Inboard fuel tank stand pipe questions!

[Jay_1]

Hello all

I have a 7m rib with an inboard fuel tank feeding twin 75 2 stroke mariners. My fuel stand pipes or pickup pipes are pretty rotten and I am in the process of replacing them but cannot get a solid answer as to whether I should replace them with plastic or metal ones. The current ones are metal, possibly copper but everywhere I search online offers plastic ones.

Are there pros and cons to either or is it just much of a muchness?!

I'm down in poole, so if anyone knows where I can get some or where to get some made, that would be great!

Many thanks

[User name]

Metal would be preferable but plastic ones will do the job. They'll harden and can become brittle but it won't happen overnight. Yours are likely steel rather than copper. Metal are easier to repair/patch up in the future as you can flare or solder to them to make a permanent join. Are yours rotten inside the tank, or only the spigot on the outside?

[Jay_1]

Thanks for your reply. Mine are rotten on the inside. They came out easy enough but one is significantly shorter than the other!

I'm happy to stick to metal, just unsure where to get them made or how to go about it myself!

[User name]

Ah, that does indeed look like soldered copper. The pipe is widely available and you can just desolder it from the spigot and solder in a new length very cheaply. If you can't do it yourself, it's a simple job for a local boat mechanic or even heating/plumbing engineer.

[Jay_1]

Ah I did wonder! I can solder, or at least I used to be able to, but I was unsure if I could use standard household plumbing solder or if it was something boating specific, seeing as it was to be used in a petrol tank. Would standard solder be OK?

[User name]

You don't need anything special. You'll need a blow torch of some sort to get enough heat into that fitting though.

[Jay_1]

Brilliant. I have the whole kit kicking around somewhere so will give that a go and hopefully have the boat back up and running.
Going to fathom how to clean the fuel tanks out seeing as the bottom looks like this!

[User name]

I've worked on a lot of classic cars that make your tank look factory new.

The main thing is to get anything loose out of there. It doesn't have to be gorgeous.

[paintman]

Those pipes look grim.
Worth considering stainless steel?
Might need to have a chat with a plumber to joint.
http://www.muggyweld.com/video/stain...eel-soldering/