Plumbing the New Tanks

Began installing the fuel supply and return lines. I really do like the 5/16" copper tubing that was used. Even after 24 years it doesn't show the least bit of wear. But, because the new tanks' fittings are in different places than in the old tanks, I had to make some new lines. The factory used what looks like brass strips to hold the lines in place. I reused the brass strips and augmented it with copper strips where necessary.

 It seems that industry has decided that 1/4" and 3/8" tube is adequate for most jobs, thus 5/16" fittings are hard to come by. What is available seems targeted at repairs and not new-builds. Thus I had to use two ells which are 5/16" ferrule to 1/4" male-NPT instead of 5/16 flared tube to 3/8" male-NPT. I bring this up only because I thought I preferred tube fittings. They're easy to form in the field and are reliable. The ferrule fitting however means you don't have to flare the tube, thus it's faster.

 Stainless steel fittings were used to isolate the copper fittings from the aluminum tanks. Another choice could have been nylon fittings. They would sit lower than the stainless fittings and would be self-sealing. I put both nylon tape and pipe dope on all the metal fittings. The problem with nylon fittings is that the USCG doesn't approve it for a commercial vessel. So the question is would Nellie ever become a commercial vessel?

Preparing to flare the tube. It's a good thing I paused to take this picture. Note the flared tube cap sitting on the aluminum tank? Well, it's supposed to go on the tube before it's flared.

The original manifold is in place. The copper fuel supply and return lines are too.