sell me on a fuel bag over hard tank

[michael faszcza]

Im rigging my first gas rigger im not a fan of fuel bags .I've seen people miss heat races due to leaks and not finish because of a air pocket .i like a hard tank but figured i would post up to see if someone can sell me on running a fuel bag instead

 

[Ain'tSkered racing]

Simple most hard Tanks end up with water over time in the tank through the vent. Look around 99.9 % run fuel bags.

 

[Ron Olson]

No vent line needed as the bag collapses as the fuel is used up. With only one line there's no chance of water getting in the bag. Tip the boat up on its nose when filling the crank backwards to get any air out.

The brand of bag is important. You couldn't pay me to run a Dr. Buck's bag. The Baxter's are good but this year I'm using the "fuel cells" from Zippkits. They're thicker so under normal usage shouldn't split or leak.

It might be a little harder to do in most 'riggers but I try to mount the hanging end up as high as I can so that any air should go to the top but I've done it.

 

[Dick Loeb]

zippkit bags

 

[Danny King]

About a year ago I finished a gas sgx. Had a hard tank built by Walt. The hard take cuts way down on breakage and maximizes capacity. I have had zero issues. I run the vent line up through a gap between the exhaust manifold and jug. A gas carb can not flow fuel if the engine isn't running. So it can't pull water into the vent line. In the case of a flip over. Just squeeze the fuel line as you remove it from the carb then blow into it to clear any water in the vent line. I haven't had 1 issue and have tested it many many many Sundays.

In the mono I run zippkit bags. Takes getting used to. But I prefer the hard tank.

 

[DON MAHER]

A couple of 360 loops of fuel line on the vent and you never get water in the tank.

Don

 

[michael faszcza]

After seeing these replies i will be installing a hard tank .i have them in my gas cat and gas tunnel and have never had a water issue in the tank .i loop the vent 4 times with wire ties and in those boats i have flipped and submerged them several times .i thank everyone for the input

 

[johnsteltzer]

If you want a awesome tank for that boat with a life time warranty I will build you one and why would you put a ugly old fuel bag in a high dollar boat when you can put a stainless steel polished to a mirror finish tank from SS CUSTOM FUEL TANKS

 

[Andrew Coppolino]

I find the zippkits bags split easier than the baxter bags, but saying that they both split and always at the wrong time usually before you throw it in for a race, I would have to vote for a hard tank never had water in one never had one split

 

[JimZaremski]

I moved to hard tanks after having too much problems with bags breaking down in relatively short amounts of time.

 

[Daniel's Racing]

The trick to long bag life is once exposed to fuel the entire inside of bag must always stay in contact with wet liquid fuel.

That means never let it sit with air or fuel vapor in it. If the bag is 100% wetted with liquid fuel they will last a very long time.

You have to watch it for a day or two following taking the boat out and remove all vapor that has puffed up in the bag.

Once it isn't being shaken around and temperature stabilizes it will not need further attention but still good to take a look every week if not being used.

If you keep the bag wet with no air or fuel vapor and don't overfill them they can even last a couple years. Still on average I would say every six months to a year max you should change them out usually because it is getting a little stiffer usually caused by the period you forgot to check it for air/fuel vapor. It isn't optional and is one drawback to the bag.

Of course a really bad wipeout with a loose bag can occasionally bust one open.

Fuel bags offer no fuel foaming, guaranteed fuel feed to the last drop without any chance of air/foam getting pulled in, no way to get water contamination, allows for lower center of gravity, no vent, lightweight easy placement and mounting to name a few.

I have two boxes full of fuel tanks leftover from the days of hard tanks and I mean gas ones so my comments aren't coming from someone that hasn't done a lot of both. I myself don't miss the hard tanks and doubt I would want to use them again.

Personally for myself IMO it is the fuel bag with the most positives but to each his own.

 

[johnsteltzer]

I build the best stainless steel fuel tanks on the planet I will put my tanks up against any bag out there my tanks are so good they have a life time warranty iam not bashing bags but I can't see put something in there could bust and when you spend thousands of dollars I can't see putting that ugly bag in there when you could have a awesome looking fuel tank in a boat that I know the person that built it has so much Pride in it if you bag guys have never seen one of my tanks take a look at my ad under SS CUSTOM FUEL TANKS AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT IAM TALKING ABOUT THANKS FOR YOUR TIME PEACE OUT

 

[John Finch]

Hard tank with a small tank attached to the vent line to catch water. Both the vent and pickup on the vent tank are halfway up the tank so water cannot get in the main tank. I use a small vitamin bottle with one of those fill caps for a fuel can that screws off and on easily to dump water out. Or the extra long fuel tube on the vent line, or just three inches of fuel line. Depends on the boat and how much room you have.

John

 

[michael faszcza]

Im just using a 12oz plastic tank for now im on a budget .i ran 6 inchs of vent line looped 4 times .ive tumbled the boat twice now and have had no issues with water in the tank .the only issue i have had is on one wreck i didn't have the tank rubber banded down due to my allergy and it broke the plexiglass compartment cover

 

[Daniel's Racing]

For gas hard tank vents I found a good solution is a small pill/film type/size containers with the tubing run to the middle inside of a piece of oiled air filter foam. Keeps the water out very well.

 

[michael faszcza]

I have been thinking of something like that after john's post

 

[Jay Stone]

Also...hard tank with vent line make it more difficult to extract water from a dunked Motor. If the tank has fuel in it and you turn boat upside down with no spark plug to pull over and evacuate water, you deal with dripping gas....and possibility of fire with a spark plug wire emitting spark as your pull on pulls tart.

Had a boat catch on fire many years ago as a result of this. I switched to gas bags and never looked back.

I sure wish that Zipp bags had side mounting tabs like the buck bags.

 

[P THOMAS]

Thanks Jay I was going to go with hard tank, so i guess it would be good to pinch off the vent when clearing a motor. I was going to still use a T fitting to fill thru, that would clear the water out of the vent line after a flip.

Like the bags how they draw fuel but it is a problem sometimes getting the air out when filling and the bags go hard and crack, had one crack and it was only a couple weeks old.

 

[BigChuck]

I have had ...Every variation that has been mentioned...The plastic tanks also...Tank bay has a custom SS tank,,,

Pump tank with fuel until till full..While sitting on the stand...

...One pull on easy start......Race.

 

[Ajay Boodia]

Hello,

I have to admit I favour rigid tanks.

Some good points have been made.

With regards to water ingress, I was thinking about trying this:

eBay item No. 121538318183

eBay item No. 182055380179

Has anyone tried these?

Cheers, Ajj