Gas tank sitting on top of insulation pad

[nastyquedawg]

I recently bought a used boat in which the keel had worn down so much in one area that rain water would leak from the inside through the hull. Since them I have built that area up with fiberglass and sealed it marine tex. This was done in December of 2008. I took the boat out today on its maiden voyage, as me being the owner and felt like the boat is usually heavy but the NADA has the boat weight at 2100lbs, heavy for a 17ft boat. It is a center console Invader with a 90inch beam. I don't think it is common for boat manufactures to put foam in the center of the boat in the bilge but I wanted to make sure. So I remove the deck plate to determine if there was foam in the center of the boat. I saw no foam in the gas tank area but saw the gas tank resting on some type of insulation pad. The pad was very damp, is this normal?

 

[92excel]

Re: Gas tank sitting on top of insulation pad

It is normal to raise a gas tank up with somthing so that water doesnt get caught under.. but if you have foam then the foam will absorb the water and never let it go.. so i would say that foam is a poor choice for material.. old rub rail or somthing that will not absorb water would be better

 

[nastyquedawg]

Re: Gas tank sitting on top of insulation pad

Thanks for the response. There was no foam in the gas tank area. Now that I think about a littler more maybe that insulation used to be on the side of the gas tank and the adhesive holding wore out and the insulation slide under the tank