thats nice. Ive never seent the inside of a cell, so im a little curious how the foam still allows a sender to work??
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thats nice. Ive never seent the inside of a cell, so im a little curious how the foam still allows a sender to work??
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You don't run the foam.
Dear Zach,Originally Posted by F1shifty
To answer your question, yes, a good fuel cell is worth the cost. Number 1, it is a big safety item and like a helmet, seat belts, etcetera short cuts are not welcome.
Good fuel cells are indeed more expensive than a Jaz, Summit Racing, or RCI tank. Notice I call them tanks and not fuel cells as they really are very similar to plastic holding tanks found in the RV world with foam, (inferior foam at that) placed in them.
Let’s look at the job of a good fuel tank / cell. It needs to carry enough fuel for you to safely travel around on the highway or off-road. It needs to be protected and strong in case of impact from another vehicle or itself in a collision.
A fuel cell from Fuel Safe, ATL, Harmon, and a few other legitimate manufacturers out there make good fuel cells. In order to keep the price down I would recommend going with an Enduro type Cell. These are made from high-grade cross-linked polyethylene. That isn’t a fancy way of saying plastic; rather that material is FIA approved, probably the highest level of safety standard in motorsports. I would also recommend having it contained in a steel or aluminum container. They are available in many configurations such as remote fill, additional fill plate fittings for fuel injection or carbureted return systems, and yes, even an accurate fuel level sending unit that works off of proximity rather than a float. This allows you to use the foam, which aids against sloshing at less than full fuel levels and also helps prevent the vapors in the empty fluid space from igniting.
On the “holding tank” products, they use cheap foam that deteriorates quickly usually as soon as 1 year if use. I see you live in California and if you use pump gas, those fuels are extremely hard on this particular foam and cause it to deteriorate quicker.
The Fuel Safe, Harmon, and ATL foams are phenomenal. They carry a 5-year warranty and unlike the “holding tanks,” the good foam is cut with a hot knife as opposed to electric saws, hacksaws, clippers, and etcetera. By using the hot knife, this eliminates the little remnants of the foam from lying in the depths of the tank or cell waiting to clog your fuel system.
Fuel Safe has been making our XCell (http://www.racerxms.com/racer_x_cell.html)
for almost 10 years and never have had a customer complain about foam clogging. We developed the XCell because we were not satisfied using big red shoebox size tanks and the quality was lacking. It is 41 ˝ gallons in capacity and is available with a number of options including venting, filling, fuel senders etcetera.
We are located in East County San Diego. It looks like we could be neighbors so please feel free to stop by and I could show you the XCell and other options for fueling depending on your budget and desired travelling range. Whatever you do, do no waste your money on a “holding tank!” You will be disappointed and end up spending your money twice.
Fuel Safe, Harmon, and ATL are all good in my book. Their products are not cheap but then again most good things aren’t
Good luck and I hope to meet you.
Best regards,
Mike Cohen
Mike,
Did SCORE ever approve the XCell as part of their new fuel cell rule about having a "bladder" type cell?
Racer
Jaz has gotten a bad rap on the foam. The underlying problem is actually ETHANOL. If the gas sits idle in the tank for any time at all, it starts eating the foam. If you own anything that is two-stroke and you mix it yourself, you have noticed that if you don't use it for any period of time, gaskets, diaphragm and hoses all go to hell.
Ethanol absorbs water rapidly and separates from the gasoline going to the bottom of the tank, taking the octane with it. As long as the fuel isn't in the tank for more than a month, the damage is minimal.
Ducati just got hosed over this.http://www.girardgibbs.com/ducati-se...-agreement.pdf
There was a class action suit in Florida over the damage that has been caused by adding ethanol to the gas. Nobody was ever warned that this was going to be a problem. http://www.consumerclassactionsmasst...-action/#pings I heard that the case was settled with an undisclosed amount, but can't find any info on the case.
When the suit was started in California, it was thrown out of court. Imagine that!
"How can you say that I'm negative when I'm positive that we're screwed!"
Maybe they have a bad rap for a reason. Jaz foam clogged my filter in my Jeepspeed(pump gas) after 200 miles in Parker. It was brand new. I removed the foam and more than one brick had foam flaking off in my hand. Anyone else? I've heard that Fuel Safe and ATL don't do this. Any truth to that?
The foam that Jaz uses is not high quality for sure, and in no way, am I defending Jaz. Their pickup hose and rollover valve also deteriorate and find their way to the filter in time. My point is that material that worked fine in the past, cannot survive now, due to the ethanol. There is no way in hell that a manufacturer like Ducati would knowingly use inferior material in their tanks. Nobody was warned of the side effects of adding ethanol to gasoline.
"How can you say that I'm negative when I'm positive that we're screwed!"
Not to bash or stick up for any brand of fuel cells or anything, but do you know that when you have a new cell or installed new foam, you should run a full tank then replace/clean the fuel filter?
What happens is that when you install the foam, you end up breaking off little pieces of the foam and it ends up in your filter. Once you get through that first batch of crap, you should be ok for the rest of the season. I've seen it happen many times and I learned the hard way myself.
Friendly advice
www.ShockProsOffRoad.com
First off, we at Harmon would like to thank you for the kind words.
Just a note, we actually carry a 7-year warranty for our fuel cells.
And Mike is right. We do use only the best materials in the manufacturing process, and as a result, our fuel cells do cost a little more. However, like Mike mentioned, with that higher price you get a much higher quality, and a fuel cell that lasts.
At Harmon, we use a capacitance fuel sender, which contains no moving parts. When we install it into the fill plate, we cut a cylinder out of the foam beneath it to allow room for the rod to reach close to the bottom. The foam is tightly packed, and we make sure that we cut the cylinder out big enough so that even if the foam shifts slightly, it won't hurt the rod.
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