I have a 1985 CD 30 Cutter and have developed a very slow leak in the fuel tank. It appears to be on the bottom of the tank but I'm not certain at this point. Does anyone have experience with "in boat" repair or in removing the tank? Will it come out the port side lazaret? Not interested in a quick fix.
JLeeman105@AOL.com
CD 30 Fuel Tank
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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D. Stump, Hanalei
Re: CD 30 Fuel Tank
Jack,
I have a CD30, 1984, hull 364 with probably the same tank. It is I believe, unusuall for it to leak in the first place, as it is aluminium. But if it is, you should be able to have it weld repaired for a complete fix. I don't know if it will fit through the lazzerette, but it should. I'm about to find out, as I want to remove mine so that I can take it to a car wash and pressure wash it CLEAN. I have been picking up a small amount of GUK in the primary fuel filter, and I want to clean and inspect the tank once and for all. If you get yours out before me, come back at this site and let me know what the experience was. I'll do the same, if I beat ya to it.
Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei, CD-30
I have a CD30, 1984, hull 364 with probably the same tank. It is I believe, unusuall for it to leak in the first place, as it is aluminium. But if it is, you should be able to have it weld repaired for a complete fix. I don't know if it will fit through the lazzerette, but it should. I'm about to find out, as I want to remove mine so that I can take it to a car wash and pressure wash it CLEAN. I have been picking up a small amount of GUK in the primary fuel filter, and I want to clean and inspect the tank once and for all. If you get yours out before me, come back at this site and let me know what the experience was. I'll do the same, if I beat ya to it.
Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei, CD-30
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Jon Larson
Re: CD 30 Fuel Tank
Dave, during the years that PERI was in storage, algae started growing in the fuel system. I had pumped all that out and replaced with new fuel, but it never quite got rid of it all. I then had a marine tank cleaning place come out to scrub the tank. They cut an access port in the side of the tank (and they were really impressed with the thickness of the tank walls, very well built they said) and proceeded to cycle all the fuel through a very fine filter system as well as to scrub the tank itself. That really did the trick, along with appropriate doses of algacide, PERI never again had a problem while I owned her. The tank now has a gasketed port should it have to be done again.
I would really recommend you inquire about for something like that, it wasn't all that expensive.
Jon Larson
jon9@ix.netcom.com
I would really recommend you inquire about for something like that, it wasn't all that expensive.
Jon Larson
D. Stump, Hanalei wrote: Jack,
I have a CD30, 1984, hull 364 with probably the same tank. It is I believe, unusuall for it to leak in the first place, as it is aluminium. But if it is, you should be able to have it weld repaired for a complete fix. I don't know if it will fit through the lazzerette, but it should. I'm about to find out, as I want to remove mine so that I can take it to a car wash and pressure wash it CLEAN. I have been picking up a small amount of GUK in the primary fuel filter, and I want to clean and inspect the tank once and for all. If you get yours out before me, come back at this site and let me know what the experience was. I'll do the same, if I beat ya to it.
Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei, CD-30
jon9@ix.netcom.com
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Joe O'Grodnick
Re: CD 30 Fuel Tank
Jack Leeman wrote: I have a 1982 CD 30 Cutter and have developed a fast leak in the fuel tank. When I went to take it out of the water, the bilge was full of diesal. Thank God, it wasn't gas! The yard says it will come out of the lazarette, but they have not done it yet. I'll keep you posted. The yard said that 15 years for an aluminum tank was par for the course, so I intended to replace the tank. But if it is so well built, maybe fixing it is a better option.
ogrodnickj@pt.cyanamid.com
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Scott Ritchey
Re: CD 30 Fuel Tank
You may want to read the current issue of "Good Old Boat." There are two useful articles on tanks and one covers repairs.
ritcheyvs@aol.com
ritcheyvs@aol.com
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D. Stump, Hanalei
Re: CD 30 Fuel Tank
John,
Thanks for your reply, I remember you posting the same info earlier on this site. I think that I will attempt to remove the tank, by first pulling the fuel gauge, pump out the tank, remove it from the boat, and pressure wash it through the opening for the fuel gauge and the fill line holes, and re-install the whole thing. I'll probably replace the fill line as it is showing some surface cracks. I don't really want to cut the tank if I can avoid it, just another place for a leak to develope. Anyhow, thanks again for your comment, I'll let ya know how I make out.
Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei (CD-30)
Thanks for your reply, I remember you posting the same info earlier on this site. I think that I will attempt to remove the tank, by first pulling the fuel gauge, pump out the tank, remove it from the boat, and pressure wash it through the opening for the fuel gauge and the fill line holes, and re-install the whole thing. I'll probably replace the fill line as it is showing some surface cracks. I don't really want to cut the tank if I can avoid it, just another place for a leak to develope. Anyhow, thanks again for your comment, I'll let ya know how I make out.
Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei (CD-30)
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M. Birdt
Re: CD 30 Fuel Tank
I have a 1986 CD 30B cutter # 358, CRYSTAL,located in Fort Myers, Florida. This past summer the tank developed a leak. Rather than an internal "fix" I elected to have the tank removed by the yard. They had to cut the tank in order to remove it. No standard tank of appropriate size would fit through the opening so I had a 20 gallon tank (aluminum) fabricated that would fit through the seat opening. It is narrower and longer. I made sure the fittings on the new tank did not interfere with the removal of the battery just above and outboard of it. The difference in length is hardly noticable for I get the same amount of junk in the locker. If you get diesel fuel in the sump under the engine, the bottom of the tank is a good suspect.
mbirdt@peganet.com
Jack Leeman wrote: I have a 1985 CD 30 Cutter and have developed a very slow leak in the fuel tank. It appears to be on the bottom of the tank but I'm not certain at this point. Does anyone have experience with "in boat" repair or in removing the tank? Will it come out the port side lazaret? Not interested in a quick fix.
mbirdt@peganet.com
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D. Stump, Hanalei
Re: CD 30 Fuel Tank, note for Jon!
Jon,
I remember you had posted about the same info. awhile ago about fuel tanks. I thought at that time that cutting the tank just made another leak site, BUT, I went down to the shipyard yesterday and started to remove the tank from Hanalei. It was then that I noticed the tank is a LOT bigger than I thought. I didn't realize that it extended through the forward bulkhead of the lazzerete! Removing the tank is now out of the question. (Someone else recently posted that they replaced the tank and the old one had to be cut up in place to remove it!)
OK, so the tank stays where it is. The question is Fuel Quality? When I replaced the primary and secondary filters this fall, the primary had a small amount of gunk around the spring loaded seat and in the very bottom of the filter housing. The filter actually didn't look to bad, but I replaced it with a new one anyhow. The secondary filter looked like new, nothing on it, but it got replaced also. The engine ran just fine all year. Longest run time was about 4 hours. So, am I being just a little to cautious about fuel quality? Maybe this is a case of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
Sure would appreciate your comments Jon,
Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei (CD-30)
I remember you had posted about the same info. awhile ago about fuel tanks. I thought at that time that cutting the tank just made another leak site, BUT, I went down to the shipyard yesterday and started to remove the tank from Hanalei. It was then that I noticed the tank is a LOT bigger than I thought. I didn't realize that it extended through the forward bulkhead of the lazzerete! Removing the tank is now out of the question. (Someone else recently posted that they replaced the tank and the old one had to be cut up in place to remove it!)
OK, so the tank stays where it is. The question is Fuel Quality? When I replaced the primary and secondary filters this fall, the primary had a small amount of gunk around the spring loaded seat and in the very bottom of the filter housing. The filter actually didn't look to bad, but I replaced it with a new one anyhow. The secondary filter looked like new, nothing on it, but it got replaced also. The engine ran just fine all year. Longest run time was about 4 hours. So, am I being just a little to cautious about fuel quality? Maybe this is a case of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
Sure would appreciate your comments Jon,
Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei (CD-30)
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Jon Larson
Re: CD 30 Fuel Tank, note for Jon!
Dave,
I am *NOT* an expert on this. From my experience with PERI in storage for a number of years, the first filter was really sludged up from algae in the tank, I'm not sure how much longer it would have been till inadequate amounts of fuel were flowing, so I did take action. The first filter took all this stuff, the engine filter looked very good, by the way.
It sounds like you're in pretty good shape, I'd probably be inclined to leave it alone, Dave. Do make sure you add the antifungal stuff to your fuel twice a year to prevent algae growth, and watch it for another year. If I had kept PERI, I'd have replaced the first Fram filter with a good Racor with a glass bowl to track this, that might be the thing you would wish to do if you've not already done that. That and some spare filters on board keep you running even should there be something in there.
The gasketed port they added to my tank was really well built and gave me NO problems whatsoever. Given that it might at some point of time in the future, it was bolted on and either the whole port or the gaskets, one inside one outside, could be replaced at that time.
Good luck! Sounds like you're in pretty good shape.
Jon (missing PERI)
jon9@ix.netcom.com
I am *NOT* an expert on this. From my experience with PERI in storage for a number of years, the first filter was really sludged up from algae in the tank, I'm not sure how much longer it would have been till inadequate amounts of fuel were flowing, so I did take action. The first filter took all this stuff, the engine filter looked very good, by the way.
It sounds like you're in pretty good shape, I'd probably be inclined to leave it alone, Dave. Do make sure you add the antifungal stuff to your fuel twice a year to prevent algae growth, and watch it for another year. If I had kept PERI, I'd have replaced the first Fram filter with a good Racor with a glass bowl to track this, that might be the thing you would wish to do if you've not already done that. That and some spare filters on board keep you running even should there be something in there.
The gasketed port they added to my tank was really well built and gave me NO problems whatsoever. Given that it might at some point of time in the future, it was bolted on and either the whole port or the gaskets, one inside one outside, could be replaced at that time.
Good luck! Sounds like you're in pretty good shape.
Jon (missing PERI)
D. Stump, Hanalei wrote: Jon,
I remember you had posted about the same info. awhile ago about fuel tanks. I thought at that time that cutting the tank just made another leak site, BUT, I went down to the shipyard yesterday and started to remove the tank from Hanalei. It was then that I noticed the tank is a LOT bigger than I thought. I didn't realize that it extended through the forward bulkhead of the lazzerete! Removing the tank is now out of the question. (Someone else recently posted that they replaced the tank and the old one had to be cut up in place to remove it!)
OK, so the tank stays where it is. The question is Fuel Quality? When I replaced the primary and secondary filters this fall, the primary had a small amount of gunk around the spring loaded seat and in the very bottom of the filter housing. The filter actually didn't look to bad, but I replaced it with a new one anyhow. The secondary filter looked like new, nothing on it, but it got replaced also. The engine ran just fine all year. Longest run time was about 4 hours. So, am I being just a little to cautious about fuel quality? Maybe this is a case of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
Sure would appreciate your comments Jon,
Dave Stump
Captain Commanding
s/v Hanalei (CD-30)
jon9@ix.netcom.com