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Thoughts an unexpected breakdown?


AndrewIC

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11 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

As I said, I wonder how many Narrowboats out there have one?

If you fit plastic rather than alloy fuel tanks the Vetus filler and sensor plate can be removed to allow access to the tank. It's just about big enough to get your arm in unless it's a fat arm! 

I can also remove my tanks fairly easily. I have had to cut and fit inspection hatches in both water and fuel tanks before. Some of those boats were real top of the class jobs, like a Pacific Seacraft Dana 24, but even that lovely long keeler lacked inspection covers for both water and fuel tanks. The vents were also incorrectly installed, as the water tank one was on the outside where it could suck in tiny amounts of seawater on port tack, so I moved it inside, and the fuel tank vent was OK in location terms, BUT they really need a secondary cover to ensure nothing gets in. I just glued a plastic cap over it that had a hole drilled in the bottom. That reduced the water contamination in the fuel tank to about half a tea cup a year, and that was probably just condensation.

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3 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Have you ever seen a narrowboat fuel tank ?

I might finish up using my lifeboat on the canals, rivers or broads, but the only one I've used before on the Oxford and Kennet and Avon canals had a sealed up alloy tank and dreaded CAV fuel filters with a Perkins donkey. It was a bit on the too long side of things in terms of turning around.

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3 minutes ago, TNLI said:

I might finish up using my lifeboat on the canals, rivers or broads, but the only one I've used before on the Oxford and Kennet and Avon canals had a sealed up alloy tank and dreaded CAV fuel filters with a Perkins donkey. It was a bit on the too long side of things in terms of turning around.

 

Every narrowboat I have seen or owned has had an integral fule tank constructed in the stern and using the hull as 3-sides of the tank, a steel bulkhead is welded across the curve of the stern and the rear deck forms the top of the tank, or a 'top' is welded onto the tank.. A filler tube is positioned on the rear quarter and flows either directly into the tank, or via a short pipe.

The fuel tank is normally between the weed hatch and the 'transom' and will often have the rudder running thru' the tank.

 

This was the filler on our last NB and opened directly into the fuel tank (ie what you can see is the 'top' of the fuel tank.

 

Our fuel tank location and using the hull as the walls of the tank.

 

 

 

 

 

Fuel Cap Lock.jpg

Fuel Tank.jpg

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25 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Every narrowboat I have seen or owned has had an integral fule tank constructed in the stern and using the hull as 3-sides of the tank, a steel bulkhead is welded across the curve of the stern and the rear deck forms the top of the tank, or a 'top' is welded onto the tank.. A filler tube is positioned on the rear quarter and flows either directly into the tank, or via a short pipe.

The fuel tank is normally between the weed hatch and the 'transom' and will often have the rudder running thru' the tank.

 

 

I have three narrowboats and none has a fuel tank like that. Paradoxically the oldest (over 100 years) is the only one with inspection panels on the (two, removable) tanks, one each side of the engine under the floor. 

 

The other two each has a transverse tank under the floor, welded straight onto the base plate, just behind the engine rooms and with the prop shaft passing above them. Inspection hatches could easily have been included.

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1 minute ago, MtB said:

 

I have three narrowboats and none has a fuel tank like that. Paradoxically the oldest (over 100 years) is the only one with inspection panels on the (two, removable) tanks, one each side of the engine under the floor. 

 

The other two each has a transverse tank under the floor, welded straight onto the base plate, just behind the engine rooms and with the prop shaft passing above them. Inspection hatches could easily have been included.

 

 

Having never had a vintage NB, I accept that my comment was only for 'modern' boats that I have viewed or owned and that Vintage ones may be different, and there may well be variances on boats I have not viewed.

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2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Having never had a vintage NB, I accept that my comment was only for 'modern' boats that I have viewed or owned and that Vintage ones may be different, and there may well be variances on boats I have not viewed.

 

My other two boats are not 'vintage', being constructed in 1993 and 2000. 

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8 hours ago, TNLI said:

If you fit plastic rather than alloy fuel tanks the Vetus filler and sensor plate can be removed to allow access to the tank. It's just about big enough to get your arm in unless it's a fat arm! 

I can also remove my tanks fairly easily. I have had to cut and fit inspection hatches in both water and fuel tanks before. Some of those boats were real top of the class jobs, like a Pacific Seacraft Dana 24, but even that lovely long keeler lacked inspection covers for both water and fuel tanks. The vents were also incorrectly installed, as the water tank one was on the outside where it could suck in tiny amounts of seawater on port tack, so I moved it inside, and the fuel tank vent was OK in location terms, BUT they really need a secondary cover to ensure nothing gets in. I just glued a plastic cap over it that had a hole drilled in the bottom. That reduced the water contamination in the fuel tank to about half a tea cup a year, and that was probably just condensation.

Our tanks are steel and built into the hull, the biggest hole is normally 40mm where the filler is bolted on some even have a steel pipe to a remote filler

Edited by ditchcrawler
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5 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Our tanks are steel and built into the hull, the biggest hole is normally 40mm where the filler is bolted on some even have a steel pipe to a remote filler

I thought fuel tanks were supposed to be made of Aluminium and water tanks of stainless steel if you like non plastic tanks ??

A steel fuel tank would rust if not coated with a real good epoxy primer.

 

Not seen the Collingwood tank cap before, although it really needs to allow full acess to all corners of the tank, which I supposer it might well do if it's not a real deep or long tank. Easy to make if you have a big enough hole cutter and some wide steel tube.

Edited by TNLI
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That Collingwood filler is pretty clever and if (when) the tank gets a thick layer of sludge/rust/water in the bottom of it the owner will want to buy the designer several pints of decent beer, an Indian takeaway and, oh, there was something else that I used to enjoy years ago. What was it? Nope, its gone....

  • Greenie 1
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9 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Every narrowboat I have seen or owned has had an integral fule tank constructed in the stern and using the hull as 3-sides of the tank, a steel bulkhead is welded across the curve of the stern and the rear deck forms the top of the tank, or a 'top' is welded onto the tank.. A filler tube is positioned on the rear quarter and flows either directly into the tank, or via a short pipe.

The fuel tank is normally between the weed hatch and the 'transom' and will often have the rudder running thru' the tank.

 

This was the filler on our last NB and opened directly into the fuel tank (ie what you can see is the 'top' of the fuel tank.

 

Our fuel tank location and using the hull as the walls of the tank.

 

 

 

 

 

Fuel Cap Lock.jpg

Fuel Tank.jpg

Nice looking boat and love the lockable fuel cap. I presume the rudder top hole is for towing a dingy ??

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3 hours ago, TNLI said:

I thought fuel tanks were supposed to be made of Aluminium and water tanks of stainless steel if you like non plastic tanks ??

A steel fuel tank would rust if not coated with a real good epoxy primer.

 

The Boat Safety Scheme says:

 

Fuel tanks must not be manufactured with obviously unsuitable materials.
Materials obviously suitable for diesel include:
• aluminium alloy
• ‘CE’ marked plastic
• FRP
• mild steel
• stainless steel.
Materials obviously suitable for petrol include:
• aluminium alloy
• brass
• ‘CE’ marked plastic
• stainless steel.

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30 minutes ago, TNLI said:

I presume the rudder top hole is for towing a dingy ??

 

No, it is so you can tell that the trim of the boat is correct. Hole should be 50% submerged (ie just a semi-circle above the water).

If you can see a 'full' hole then you stand the chance of prop aeration / cavitation. If you cannot see any of the hole, the backend is too deep and the boat not lying 'flat' in the water.

 

 

3 hours ago, TNLI said:

A steel fuel tank would rust if not coated with a real good epoxy primer.

 

 

I think you'll find that diesel is as good a steel protector as anything, a steel tank 'pickled' with diesel will not rust.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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I don't think I'm making this up but I think I read that diesel powered submarines had their fuel tanks  open at the bottom so that as diesel was drawn from the top seawater would fill the space. Kept the buoyancy predictable and all that stuff. If that is the case then their filters / separators must have been truly brilliant. Why then do our filters give up with an egg cup dull of water?

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