New Fuel Tank

I disconnected the deck fill hose, the vent, the ground wiring and the fuel hose to and from the engine.

Moving the bilge hoses out of the way. The tank slides out the starboard cockpit hatch. If you have an engine extension fresh water fill tank, don't forget to move it out of the way.

Cold Weather and Diesel Fuel
As the temperature drops, the wax naturally found in diesel fuel begins to form crystals. The point at which wax crystals form is known as the cloud point. These wax crystals eventually clog the fuel filter and starve the engine of fuel or prevent it from starting. While low-quality fuels may form wax crystals in temperatures as warm as 40°F (4°C), most fuels have a cloud point near 32°F (0°C).

What is this? Found it in the fill hose, right before it enters the tank.

I think I found the answer although it's not been below 50 degrees

I closed off the ports because there was some fuel left in the tank and I didn't want it all over me

Up and out the starboard locker

During the haul out of 2008, I needed to remove the fuel tank to get to the shaft and

replace the PSS (PYI) baffle. No way I was going to work on the shaft with the tank in place.

Experimenting with different fuel tank sizes, mocked up with cardboard

TANK-12 x 10 x 32

This tank (Moeller) is a 12.2" x 10.2" x 32" , 13 gal tank. Looking at (somehow) mounting it high in the starboard cockpit hatch area. Can't cover the boat's registration number and yet it needs to be out of the "climb in" area to get to items. I don't know where to start with the mounting.

To the right is the area that will be freed up by moving the tank.

This is the Moeller tank I decided on. It's a 13 gal, 39" x 10" x 10"

In order to use it for diesel you need to provide a fuel return port. Moeller does this by using the fuel gage plate area.

These are the cardboard "mock ups" I tried before deciding on the 39" model

The original fuel tank held 19 gal. A step down to 13 gal tank may seem like the wrong way to go but judging by local sailing history I don't use that much fuel. On trips I usually bring an additional 5 gal can. So for the majority of my sailing 13 gallons will work very well. Also, seeing that the tank is light hard plastic, you can actually see the level of the fuel inside. This provides a second verification to the metered fuel level.

Fitting in the 39" tank on the Starboard-Cockpit-Hatch

I though that the mounting would be on the starboard hull skin. I tried and tried to think how this would be mounted. Diesel fuel is about 7lb/gal, so 13 gal is ~ 100 lbs with tank. My mounting had to be strong enough to hold up worst case 110 lbs. Pictures below reflect some trial and error.

The starboard side mounting was just blowing my mind with just how much fiber glassing I would need to do. This project was not having a nice effect. Sandy was even bored with the process of it all. After 45 min of crawling around in the hatch with the tank and some brackets, I took another look at the original tank area. The reason I didn't want a tank there was so I could get to the PSS Packing and shaft in an emergency. Maybe if I left room at the front and mounted this 10" wide tank to the stern....Will need to re-route some

The new tank is installed and secured to the frame-work of the boat

The new tank had all the features that I was looking for. I choose to modify the fuel sensor myself with the diesel return port. Just enough room to insert it between the gasket and mount. I did cut a small "V" in the gasket to provide enough space. If you ever install one of these sensors, don't forget to measure the resistance first.

You should read approx:

Empty-256 ohms

Half -52 ohms

Full - 32 ohms

The installed configuration fit just fine in the new location. You have to hunt for a fuel hose with a 90° bend. I found a hose designed for fuel at 1-1/2" from Goodyear (59205). I just needed to cut off a few inches so that the tank fill would fit under the deck floor. So with the previous rubber strips I removed from original tank mounting, I proceeded to secure the tank to the boat structure. Next is the fuel fill, fuel source and fuel return hoses. Just look at all that room you have now to get to the stuffing box and fix any emergency.