Tank condition in my 1986 Osprey 200

[FJStretch]

Popped the tank coffin top yesterday...
Lots of moisture.
What is the white crud on top of tank?
Smells like vinegar.
Green wire insulation appears swollen.
Bottom of hatch lip on one side has a lot of dark goopy crud.

Any insight, thoughts? All is appreciated.

[FJStretch]

More photos

[dburr]

The white stuff should be aluminum oxide, typical surface corrosion on a tank when you clean it off you should find little pits where the build up is greatest.

The green wire is the tank ground and needs to be replaced.  The reason the insulation looks like that could be from two things.  1 is excessive heat build up (and that is unlikely) and the other more probable is that the wire is corroded to the point where the only thing that is keeping it together is the insulation.

Black stuff is a form of mold/wood core decay. Depending on your build plan, your can either go big and recore the cover or do localized surgery to get rid of the black stuff..

What kind of rebuild plan do you have?

[Capt. Bob]

Popped the tank coffin top yesterday...
Any insight, thoughts? All is appreciated.

R.I.P.
Time for a new tank.

Haul it out and start fresh.
Plenty of resources for tanks and install in the Resource and Rebuild forums.

Good luck.

[gran398]

^^^^^^^

New tank time. Bye-bye de funky called Medina.

[FJStretch]

My rebuild plan is .... Actually still under construction but I do plan to bring her back all the way. I still need to check the foam in the stringers but, judging from the waterline at the scuppers, I am not expecting good news.

This project will take me well beyond my experience level but I'm going to give it a try. I just got the plans back for a workshop I plan to build in the back yard. It's all moving forward .... But it's a bit slow. Right now, I have the console off and was doing some rewiring. While I was at it, I thought I would pop the tank lid and take a look.

Once  the workshop is done, there will be fewer mosquitos and rain delays and a lot more light (mostly evenings and weekends). Better working conditions!  

[FJStretch]

When I pulled my tank coffin cover, I notice this gap on the underside of the console. The fiberglass appears to be separating from the outer layer of the console. The fiberglass is soft to the touch ( you can easily move it with your fingers.  I don't have a lot of experience with this stuff (including terminology). What's the best way to fix this? Is this a 5200 job?

[RickK]

If you have any resin laying around you might dribble some down in there and weight it down.
Otherwise 5200 would work but it take a while to cure.

[FJStretch]

I may have a sub-deck drainage issue. This is view into bilge through the rear deck pie plate (1986 Osprey 200).

This pie plate access is right in front of the motor. In the photo, you can see the top of the bilge pump in the foreground and the starboard stringer in the background. You can see what I am pretty sure is the drain pipe that allows any water on the other side of the stringer to flow into the central part of the boat. (Am I correct?)

Here's the issue...
This pipe appears to be blocked. I tried to poke a small diameter dowel through it with no luck. I think I am hitting foam at about 3 inches into the pipe. I tried to poke through with the dowel but no luck. Before I break out something with a little more bite and start boring through, I thought I better get some advice from my more experienced all-knowing friends on the forum.

Other relevant info:
The boat doesn't seem to list to port or anything. I checked the other side and the pipe is open... at least I can move the dowel freely about 12" before I hit something solid. I( think it is something on the far side of the port stringer and I am guessing the dowel has already cleared the far side of the stringer ... meaning the pipe is open and can facilitate drainage properly. The back end of the boat does sit a little low in the water (waterline is just above the scuppers when not moving).

Thanks!

[RickK]

This pie plate access is right in front of the motor. In the photo, you can see the top of the bilge pump in the foreground and the starboard stringer in the background. You can see what I am pretty sure is the drain pipe that allows any water on the other side of the stringer to flow into the central part of the boat. (Am I correct?)

Looks to be the drain for the outboard side of the stringer to drain through.  

Here's the issue...
This pipe appears to be blocked. I tried to poke a small diameter dowel through it with no luck. I think I am hitting foam at about 3 inches into the pipe. I tried to poke through with the dowel but no luck. Before I break out something with a little more bite and start boring through, I thought I better get some advice from my more experienced all-knowing friends on the forum.

 
The outboard side of the stringers are usually foamed so there is a good chance that you have some foam in there.
Being that there is foam there I would imagine that if there was water on that side of the stringer, it would not be able to get into the bilge.  The big question is how water would get into the outboard side - have any hatches on that side?

[FJStretch]

The big question is how water would get into the outboard side - have any hatches on that side?

Not in the deck. However, the trough (wiring harness, fuel line, control cables) is on that side and I read that some AS owners have had some issues with that. I don't see any issues in the trough though.

There is a pie hatch just below the fuel cap and I stuck my hand down there to see if I could feel water. There was some moist gunk down there but no standing water... but that was way up in the front of the boat. I guess I could lower the front end a good bit and stick my hand back down there to see if I could feel water.... but either way, shouldn't that pipe be open? Any reason I shouldn't try to bore through that foam (cautiously)? How wide should I expect the base of the stringer to be in that portion of the boat? (I wouldn't want to go to far and hit something else).

[RickK]

Unless someone drilled a drain in the trough it should be watertight.
I think my stringers were like 9" at the base.  On the other side of the pipe there should be about a foot before you hit the hull side.

[gman 82 aquasport]

Rick's right on with the stringer being around 9 inches at the base, just went thru my old measurements when I had my 19-6 apart and they measured 9 1/2 inches at the bottom, like yours mine had the drain tube at the transom end, and the foam on the outside of the stringers went all the way to the tube so it could very well be blocked by the foam under the floor at the opposite side of the stringer.  My trough had holes drilled in it for wires that didn't exist any more, so I just did away with the trough when rebuilding the floor. Used rigging tubes, 1-3inch, 1-2inch, Wiring, control cables, battery cables in the 3 incher, fuel, hydraulic steering and transducer in the 2 inch.

[aquaprouts]

stretch....could you please measure and post the exact fuel tank length, width and height?  measurements seem to vary a bit from project to project as owners replace the tanks and i am curious what the original dimensions are on your osprey....i am replacing the tank on my 196 but the boat had no tank in it to get the original measurements....thnx and good luck with your boat!

[seabob4]

stretch....could you please measure and post the exact fuel tank length, width and height?  measurements seem to vary a bit from project to project as owners replace the tanks and i am curious what the original dimensions are on your osprey....i am replacing the tank on my 196 but the boat had no tank in it to get the original measurements....thnx and good luck with your boat!

My guess is Stretch's dimensions aren't going to help in regards to your 19-6.  2 totally different boats from different eras.  Measure your tank compartment, then search the web for a poly tank that is close, or have an aluminum tank fabbed that will fit your exact compartment...