From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.rv-travel
Subject: Re: Tioga Fuel Tank - Need Help!
Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2000 23:20:05 -0400

55stude wrote:

> If they're out of business where would you
> suggest I go to get a tank? How about the patches. My repair man
> says NAPA makes a patch for plastic tanks but he wouldn't
> recommend it. Any other ideas??? Thanks for any help you can come
> up with! Larry Morphew

Hi Larry,

Any body shop with a plastic welder for bumpers, etc, should be able
to weld up the leak in your tank.  No idea where you might buy
another, other than at an RV salvage yard.

Never tried the NAPA stuff but I have great doubts about it sticking
to common structural plastics.  I'd certainly not put it on the tank
before checking out welding, as the goop could very well mess up the
defect so that welding is impossible.

If the defect is a puncture or similar localized leak, it can also
be sealed with a bolt, nut, rubber washer and fender washer
assembly.  This assumes you can somehow get the nut positioned in
the tank (gas gauge opening, perhaps?)  Simply drill the fault,
assemble a fender washer and neoprene washer in that order on the
bolt, pass it through the hole in the tank and assemble a similar
sandwich along with a nut on the other side.  When you tighten the
assembly, the rubber will seal the assembly tightly.  I've used this
technique on large HDPE farm-type tanks on more than one occasion.
Make sure you get neoprene sheeting to cut the washers out of, as it
is the only commonly available rubber that is gas resistant.

John