BYOB Fishing
Well-known member
Hi All,
In my 15' lowe jon, I have an area in the back for the gas tank. For the first 15 years of the boat's life, a battery for the transom mount TM and fish finder was right next to the gas tank, in the same space. We had one of the steel gas tanks that automatically mixed the oil and fuel together at the time, and never really worried about sparks or whatnot. We left the boat sitting for a time, and the steel fuel tank rusted out. Shame, cuz those tanks are about $125 new. Anyway, we've replaced it with one of the Wal-Mart special SeaSense plastic tanks, and have been running it for about 5 years. It seems like at times I can smell fumes, although I can never see any gas that has leaked out. I don't remember ever smelling anything with the steel can. The space isn't enclosed, it's open to the air, but I'm still a little concerned with sparks from the battery. My gut feeling tells me to move the battery to it's own area more forward, but I don't really want to give up the floor space.
Am I being overly cautious, or are batterys and fuel tanks in the same location quite common?
Thanks again!
Matt
In my 15' lowe jon, I have an area in the back for the gas tank. For the first 15 years of the boat's life, a battery for the transom mount TM and fish finder was right next to the gas tank, in the same space. We had one of the steel gas tanks that automatically mixed the oil and fuel together at the time, and never really worried about sparks or whatnot. We left the boat sitting for a time, and the steel fuel tank rusted out. Shame, cuz those tanks are about $125 new. Anyway, we've replaced it with one of the Wal-Mart special SeaSense plastic tanks, and have been running it for about 5 years. It seems like at times I can smell fumes, although I can never see any gas that has leaked out. I don't remember ever smelling anything with the steel can. The space isn't enclosed, it's open to the air, but I'm still a little concerned with sparks from the battery. My gut feeling tells me to move the battery to it's own area more forward, but I don't really want to give up the floor space.
Am I being overly cautious, or are batterys and fuel tanks in the same location quite common?
Thanks again!
Matt