Decks Welded & Exploding Fuel Tank (Day 58 & 59)

Lots of welding this weekend & I am pleased to say, besides the fender top seams that this would be the last of the long days of welding long seams. This time I got sunburned from the arc, probably because of the reflection off the tin roof of the carport, boat sits high on the trailer now so it’s close to the roof & the heat bounces off everywhere, better wear sunblock.

With the floatation foam installed and decks now fully welded in I could start on testing and installing the fuel tank. Only problem is that during pressure testing, the tank blew its lid off at two of the plug welds because I forgot to regulate the pressure before I went inside to make a cup of tea! There was an almighty BANG!!! from the carport, my heart sank.....my neighbours refer to me as the ‘Mad Scientist’ which is pretty funny & now confirmed, definitely lived up to the name on the weekend. 

Anyhow, the lid was deformed now so I had to cut it out with the ‘meat grinder’ blade then tried to straighten the lid on a concrete floor with a sledge hammer & some blocks of wood. That seemed to work OK & there was no need to cut-out a new lid. It was then time to weld the lid back on again so I wasted a huge chunk of the day fixing something that I shouldn’t have had to fix in the first place.

Forward foam floatation, stuffed into every crevice possible

Forward deck tacked-in place

Adding foam as I move back

Foam was cut to size to fit between framing members. Polyethylene foam cuts easily & can be bent as well. I will be able to get the specified 1.25m3 of foam in the hull no problem but will put another 0.25m3 of floatation foam under the gunwales.

View of foam installed towards the rear, fuel tank recess will get filled in later once the tank is installed

3 x 6kg rolls of Safra 1.2mm 5356 filler + 5kg's of 2.4mm TIG rod so far!

Fuel tank lid with doubler

Screw holes set for fuel sender installation

Fuel sender installed

Inlet & breather pipes capped off for pressure testing

The right way, regulated and with no more than 3.5psi needed, pretty sure I accidentally had it a 40 psi when it popped the lid!!! Repaired & re-installed the lid and no leaks either which is great.

Decks are done, just need the plug welds sanded down a little.

The wrong way - Fuel supply pipe with connection to compressor which will shortly almost blow the tank lid off because I was silly!

I cut out an inspection hatch which will be tacked-in place then a bead of fuel resistant silicone installed around it. This is so I can get right in an look inside the tank in the future - View of fuel sender installed as well.