Hi all - Wanted to share my experience replacing our diesel tank on our '77 CNC 34 and ask a quick couple questions. I'll ask the questions first and then give the whole story:
1. I hooked the leads from the sender on our new tank <http://www.moellermarine.com/moeller-marine/fuel-containment/19-gallon-permanent-below-deck-boat-fuel-tank-032519/> to the old gauge and it doesn't work. You can see photos of the old gauge in the Google Drive linked below. Do I need to get a new fuel gauge? Also, why in the world are there SO MANY red wires coming out of our existing fuel gauge? 2. There wasn't a way to prime the line between my fuel filter and the tank (no bulb in the tank and no pump on the filter). I ran the engine last night for about 40 minutes without any problem, so maybe it's fine? Anyone have any knowledge of this? 3. The old tank was grounded to the engine as well as to the deck filler fitting. The new tank has no bosses for any kind of grounding, and, somehow, I can't find any spot to ground the deck filler fitting. Do these all need to be grounded? Here's a Google Drive with a few photos <https://drive.google.com/open?id=1foukq8-ib_UQ0mU9HQ4SIflU_-j1gf5V&authuser=andrew%40transom.design&usp=drive_fs>, and here's the full account: Back in May we discovered diesel in the bilge, which was traced back to our 40+ year old aluminum diesel tank. Since it was so old I decided to replace it rather than try to repair it, and decided on a 19 gallon Moeller plastic tank <http://www.moellermarine.com/moeller-marine/fuel-containment/19-gallon-permanent-below-deck-boat-fuel-tank-032519/>, as it was almost exactly the same size as our existing tank. The straps that held down our existing tank were badly corroded, so I decided to use their hold-down kit <http://www.moellermarine.com/moeller-marine/fuel-containment/permanent-fuel-tank-aluminum-hold-down-kit-4-brackets-035710/> - it seemed more clean and secure than straps anyway. This posed a problem however, because the shelf that the tank was situated on was too small to accommodate the additional space required by the brackets, so I had to remove the existing shelf and cut a new one. I used 5mm thick nitrile rubber from Gardico, a local rubber supplier to rest the tank on - I ended up having to double it up to get proper tension on the hold-down brackets, but the tank feels super solid now. I was able to re-use much of the existing hose as it was in good condition, although I ended up needing new new filler and vent hose as the tank's position had shifted slightly forward. At the end of the day the project ended up being a lot of work (I also created new floorboards for the lazarette) but I'm glad to have it all done in time for some nicer weather here in Seattle. Andrew
_______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
