Aluminium VS plastic fuel tanks

[95civic]

Hey guys,

Apart from a possible weight difference, are there and pro's or con's to running an aluminium fuel tank compared to a plastic fuel tank??

Cheers,

Cam

[DNT-CRY]

In my mind, the best choice is aluminum in view of several considerations. First, the USCG has approved fuel tanks to be made of plastic, fiberglass and aluminum -so that is not a major problem. And, as you point out, there are aluminum alloys that hold up well in a salt water environment.

My thoughts are largely based from a safety viewpoint and the fact that one thing I certainly don't want on my boat is a fire. In this light, plastic and fiberglass are relatively easily punctured while aluminum is rather difficult to puncture. Rupture of the fuel envelope (puncture of the tank, leak or failure of a fitting or line, et.al) is a requisite of a fuel fire


Pros & Cons of Plastic Fuel Tank

1) Translucent - More accurate than a gas gague and no gague to ever break!
2) Easily portable and will not scratch anything if I drag it around in the boat a little bit
3) inexpensive


The cons as I see it are:

1) Won't last forever in the sun
2) Won't store gas as long as metal

[trism]

imo, that reply has nothing to do with what op is asking, and sounds like a copypasta from google.

this isnt a boating forum, its an automotive forum

[trism]

http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/003271.html

well well well

good work

marine and automotive applications are totally different

[DNT-CRY]

so fuk wat i was trying to help the guy out

[trism]

In my mind, the best choice is aluminum in view of several considerations. First, the USCG has approved fuel tanks to be made of plastic, fiberglass and aluminum -so that is not a major problem. And, as you point out, there are aluminum alloys that hold up well in a salt water environment.

My thoughts are largely based from a safety viewpoint and the fact that one thing I certainly don't want on my boat is a fire. In this light, plastic and fiberglass are relatively easily punctured while aluminum is rather difficult to puncture. Rupture of the fuel envelope (puncture of the tank, leak or failure of a fitting or line, et.al) is a requisite of a fuel fire


Pros & Cons of Plastic Fuel Tank

1) Translucent - More accurate than a gas gague and no gague to ever break!
2) Easily portable and will not scratch anything if I drag it around in the boat a little bit
3) inexpensive


The cons as I see it are:

1) Won't last forever in the sun
2) Won't store gas as long as metal

those bolded points have nothing to do with OPs question.

imho, aluminium tanks are really only good for fully custom tanks. most al tanks are basically just rectangles, with baffles inside. a plastic tank, espeially for a FWD is all moulded into shape etc.

al tanks are god when you jsut need a simple shape to fit in teh back of teh car. good luck getting a custom alumunium tank to fit in the stock postion on a civic without a whole lot of unnecseary fcuking around (which = money)

no point imho

[vincikwan]

true...lol. All along i though he was asking about cars.

[dsp26]

i'll add this... Certain Audi models have plastic fuel tanks... search up "Audi Fire" in a search engine lol

[grumpy rooster]

Aluminium is easier to work with in terms of making custom tanks and making odd shapes to fit in a particular spot. Another reason is it is cheaper because there are many more places that can do it. Not many places can custom make things out of plastic because it needs to be moulded which takes $$$$.

But, if your just buying an off the shelf tank the choice is personal preference. Just make sure it is baffled and if its in a street car can have a fuel guage sender fitted to it.

[d15z1SUX]

In my mind, the best choice is aluminum in view of several considerations. First, the USCG has approved fuel tanks to be made of plastic, fiberglass and aluminum -so that is not a major problem. And, as you point out, there are aluminum alloys that hold up well in a salt water environment.

My thoughts are largely based from a safety viewpoint and the fact that one thing I certainly don't want on my boat is a fire. In this light, plastic and fiberglass are relatively easily punctured while aluminum is rather difficult to puncture. Rupture of the fuel envelope (puncture of the tank, leak or failure of a fitting or line, et.al) is a requisite of a fuel fire


Pros & Cons of Plastic Fuel Tank

1) Translucent - More accurate than a gas gague and no gague to ever break!
2) Easily portable and will not scratch anything if I drag it around in the boat a little bit
3) inexpensive


The cons as I see it are:

1) Won't last forever in the sun
2) Won't store gas as long as metal

at least reference where u got ur quote from instead of just cutting and pasting it. i read it n then i was like whaaatt? was it to do with boating? then i scrolled back up to the original question and no it wasn't lol.

[panda[cRx]]

In my mind, the best choice is aluminum in view of several considerations. First, the USCG has approved fuel tanks to be made of plastic, fiberglass and aluminum -so that is not a major problem.


USCG = United States Coast Guard :wave:

[EKVTIR-T]

Isn't Dc5 and Euro using plastic tanks?
But ye for fabrication cost surely ally would be cheaper and easier as far as customization goes.
Unless you get an oem plastic one from a wreckers?

[SiReal]

Guys nice of you to help out but can we PLEASE cut the hostilities. Is is that hard to answer a question without having to bag someone?!?! FFS.

[dc2dc2dc2]

But he wrongly pasted info that was not his own thoughts/opinions without giving credit to the dude who actually wrote down. That my friend is called Plagerism.

Time to hand out neg. reps :D

[thepope1986]

nearly all vehicles these days have plastic fuel tanks. the only ones that dont are 4*4's and the like but for normal street use the plastic tank that comes with nearly all cars does the job.

[beeza]

But he wrongly pasted info that was not his own thoughts/opinions without giving credit to the dude who actually wrote down. That my friend is called Plagerism.

Time to hand out neg. reps :D

x2
Dnt cry,that was some random shit you posted man :thumbdwn: