any customer with a complaint, that the person responsible “no longer worked for the company”, when this was a total lie. It was their ‘go to’ method of fielding complaints (lots of them), and at the same time protecting the employee from any further contact from the aggrieved customer. I guess i’m wondering if this might be what happens at the shell builders. 

[dmr]

43 minutes ago, MtB said:

Good point. A company i once worked for would glibly tell any customer with a complaint, that the person responsible “no longer worked for the company”, when this was a total lie. It was their ‘go to’ method of fielding complaints (lots of them), and at the same time protecting the employee from any further contact from the aggrieved customer. I guess i’m wondering if this might be what happens at the shell builders. 

 

Sacking and recruiting skilled staff must be an expensive business so I propose that every company should employ a person with a job title like "scapegoat" who could be easily sacked. To avoid redundancy pay and tribunals etc these people could be supplied by an agency and so could be instantly redeployed to a new company following their sacking. Do you think setting up a scapegoat agency could be a good earner ? 😀

[MtB]

22 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Sacking and recruiting skilled staff must be an expensive business so I propose that every company should employ a person with a job title like "scapegoat" who could be easily sacked. To avoid redundancy pay and tribunals etc these people could be supplied by an agency and so could be instantly redeployed to a new company following their sacking. Do you think setting up a scapegoat agency could be a good earner ? 😀

 

I prefer the term "escape goat". Which is actually a thing called an "egg corn". An egg corn is a word or term incorrectly substituting the original, whilst sounding similar and at the same time, offering up a similar but slightly different and often amusing interpretation. Here are some of my faves:

 

Escape goat (scapegoat)

Damp squid (damp squib)

Globe plugs (glow plugs)

Social leopard (social leper)

Old timers disease (Alzheimer's disease)

Aqua duck (aquaduct)

 

Anyway back on topic, yes an escape ghost agency sounds an excellent eye deer.