Custom fuel tank made from a camp fuel bottle

[GearNut]

1/4-18 tap means it is for a 1/4" ID plumbing fitting with 18 threads per inch.
Plumbing threads, taps and dies are measured differently than nut and bolt taps and dies.
Plumbing is concerned with the size of the hole in the center of the pipe or fitting for fluid or gasses to flow through and the thread pitch. Nuts and bolts are concerned with the outside diameter of the bolt and the thread pitch.

 

[happycheapskate]

Wow, the 2 fuel-bottle setup looks great. For the people asking about aluminum bicycle/hiking bottles, I think there are a couple things to remember: If your cage is not a tight fit with your bottle, hitting a bump in the road will eject it! If you plumb a line through the bottom or lower side of a jug and it leaks, fuel will run along that fuel line, possibly making a big mess and a fire hazard.

I think if you drill a proper hole for a rubber grommet matching your application, in the neck of the bottle, it would probably work well, if you use an auger type motor with a "weedeater" tank. You can get weedeater weighted fuel filters, breather line caps/filters, and hoses at lawn shops anywhere. Then you can easily fill or dump the bottle as you please, if your fuel line is long enough to allow moving the bottle.

 

[Rocky_Motor]

That's VERY cool! I'm dying to put something like this on my bike now. Have you had any problems with it? Bottles falling out, bottle holder braking, anything like that?

 

[biknut]

That's VERY cool! I'm dying to put something like this on my bike now. Have you had any problems with it? Bottles falling out, bottle holder braking, anything like that?

No real problems with it. However, if you have rear rack you may not be able to run with the seat as low as you might like. That's about it.

 

[happycheapskate]

Great thread, but your links are broken. Try www.sadpanda.us It's free and works well. Sometimes it is offline late at night for maintenance, but the pictures reappear the next morning. Facebook is also good for picture hosting if you have an account.

 

[biknut]

I repaired my picture links

 

[diceman2004]

those came out nice . reminded me of a tank i built .

I made a tank very similar to that on a scooter i motorized years back .
only i used a small fire extinguisher . and i retained the nozzel as a filler cap .
looked pretty cool .

the one thing i did different to mount the petcock was i used a thinner jam nut and a thin washer on the outside ...and inside of the bottle . I used a long socket extention to tighten the inside nut ( from inside the bottle ) .

 

[happycheapskate]

How did you clean out the fire extinguisher chemicals? How did you get the top off? Was it a small one like maybe you would put in a car? (like a 2l bottle or smaller)

 

[GearNut]

How did you clean out the fire extinguisher chemicals? How did you get the top off? Was it a small one like maybe you would put in a car? (like a 2l bottle or smaller)

I have messed around with them in the past too.
The top unscrews for the sake of refilling/ maintenance. They are sealed with an o-ring.
I washed them out with a slurry of sand, soap and water. Rinsed out very well by holding them up side down and sticking the rinse hose way up inside them.
Most are made of steel though so rust can be an issue. Try to find an aluminum one.

 

[masterblaster]

very nice,Nos tanks would be cool fuel tanks as well.

 

[philp]

Hi i am sorting out a twin bottle tank,but i cannot fit on the rear as towing a trailer.i am thinking of 2 1 litre bottles (msr) side by side,horizontal on cross bar thinking of venting bottles with a motorbike one way tank valve ? any ideas
The other option is to mount them on the handlebars. Ive just ordered Trekking bars so lot more room. what do you all think ?

 

[biknut]

Hi i am sorting out a twin bottle tank,but i cannot fit on the rear as towing a trailer.i am thinking of 2 1 litre bottles (msr) side by side,horizontal on cross bar thinking of venting bottles with a motorbike one way tank valve ? any ideas
The other option is to mount them on the handlebars. Ive just ordered Trekking bars so lot more room. what do you all think ?

The hard part is figureing out how to hold the bottles in place.

 

[happycheapskate]

I got these. They fit 750ml steel water bottles. If the camp bottles fit in bike water bottle cages, these should work. You could add hose clamps for extra retention/ backup.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006D5GRNU/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CGXO8XDGL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

1.85$ each plus shipping. You can get free shipping by combining stuff on Amazon.

 

[biknut]

I just made a nice improvement to my custom fuel tank.

This fuel tank setup has proved very dependable since first putting it in service 2 years ago, but one slightly annoying problem that it shares with even the stock fuel tank, is that when it's filled to the top, you get a slight amount of leakage through the vent hole in the cap.

The solution I've come up with, I got got from seeing how my chain saw solved the same problem.

What you're looking at here is a short piece of stainless steel tubing inserted into the hole in the cap that formerly served as the vent. The hole it sized so that the steel tube is a tight fit. It's jammed into the hole, and then I used some plastic fuel line that I bought at the hardware store to fit over the steel tube. Then I used a heat gun to make the fuel line hot, almost to the melting point. Then while still hot, I used a pair of needle nose pliers to squeeze the end of the plastic fuel line closed. All you have to do after that is use a very small screwdriver to insert into the line to make sure it's not welded shut.

The first time I opened the plastic line back up it didn't want to stay closed all the way, so I repeated the heating process a second time, slightly higher up the tube. After that, even after slipping the screwdriver into the line, it stayed closed all the way when I removed the screwdriver.

Now it acts as a one way valve, allowing air into the bottle as the fuel level drops, but doesn't allow fuel to splash out of the vent hole, and drip on my rear fender when the tank is full.

 

[kkalan]

When you vented the cap did you have to drip that hole? Thanks for sending this to me, I think I will give it a try, it looks awesome.

 

[biknut]

When you vented the cap did you have to drip that hole? Thanks for sending this to me, I think I will give it a try, it looks awesome.

Yes you'll have to drill a hole for the vent. At first I tried just a hole, but found that if the bottle was full a little fuel would leak from the vent. After adding the tube and short hose like in the picture, it stopped.

 

[kkalan]

Do you ink you could vent it on the outside? What size was the hole you drilled?

 

[biknut]

Do you ink you could vent it on the outside? What size was the hole you drilled?

The caps that come on the fuel bottles are double walled, child safety type caps. The vent hole is only drilled thru the inner part of the cap. The size of the vent hole was determined by the size of the metal tube that I stuck thru the hole. The hole is slightly smaller than the metal tube OD so the tube can be pushed tightly into the hole. Nothing else holds the tube in place.

If you wanted to, you could drill a vent hole straight into the top of the bottle, thread the hole, put a nipple on it, and run it somewhere. That seems like more trouble than it's worth though.

In the event you might mess up the cap, REI sells caps separately.

 

[kkalan]

One last question, does the hole you drilled come out the top of the cap? You mentioned a 2 piece cap??

 

[kkalan]

is just drilling through the inner part of the cap vent it?