Heat Forming Fuel Tank

[Pusher]

I tried a brief search on Iboats, youtube and the net without luck.

I was wondering if anyone has tried to use a heat gun or otherwise to form a fuel tank.

I have a low splashwell and cannot get my tanks all the way underneath the well. I also can't find any fuel tanks that are designed this way (helllloooo!?!).

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Nooooooooooooooo bad idea....

You have no way of knowing if you have compromised the structure of the tank..

You may need to have a tank custom built for you out of aluminum or you may need to consider two smaller tanks.

 

[Pusher]

Nobody has tried this before huh?

 

[smokeonthewater]

Sure it's been tried before..... Sometimes it might work and sometimes it might not.... I even experimented with forming a tank for a jeep to clear the differential.... I believe it would be a VERY bad idea and I'm certain the coast guard wouldn't approve.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Depending upon the degree of deformation you want, it can be a VERY BAD idea.

Fuel tanks are formed by pouring a set amount of powdered plastic into a mold. The mold is then tumbled and heated to deposit a uniform layer of plastic and to fuse the plastic together. When you heat and bend the plastic you are changing the thickness of the deposited plastic and weakening the tank.

Now, What is worse: Spending a couple of hundred dollars which would translate to a couple of day's gas on a customized tank or having a gas leak and possible fire or explosion which would really put a damper on your day.

We are so used to simply pumping gas into our cars that we lose respect for it. We don't see the safety features of the car or pump and consider it easy. In reality gasoline is nothing to fool with. It is dangerous and highly flammable and has as much power as dynamite

 

[Scott Danforth]

with cross-lined PE (material that most plastic tanks are made of) you will destroy it prior to getting it to re-form. bad idea. you would be much further ahead with a custom made tank from a certified fuel tank manufacturer.

 

[cptrick3]

I think I would rather do fiberglass work to the boat than risk compromising a gas tank.

 

[H20Rat]

In reality gasoline is nothing to fool with. It is dangerous and highly flammable and has as much power as dynamite

Nope, not even close... Its actually far, far worse! Gasoline has around 44.4 megajoules/kg of potential energy. TNT has 4.6. (although in the sake of disclosure, wood is 16.4 mj/kg)

 

[Pusher]

I will subscribe to the knowledge of all those above and humbly restrain myself from being a complete arse.

Thanks for beating down my stubbornness

 

[smokeonthewater]

Beat downs are our speciality...

What about cutting out the floor to allow the tank to drop lower?