cougarman

Is there a difference between a Bladder Tank and a Fuel Cell?

I was told Bladder tanks have an average 3 year life and
are not Coast guard approved.

Made a few phone calls on mine and was told that mine
are not bladder tanks. That they are very expensive
Fuel cell's built in England and were $7,000 to $8,000 each!


Sheeeesh, so what's the difference????????????


Thanks Cougarman

Brad Zastrow

I will take a guess. Fuel cells on race cars are foam filled tanks to prevent sloshing and tend to be expensive compared to to fuel tanks. But no where near the prices you are quoted. I would think if you need tanks have them custom made of aluminum for lot less than your quote.

Wobble

Search the tech forums for "Bladder" you will find several interesting threads on this subject

zog02

cougarman,

I am a pilot for the Navy and we have "bladder tanks" in our jets. You know that a regular tank is a rigid, tub like tank. Think of a bladder tank as a huge heavy duty ziplock bag. As the fuel leaves the bag shrinks in size. You don't have to worry about pickup issues nor do you have to worry about fuel slosshing around. The bag is attached at different points in order to keep it from moving around. In flight it would be really bad if you turned hard one way and all the fuel ran to the outside of your turn. The only drawback I know of is that it takes more of a maintenance effort to keep them from leaking. The guys constantly work on ours and they still leak all the time. I really can't think of any reason you would need this option for boating. But if you decide to go with it more power to you and good luck!!!!

cougarman

zog02,

Thanks for the info as well as the rest of you.

I have since discovered the bag theory so to speak.
and have no desire to use them.

I ( have ) Fuel cells, but was led to believe they
were bladder tanks before doing more research.
So I was concerned I would have to remove them.

Again and thankfully, I have Fuel Cells and will not
and do not have to replace anything!

I was basically trying to figure out the full difference
between them.

So thanks again to all who have replied.

Cougarman

Iggy

I thought fuel cells had a rubber liner in them?
I know about the foam inserts to prevent sloshing but I thought the liner was there to prevent a rupture during a crash.

Iggy

Lets try this again....

Brad Zastrow

I agree. However overkill in a boat. All you need is a tank. Bladders fall apart over time.

cougarman

Here is the Fuel Cells ( I Have ) and will be keeping.

Yes your right they are contained in special Rubber housing
which I was told was made even thicker when they were
built custom for this boat. I was told the rubber is like
Tire rubber and would not be able to cut it with a razor.

And yes maybe over kill, but hey there already there
so looks like they are keepers.

Cougarman

Dueclaws

Keep an eye on the foam material within your cells; the foam will deteriorate. I replaced my boat's fuel cells with aluminum tanks, because the foam had turned into "dust". The manufacturer (ATL) said the life expectancy was about 5-7 years.
Due