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Post by jracer98 on Feb 20, 2019 11:47:31 GMT -5
found this online. Here's what it looks like coming in from the reef. This is the marina where the old sailfish stays in Belize. At 9:37 , the inlet on the right leads into the floating docks. If you find this on Google Earth, my boat is the 4th one down on the inside (L to R)
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Post by jracer98 on Feb 20, 2019 11:50:25 GMT -5
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Post by outtadblue on Feb 20, 2019 12:39:25 GMT -5
Glad you found us jracer. Living the dream in Belize.
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Post by jracer98 on Jul 16, 2019 10:03:41 GMT -5
Well kids, the old '88 sailfish is still floating and catching fish but a new situation is developing. I have always had a faint smell of fuel in the bilge but never seemed to be down on GPH or range (granted I have no real baseline to compare to). The boat goes out every few days with "just enough" fuel for the day. It's only a half hour out to the big reef. I just fish inshore and don't troll so it's about 8-9 gallons per hour with the '98 Merc efi 150 2 stroke. I have been gone for a few weeks and the tank has rainwater in it and very little gas.
Even though I can access the top of the tank(there's a big hatch screwed into the deck), there's no real replacement or "fix it right" option down here for any kind of money that makes sense. I plan to abandon the 50 gallon tank in favor of a moeller red tank and be done with it. Remember, a "twelve" is 1.5 operation hours for me and the reef is 30 minutes out. I have a spare 5 gallon poly tank that goes with me already.
I am thinking of filling the 50 gallon swiss cheese tank with something floatable and that will not allow it to hold much water. I have the original fuel pickup and hoses to occasionally pump out any water that gets into the tank.
What would you use, 12 billion ping pong balls like on Mythbusters?
thanks for any ideas
jay
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Post by abouttime2fish on Jul 16, 2019 19:59:07 GMT -5
I’d solve the water problem first. New o-ring on gas cap and check/replace fuel vent.
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Post by jracer98 on Jul 17, 2019 16:23:49 GMT -5
more concerned about the gas "out" than the water "in".....
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Post by kbh on Jul 18, 2019 7:30:09 GMT -5
On my last boat, a 21 Answer Marine, I had water leaking in on top of the tank at the fuel sender as well as the o-ring on the filler cap. Check those and you might get lucky. The top of the tank was slightly concave so any water that reached the top of the tank ran towards the hole for the fuel sender. A new gasket and o-ring solved the problem. A professional fuel filter/polisher guy pumped out about 10 gallons pf water.
But then, I never had gas in the bilge.
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Post by abouttime2fish on Jul 18, 2019 18:26:26 GMT -5
Water may be getting in same place gas is getting out too. Sending unit gasket another inexpensive change. Can you isolate gas in the bilge fore and aft? When was last time you changed fuel water separators? You have ones with the bowls? Bean changing that gasket each time too? Cross thread bowl? Drain valve at bottom leaking? How are primer bulbs? Idk, just spitballing ideas here. But water in fuel is going to end poorly. Then if you can run motors maybe you can find leak.
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Post by jracer98 on Jul 20, 2019 13:04:59 GMT -5
yes, with the ease of (top side of the tank) access, I've been all over the fuel inlet and hose, the vent and hose, the sender access hole and the fuel outlet. It is dry under the water/fuel bowl and petcock (and has been all along). I suspect, given the rate of fuel loss/water intrusion, that there is/are small pinhole(s) near the bottom of the tank. No cost effective way to remove/repair/replace here so going to above the deck tank.
The question remains: would you just leave the old tank empty and occasionally evac the water out of it or would you fill it in with something that is buoyant and what might that something be? 1988 boat runs good and is like an old pickup in that you don't mind cobbling things together to keep it going...it's not like we're hacking up a 100K rig HAHA
thx for all opinions
jay
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Post by kbh on Jul 20, 2019 14:28:02 GMT -5
I'd leave the old tank empty. Water can only come in as high as the pin holes and the rest is as good flotation as you can find if you sink.
We had a leaking 150 gallon main tank in an old Whiticar sport fish that came up while cruising the Bahamas years ago. We pulled the tank over in West End and fiber-glassed it from the outside and put it back in and it was working fine when we sold the boat probably 10 years later. You never know, you might decide to pull the old tank and just fiberglass it some day.
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Post by jracer98 on Jul 20, 2019 15:08:45 GMT -5
hmmmmm...something to consider.
thx
jay
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Post by abouttime2fish on Jul 20, 2019 20:12:10 GMT -5
If you cut the deck neatly enough, I wonder if there is enough support to just screw and caulk it back in place. Don’t know the structure under there. I think I’d be emailing Sailfish and see what they say. I’m sure you are not the first tank replacement.
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