4+2 Fuel Locker security

[vreagh]

As you say "it's a large void" could also be a large bang . I would have doubts about storing fuel there without, as Dellquay says, of using a blower to clear vapours. I have petrol inboard and tank and area is vented overboard and engine and bilge area purged by blower before starting.

[dellquay13]

Big spaces with air and fumes are worse than small ones. The most dangerous vehicle on our roads would be an empty petrol tanker, the fumes from the tiny leftover bit of petrol mixed with a lot of air would be about as explosive as it gets. They most likely purge any air and then fill with an inert gas.
If it is made to be an engine bay, Shetland must have made an easy way to fit a blower for when they fit their engines.

[Clive]

They most likely purge any air and then fill with an inert gas.
If it is made to be an engine bay, Shetland must have made an easy way to fit a blower for when they fit their engines.

Do you have any advice on fitting how to purge fumes using a bilge blower? I obviously want to be safe. Not seen anything here about this topic, maybe start a thread as there a lot of 4+2 owners out there who may well be in the same position as I am.
Also, just nit picking for a moment, “they most likely purge any air” sounds like your thoughts... do you have any reports on this being done? I’m not disagreeing it would be good practice, just would like to know if it is normal practice!
Cheers and thanks, Clive

[Clive]

Mark, what’s the situation with your fuel storage, is you space vented as others here are suggesting?
Cheers, Clive

[dellquay13]

Bilge blowers are common on big boats with inboard engines, and like Vreagh says, they are usually run for a few minutes before the engines are started. They aren't normally fitted to outboard boats, because there isn't usually a big closed compartment to store fuel tanks in, but if fuel is stored in closed compartments they are good practice. There is loads of advice on how to fit and use bilge blowers and fans in google searches.
Do any owners of 4+2 inboards have any input on the topic?
Tankers use Nitrogen to purge air/vapour in Tank Blanketing btw, according to Google ...

[Mdr24uk]

Mark, what’s the situation with your fuel storage, is you space vented as others here are suggesting?
Cheers, Clive

I’ll have a closer look next time I’m out to the boat. She’s on a tidal pile mooring so I can’t just pop out and check - HW times aren’t useful this weekend. AFAIK she’s always had the fuel tanks fitted in there, and she had a BSS inspection a couple of years ago and also the survey came up fine.

[Clive]

Hi Mark. Same here. Whilst I understand the comments here I would like to have more input from other owners to see if we have an issue or if we are ok. So far 2 BSC say ok! My last (and first) boat when I bought it had the fuel tank in the same space as the battery! BSC Inspector wanted that moved... had been on Poole Harbour all its life so I got its first BSC.

[Freebird19]

This thread is proving very interesting. Particularly batteries and fuel stored together. A friend had a relatively new Quicksilver with both stored in a locker under the cockpit floor, accessed through a lift out panel. I thought at the time it seemed risky but this also passed a BSS check. There was a fire extinguisher access port mounted in the transom in case of fire, maybe that would be a minimum requirement?

[Clive]

Hi Freebird. I’ve been looking online as suggested by dellquay13 and their use (to me) seems more for large boats with inboards that are left for long periods of time. A key point is they are designed to remove fumes if there is a fuel leak in an engine compartment. I would have thought that an outboard with fuel lines to a tank is unlikely to leak and unlikely to have a build up of vapours. As I said earlier, us owners with outboards are frequently filling tanks so we open the locker and get a pretty good idea of what is going in there.
Any other owners with thoughts?
Cheers, Clive