American Tank company

farside · Post by **farside** » Jul 17th, '11, 13:16

There's a company called American Tanks in San Diego that makes modular fuel tanks and their claim to fame is being able to tear up your old tank and replace it with smaller ones that they plumb together and can fit into your boat without tearing your decking up. You may lose some tank capacity from the modular approach.

Anyone ever heard of them?

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Jul 17th, '11, 15:49

Never heard of them but remember every connection is a potential leak.

Now there are some tank installs that require major, major work to replace and it could be argued that modular tanks would save large sums of money.

The 31 is not one of them and modular tanks should not be a consideration.

farside · Post by **farside** » Jul 18th, '11, 13:26

Hi Bruce - I hear you, I'm trying to find ways to make it cheaper than ripping the deck out, etc... I don't have the luxury of time to do it all myself so have to rely on a shipyard doing the work.

Thanks for the response!

John

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » Jul 18th, '11, 13:34

No matter how you go about it, the deck will have to come up...

farside · Post by **farside** » Jul 18th, '11, 16:18

Hi Capt Pat - I'm starting to see that, even though American Tank LLC specifically states they can avoid taking the deck off by making tanks that are small enough to slip in and then plumbed together with maybe loosing some fuel capacity. I know a few folks that have used them for larger trawler type craft, but don't know of any that have used them with planing boats. On paper it makes sense: http://www.americantanks.net/marine_tanks.php

John

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » Jul 18th, '11, 21:34

They obviously know next to nothing about the Bertram 31...

It would be virtually impossible to remove the tank without lifting the deck, much less install and plumb multiple small tanks. And I'll bet that those multiple small tanks will end up costing more than a single vinylester tank.

Taking the deck out of a B31 is a piece of cake, unless some yo-yo built in a one piece deck and bonded it to the hull, leaving no access to the tank.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Jul 19th, '11, 06:43

Even if that were the case Pat, to keep the cost low the section over the tank could be cut out only and replaced.

If it was an exceptional job, I haven't seen one yet on a one piece deck, you'd probably sacrifice a little finishing on the repaired seam for money savings.

Otherwise removing the deck would take someone who never did one about 1/2 day max.

Look at the size of your hatches that would fit the sectional tanks thru. Do you really want to put 15 or 20 small tanks in with all those connections and the quite a bit of fuel loss in capacity?

You don't have to be an expert or even hands on to see the simple dimension issues, let alone taking the old tank out.

I say impossible with the deck on given the floor supports.

The labor costs on such a job would be more than the simple job of deck removal.

Your letting the dollars skew logical thinking.

farside · Post by **farside** » Jul 19th, '11, 12:47

Just an update for anyone else who may be looking into this as well:

- American Tanks does make modular tanks, but only for larger displacement style boats. They still recommended exactly what Capt Pat and Bruce do for the 31's: cut the deck and drop it in.

The only thing different they (Amer. Tank) would do is cut the fibertank open, clean it all out, cut the baffeles out, and then put the new aluminum tank inside of it. That part seems a little strange to me, but it likely keeps their costs down.

So, in summary, listen to the faithful on the board here - if you or I are asking about it, it's likely already been tried.

thanks again!

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » Jul 19th, '11, 13:13

cut the fibertank open, clean it all out, cut the baffeles out, and then put the new aluminum tank inside of it.

They're more ignorant than I tought...

Pop the tank out in one piece, clean and refurbish the bilge, drop a new tank in. What part of KISS don't they understand?

Skipper Dick · Post by **Skipper Dick** » Jul 19th, '11, 13:30

Hey Cap'n,

Just telling it like it is. I like it.

Dick

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Jul 19th, '11, 16:21

Someone somewhere is always trying to reinvent the wheel.

If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.

farside · Post by **farside** » Jul 21st, '11, 13:28

That's what I'm starting to realize.

Thanks guys!

Dug · Post by **Dug** » Jul 23rd, '11, 21:12

Well, Patrick, I guess I completely ###### up.

I am a yo yo...

Oops.

Dug

Bob H. · Post by **Bob H.** » Jul 24th, '11, 20:13

Dug, YoYo #2, my deck is also one piece from helm to transom..new FG tank already installed...bout to bond the deck down with plexus for good this month..AMEN..BH

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Jul 25th, '11, 08:27

I did mine one piece as well, but that was before ethanol. I thought my fiberglass tank was good for the indefinite future. Guess not!! Live and learn.

farside · Post by **farside** » Jul 25th, '11, 13:22

On the Bahia Mar's, I don't see a seam in the cockpit to separate it from the decking by the helm. Is it all one gigantic deck?

What's the best way to approach removing the decking for a fuel tank replacement on a Bahia? Convert it into a 3 piece? The decking is one single piece and appears to be wood cored fiberglass (I can't tell what type of wood though) but it's all one piece.

John

Bob H. · Post by **Bob H.** » Jul 26th, '11, 09:09

John, Id split the deck at the rear engine bulkhead, and either remove deck from there back or just cut out center section above your fuel tank. Remove and replace tank, just remember your opening up pandoras box may find more issues as you go. After 5 years Im about to close pandoras box but I went a bit overboard on my "repairs". BH

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Jul 26th, '11, 16:24

farside wrote:On the Bahia Mar's, I don't see a seam in the cockpit to separate it from the decking by the helm. Is it all one gigantic deck?

What's the best way to approach removing the decking for a fuel tank replacement on a Bahia? Convert it into a 3 piece? The decking is one single piece and appears to be wood cored fiberglass (I can't tell what type of wood though) but it's all one piece.

John

1 piece, sounds custom.

Stick your head in the holes and see how it was put together, then reverse procedure to remove.

Riddle me this...put in several smaller tanks...
-how does one plumb together, CG and common sense say you can't do from bottom and from top seems ridiculous.
-how quickly can they be filled
-what if a connection goes south
-how do you check fuel level
-how many pockets of fuel remain...what is the usable amount of fuel.
-what if you get bad gas...how do you clean the tank(S)

Make the new take to fit inside the old tank after cutting out baffles and cleaning....Yeap, guess one could do that...._OR_ you could use the existing tank as a template for the new one.

Raybo Marine NY · Post by **Raybo Marine NY** » Jul 26th, '11, 17:51

good luck with cutting the baffles and grinding the old rivets out, people who say this obviously have never done it before

more labor intensive then just removing the whole deal

In Memory Walter K · Post by **In Memory Walter K** » Jul 26th, '11, 19:37

No one wants to listen. The least expensive, most efficient and the fastest solution is taking out the tank and anything leading to and from it. Ask me how I know, and my ethanol monster was on a B-20.

bertram31.com

American Tank company

American Tank company

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