DIANTHUS

Dianthus is our Canadian Sailcraft 36 sailboat (Merlin version) we purchased in December 2011.



Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Taking stuff apart on a boat PART II

Concurrent w/ the deck sheave project I wanted to remove the fuel tank for cleaning.  A few weeks earlier while on our way back from Baltimore the engine completely quit.  Would not start.  I had time for just a cursory inspection of the engine and since the Racor filter was clean I had my mechanic take a look and he found the fuel pickup was completely clogged.  Rather than tempt fate w/ losing the engine at a most inopportune time I decided to remove the tank now rather than over the winter and have it cleaned.  First up, draining the 8 or 9 gallons of diesel.  My friends Gary and Greg loaned me there hand pump and provided moral support.  Then came getting the screws out that held the brace on top of the tank in place.  Two came out w/ minimal cursing and sweating.  Two wouldn't budge.  After much grunting by Gary and myself, heating w/ a torch, and using an array of screwdrivers, vise grips and other assorted tools w/ got the last screw out.  I also wisely took a picture of the wiring on top of the tank to the sending unit and grounding tab.  Shine a light in the tank an there is gelled GUNK on the walls and pickups.  No wonder I had problems.

Of course the place that I wanted to take the tank was only open M-F so I had to drive to Glen Burnie on a Mon morning and back again that Thur after work to pick up the tank.  Get it home and shine a light in and the sides still have fine grit and stuff on them.  Oh, and they put a "cap" on the bottom of the tank as it was pitted.  Made the tank sit just a bit higher in the boat meaning it BARELY fit.  
Call the shop.  They'll clean it again while I wait, but this means another whole week to get the tank to them and then installed.  Okay, whatever.
They do a nice job this time, I race off to the boat, put the tank back in, go to wire it and.... I forgot my camera w/ the picture of the wiring.  While I'm SURE I know how it goes, I don't want to screw up, so on to other projects until I can call Carol to look at the pic and tell me what goes where.  (That is a whole other story telling her how to work the camera!)  Then on to hooking up the fuel fill hose, vent and supply/return lines.

The good thing in all this is after putting 15 gal. of diesel in the tank it only took a few minutes of priming the racor to get flow.  Fired up the Volvo and VOILA!   Ah, success!

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