fuel tank leak

[sentone]

Hello all,<br />I have a 19' Robalo with a leaking gas tank. It looks like it is leaking around the seam where a round fiberglass cover is directly over the indeck gas tank. The sending unit is mounted in the center of this same round piece of fiberglass. It's seals are not the problem. I think that the tank (fiberglass) was replaced 6 years ago. <br />How should I proceed? Should I put a new tank in? Or should I just try to refiberglass around this area? (To refiberglass I have to empty the boat of gas. Repair, then put more fuel in to see if the repair held.)<br />Thanks,<br />Jonas

 

[AndyL]

Re: fuel tank leak

It is difficult to give you a truly balanced answer without actually seeing the problem. If it were mine I would have a go at repairing in situ. If you clean the area well with a coarse grade abrasive sandpaper (do not use power tools for risk of explosion) then clean thoroughly with acetone to ensure no grease deposits left you should be able to glass over the leak. I would allow an overlap of at least 2inches and more if possible. In uk you can buy tins of chopped mat mixed with resin which would be pretty perfect to use in this application. If the hole is of any size once you clean off I would suggest, before you glass, to plug the hole with JBweld or equivalent then sand down to ensure a smooth surface to glass onto. If it does not work you will have to change the tank but I reckon it is worth a try. <br />Andy