Pate Plastics Fuel Tank
Pate Plastics Fuel Tank
The 27-gallon fuel tank on my 1988 Montauk 17 has a 10-inch crack in it. Can it be repaired and how? Is there a company that makes a fuel tank like this one made by Pate Plastics? Suggestions.
Re: Pate Plastics Fuel Tank
Pate Plastics withdrew from the manufacturing of fiberglass fuel tanks because there was no remedy for the problems of using alcohol-diluted or ethanol-diluted gasoline fuel in them. The resins used in the laminate could not tolerate gasoline blended with alcohols, and the laminates tended to dissolve and mix with the fuel.
Fiberglass laminates can be repaired without too much problem.
To learn how to repair fiberglass laminates, see several articles on those topics in the REFERENCE section. You could repair it yourself or hire out the repair. I don't see the repair as an obstacle. The repair is not the problem. The problem is fiberglass laminates have proved unsuitable for use with ethanol-diluted gasoline fuels. And in the USA avoiding ethanol-gasoline blended fuel for boats is almost impossible.
Considering the cost of modern outboard engines and the damage that could be done to them from using a Pate Plastics fuel tank, I can't see any reason to want to use a Pate Plastics fuel tank, and even less reason to want to use one that has a large mechanical defect.
On that basis my suggestion is your damaged Pate Plastic fuel tank be discarded as a fuel tank and some other use found for it.
You could also offer it for sale; perhaps someone would be interested.
If you NEVER use any sort of gasoline with alcohol content, and if you have NEVER seen any occurrence of a problem with the tank, then you could try to repair it and use it.
Also, current EPA regulations of on-deck gasoline fuel tanks used on boats require particular methods be employed for preventing venting of gasoline vapor into the atmosphere. This also tends to diminish the utility of a Pate Plastics fuel tank, as it is unlikely to be in compliance with EPA regulations.
There are a few companies that manufacture fiberglass fuel tanks for gasoline, but they do this for aviation. Aviation fuel contains no alcohols. I believe use of alcohol-gasoline blended fuels is prohibited in any aircraft engine. Thus aircraft with fiberglass fuel tanks will never see fuel with alcohol in it.
Can [a fiberglass laminate fuel tank with a large crack] be repaired and how?
Fiberglass laminates can be repaired without too much problem.
To learn how to repair fiberglass laminates, see several articles on those topics in the REFERENCE section. You could repair it yourself or hire out the repair. I don't see the repair as an obstacle. The repair is not the problem. The problem is fiberglass laminates have proved unsuitable for use with ethanol-diluted gasoline fuels. And in the USA avoiding ethanol-gasoline blended fuel for boats is almost impossible.
Considering the cost of modern outboard engines and the damage that could be done to them from using a Pate Plastics fuel tank, I can't see any reason to want to use a Pate Plastics fuel tank, and even less reason to want to use one that has a large mechanical defect.
Suggestions?
On that basis my suggestion is your damaged Pate Plastic fuel tank be discarded as a fuel tank and some other use found for it.
You could also offer it for sale; perhaps someone would be interested.
If you NEVER use any sort of gasoline with alcohol content, and if you have NEVER seen any occurrence of a problem with the tank, then you could try to repair it and use it.
Also, current EPA regulations of on-deck gasoline fuel tanks used on boats require particular methods be employed for preventing venting of gasoline vapor into the atmosphere. This also tends to diminish the utility of a Pate Plastics fuel tank, as it is unlikely to be in compliance with EPA regulations.
There are a few companies that manufacture fiberglass fuel tanks for gasoline, but they do this for aviation. Aviation fuel contains no alcohols. I believe use of alcohol-gasoline blended fuels is prohibited in any aircraft engine. Thus aircraft with fiberglass fuel tanks will never see fuel with alcohol in it.
Re: Pate Plastics Fuel Tank
The notion of having a 27-gallon on-deck fuel tank in a MONTAUK 17 was probably in fashion based on the rate of fuel consumption of the older two-stroke power cycle outboard engines used on older MONTAUK. Modern outboard engines now consume fuel at about half the rate of those older engines, so the need for a 27-gallon fuel tank is no longer really there.
There is a plastic on-deck fuel tank specifically designed for use with MONTAUK boats that have the Reversible Pilot Seat configuration. It is made by MOELLER and is available in a WHITE plastic that goes well with the Boston Whaler gel coat. It has a capacity of 22-gallons. It was introduced about eight years ago. See
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/018886.html
Unfortunately it looks ilke now, due to more regulations about evaporative emissions, that tank is not certified for use in the USA. See
http://moellermarine.com/moeller-marine/fuel-containment/22-gallon-topside-fuel-tank-031626/
You may have to settle for an ugly red tank:
http://moellermarine.com/moeller-marine ... -031626br/
For more about on-deck fuel tanks, see the article in the REFERENCE section:
ON-DECK FUEL TANKS
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... lTank.html
There is a plastic on-deck fuel tank specifically designed for use with MONTAUK boats that have the Reversible Pilot Seat configuration. It is made by MOELLER and is available in a WHITE plastic that goes well with the Boston Whaler gel coat. It has a capacity of 22-gallons. It was introduced about eight years ago. See
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/018886.html
Unfortunately it looks ilke now, due to more regulations about evaporative emissions, that tank is not certified for use in the USA. See
http://moellermarine.com/moeller-marine/fuel-containment/22-gallon-topside-fuel-tank-031626/
You may have to settle for an ugly red tank:
http://moellermarine.com/moeller-marine ... -031626br/
For more about on-deck fuel tanks, see the article in the REFERENCE section:
ON-DECK FUEL TANKS
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... lTank.html
Re: Pate Plastics Fuel Tank
Location is everything if you prefer to use non-ethanol gasoline. In Alabama, for example, almost all marine fueling stations sell non-ethanol as do many regular gas stations around popular boating areas. I do not use ethanol gasoline in our boats nor in our small engine garden power tools or generator set. I also treat all the portable fuel tanks we own with a stabilizer. So far the results have been excellent.
Your fiberglass fuel tank may be worth repairing.
Your fiberglass fuel tank may be worth repairing.
Butch