Being in the welding industry, one often meets people and ya become friends. I have a friend who offered to build me an Aluminum ~35 gallon transfer tank that would fit underneath my DeeZee Tollbox...for "future considerations"...of course.!

3/16" 6061 Aluminum sheet.
1 ea 2" Full Coupling (fill tube)
3 ea 1/2" half cplgs
1 baffle mid tank

Once fabricated ...very nicely I might add: & All Tig welded throughout, I bought from Princess Auto (Canada's Harbour Freight), a 12V Solenoid valve, fill tube parts. Went to Lowes/Home Depot for Brass fittings, clear hose and had previously bought a Northern Tool Aux tank connection kit.

The tank is held in place by strapping, underneath the tank I have strips of 1/2" hi density foam to reduce vibgrations..and hopefully my pipefitting job won't come undone. For the fittings, I did something I learned a long time ago: Teflon - pipe dope - Teflon (layered), at 1.5 turns of Teflon per joint. As for the fill tube - I had a hell of a time finding someone to provide 14" of 2" SS threaded pipe..so I decided to use ABS instead: Cheaper by 1000 fold and very easy to work with... problem was my ABS cement had dried up..as it always seeme to do..so I used some clear PVC glue...works just as good in this application. Good thing I used ABS as just an hour ago, I put my toolbox on and discovered to my chagrin that I need to move the fill tube a bit...no sweat, I'll go tomorrow to Home Deopt and get a cpl of 45 deg els and move it the 2" I need to.

Here's the pics so far:

http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/947/2213524490047245006S600x600Q85.jpg

ON the pic below: I decided to use a clear plastic 1/2" ID hose with 1/2" fittings for the vent cap (extra one)..(seemed like a good idea at the time)..LOL. on the bottom left I have 3/8" brass fittings: First a tee so that if I ever have an issue with the solenoid, I can always, with a little bit of work, move the inlet feed line over to the manual valve and feed with that..or use the manual valve to drain the tank if need be for whatever reason.

http://inlinethumb58.webshots.com/45113/2517898470047245006S600x600Q85.jpg

In this shot below, you can see the 2" NPT ABS adapter. I decided to use this stuff, simply for ease of use and if it breaks down with diesel..doubtfull but I can always replace it with a permanent solution..and to tell ya the truth..I like stainless. Likely do that sooner than later.

As for the spilled fuel, I had to leave the hose off the drain side of the solenoid to test/see if it was actually working...ergo the spilled fuel. But other than that..no leaks .. so far as I only have 10 gallons in it as I write....and damn, I doesn't even show on the sight tube yet.!! Mind you, The real test comes tomorrow when I fill it up.

http://inlinethumb25.webshots.com/42584/2190268780047245006S600x600Q85.jpg

This shot below is of the Northern tools Kit. Pretty much an indispensible set of items.

http://inlinethumb17.webshots.com/19920/2991564750047245006S600x600Q85.jpg


I found it much easier to remove the rear tire when messin around in here...yea I know the cuts aren't exactly "Prussian perfection"...but it's not exactly the nicest spot to work in either..and I'm doing this on the ground..no hoist to play with.

All in all, pretty happy with the whole set up. Toggle switch in the cab..to be installed in the AM and I do think I can fill up my main on the fly...oh yea baby.!


total cost for me: Minus the tank was $225.00 CAD
...no Jerry cans...??? PRICELESS..!! :D

Cheers,

stk

What all you have on the outlet of the tank above bed. A closer view with list of items.
It looks really nice. It will do the job as it is intended. Sight gauge is cool idea. Unsure if that tubing hold up but may not hurt to add a valve on the lower end of it.

Brian

On the outlet part of the tank is a 1/2" Aluminum coupling - welded in. Then a 3/8 X 1/2" bushing - 3/8" 1" nipple - A Tee that goes to a manual valve. The other part is a 12V solenoid (electric valve), that controls the feed into the the OEM filler tube (using the Northern Tools kit). Hose is 5/16 supplied with Northern Tools kit.

The coiled up hose at the back leads to the Valve on the Tee. 12V electrical is covered with harness wrap.

Sight tube is clear poly tubing and all the fittings are 1/2"\

http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/37988/2777492710047245006S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2777492710047245006NsdAuB)

stk

What is the part number on the valve? Still one nice setup.

Brian

Nice clean installation. Can you stick the nozzel in the fill tube and let it shut it self off? The little manual valve on the supply line that came from Northern leaked on mine at a weld. I was afraid of the clear tube not holding up to diesel but I have never heard that it would not. Very nice.

Thanx Dan.! Yea that little fitting in the 2" barbed unit was as far as I am concerned..quite useless. I made some major changes to what is shown above.

Reason was the vent cap was in direct line of the sight tube..what was happening was fuel sloshed around and went all the way straight to the cap..splashed out through the filter within and on to the box floor..took me a while to figure out what was going on..:p:

To slow things down even more, the solenoid was only 1/4" npt and did not allow a lot of fuel to move..didn't want to sit around for hours waiting for the tank to fill..I'm not that patient.! So I removed the solenoid..and the fitting in the fill tube which I replaced with 1/2" npt X barb. Alll the tubing and fittings now are incorporated into one section, all are 1/2" npt with the remaining drain fitting on the tank plugged off for "future considerations"...which may well end up being a 12V pump as opposed to a solenoid. I've already got the electrical done so I'm wondering if one of those RV water pumps might make a good candidate..?? hmm. They pump enough volume - thats for sure...just not entirely sure they would be ok for diesel use.? Oh well..there is the RV-Net Forum for that question.

In retrospect..I take back my previous "indispensible item" comment re: the Northern Tool kit. It cost me some $90 CAD & I likely coulda made something (for the truck side fill tube), outa 2" ABS or a 2" barbed PVC fitting ... drilled n tapped a 1/2" hole for a 1/2" X Barb and saved m'self a pile of $$..!! Add a couple of clamps and thats about all of the kit I used...just the filltube insert.... The rest of the kit I ended up not using. As for the 1/2" clear tubing, I covered the part that goes through the floor with that plastic harness cover material.

Heres what it looks like now..

http://inlinethumb19.webshots.com/43346/2545823560047245006S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2545823560047245006QkBTZT)

HEre is a shot of the old Northern Tool fitting and the 1/2" I replaced it with.

http://inlinethumb26.webshots.com/44697/2295591380047245006S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2295591380047245006GiRVeC)

Now she fills good and reasonably quickly...for a manual system.:D
Wanna thank ya Dan for your support/ideas/info & pics..they were a big help.!

Update: Just drove a 150 miles today and over some pretty rough roads...no leakum. :D

Cheers,

stk

Very nice!

I was wondering on the solenoid valve. Most I use in the industrial field require back pressure to operate. Uusually the supply side needs 5psi to operate. Setup is looking good.

Brian

Steakman- That is a very clean setup. Do you have to wait until OEM tank is empty-then manually switch?

Actually, I ran 100 miles today..had filled both tanks before leaving..got back and opened up the normal filler cap and left open..went to the aux ball valve and opened. Was down about less than 1/4 tank..could hear the fuel going in the tank and could see the fuel sort of building a bit..but not coming up the filler tube of the OEM tank till it got full..nice n smooth..no foam. ( I like that.!). then just turned off the ball valve and was good to go. Pretty smooth and fairly quick.

Yup, much better than doing the solenoid thing. Gotta admit, I knew squat about em other than they were an automatic valve..Good to know Tanc.! on that score..learn sumptin everyday.

Also thought I'd post a pic of the Aux tank filler tube.

http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/35332/2937640880047245006S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2937640880047245006RSUELs)

Thanks guys..I'm pretty happy with it for sure. Still going to look into an RV style water pump. Cant see no reason why it would not work with diesel..Gas No, but it might be ok for diesel..? not sure but am gonna find out.! One always has to be concerned with explosion/fumes etc. May not be worth the risk ..

Cheers,

stk

I was wondering on the solenoid valve. Most I use in the industrial field require back pressure to operate. Uusually the supply side needs 5psi to operate. Setup is looking good.

Brian

I have a 1/2" selonoid from WW Grainger and it works OK. It is slow-but it fills faster than I burn it. I let my OEM tank get to about a 1/4 tank and turn on while driving and 15 minutes later it is full again.

Nice install but the solenoid is unnecessary. The aux tank will fill the main tank till it fills then it simply transferrs fuel at is it used from the main tank. The in dash fuel gauge will stay at the full mark until the aux tank is empty. I just have the ball valve plumbed in so I can shut off the aux tank if necessary. Otherwise the aux tank transferrs without intervention.

Nice install but the solenoid is unnecessary. The aux tank will fill the main tank till it fills then it simply transferrs fuel at is it used from the main tank. The in dash fuel gauge will stay at the full mark until the aux tank is empty. I just have the ball valve plumbed in so I can shut off the aux tank if necessary. Otherwise the aux tank transferrs without intervention.

That is true
I don't use the aux around town,because I have to roll back the bed cover to fill. I do like it when I am on a trip because diesel is not on every corner and I don't like paying turnpike prices. The selonoid lets me decide which tank with out getting out of the cab.

As for the solenoid, you'll notice on later pics it is gone. I found it way too restrictive for me. Right now I am just using gravity feed...and in summertime that is just fine. Come winter though...I want to be able to fill from the cab...flick a switch and in she goes..!

Right now, I have to roll back my tonneau to flip the ball valve to fill. I do close to 1300 miles weekly..so I do, in fact, use it a lot. However, just found a nice little and I mean little, designated :"Micro Diesel transfer pump" 12V from (apparently), NAPA...seems to be round $100.00 a pop.

I'll have better info by tomorrow night...my mechanic buddy that owns a shop is ordering a cpl of em and they'll be in on Friday AM.

As long as they pump a small amount: <2 Gallons a min...it should be good.!

Stk

Update..Never did install that pump as it was a flow through..no good for my application. I changed the vent cap as well to a proper "big rig" type with the ball bearing as fuel was still sloshing up into what was actually a hydraulic tank vent..not exactly the right thing for my use. So far this aux tanc has been a blessing..still using it manually. As for Aluminum VS steel tanks...there is the saw-off of steel being significantly cheaper and aluminum being significantly lighter.

cheers,

Theo