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HPX-V 18 Small vs Large Fuel Tank


Marshfly

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I'm on the hunt for an HPX-V 18 and see boats with the fuel fill in front of the hatch and behind off to the side. I'm assuming this is the difference between the small and large fuel tanks. Is this the case? If so, which is which and what are the different capacities?

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I'm pretty sure all the fuel fills are in the same place, regardless of tank size. On the last generation hull, 2008 and prior, it was a little more forward but still on the port side of the bow hatch. I have seen people that mount trolling motor plugs underneath deck plates, I think that's what you were looking at forward of the hatch.

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2 hours ago, jason p said:

I'm pretty sure all the fuel fills are in the same place, regardless of tank size. On the last generation hull, 2008 and prior, it was a little more forward but still on the port side of the bow hatch. I have seen people that mount trolling motor plugs underneath deck plates, I think that's what you were looking at forward of the hatch.

Maybe so. Now that I'm actually looking for an example I can't seem to find one.

So is there any way to tell by looking which tank a boat has?

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I rubbed a lot of 18's before I bought the HPX-V 17 I just got a week or so ago and a lot them had what appeared to be a gas cap up front.. All of them were actually access to the TM plug that was inside the front bow compartment..  I've been moving weight around in my boat and I've noticed you have to keep a certain amount of weight forward to keep the chine underwater at rest.. I think that is some of the reasoning for the larger tanks in the 18, you would need it to offset the weight of a 150 if you chose to go max HP..

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No they're great, they're just 10 years old.  I can't remember the last time I used the trolling motor, but they worked when they were about 8.5 years old, just at a diminished rate. I'm assuming they're dead but who knows. I got them from a buddy who's a big-time sparkly boat dude when he picked up a Lithium Ion battery sponsorship. The batteries actually sat in his garage for 2 years before I got them and they worked great for another 2.5 years under my very limited use. 

I'm actually getting a new fancy pants trolling motor and plan on getting another pair if these are in fact dead. 

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Wayne- Odyssey 1200's all the way for TM batteries! I'm on my 2nd set. Wouldn't consider another brand. Stealth AC/DC charger keeps em good for 5+ years. That system is simply amazing. I rarely have my TM aboard but my 1200's are mounted fwd of my tank and my boat is dead silent when poling as long as I'm more than half full of fuel.

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Ok, since we've totally derailed this guys thread I have a couple questions...

Which 1200's do you have? I have 1500's (group 34M) but I have a feeling replacements are in my near future. I'm wondering if the 34M/1500's are overkill, or can you get away with smaller batteries because of the Stealth system?

I've always thought the Stealth Chargers were the business but not sure I can justify it since I really don't use my TM that much? So how much are they, I have no idea but since it's not written anywhere I suspect they're pretty steep.

Also, do you have a shelf sitting on top of the tank that runs forward to a cross stringer or is it open in front of the tank? I've always wondered the shelf in mine was factory or not.

Apoligies again to the OP for derailing his thread, I get carried away when I see a thread on the forum not dealing with adding a 15th cup holder to a Pathfinder. 

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I'm totally ok with the derail. Learned I just need to ask to verify the fuel capacity of each specific boat.

About batteries, Does it make that much difference in draft having the batteries in the bow compartment rather than the console with the light PC1200s?

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My TM batteries are Odyssey PC1200's; installed June 2011 and they still load test perfect. They're in a starboard box mounted on a shelf that's fwd of my tank.

I had an Odyssey PC1500 in all three of my Mavericks for a house battery. Never a problem with any of them and I think a lot had to do with the Stealth system always keeping them charged on the fly. Last year I changed the house battery in my 18HPX (strictly for piece of mind) to an Optima 34M due to availability and I've had no issues with that battery either.

I recommend a Stealth ac/dc charging system to anyone that wants to always have juice, regardless of TM use. Plugging in to charge is a thing of the past! I think they run around $500?

I wouldn't like the balance of my boat if I would've put all three of my batteries in the console nor was the floor under the console made to hold that much weight. Bob and I at IMS discussed this before rigging my boat and I'm glad I set it up the way I did, especially for poling.

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Do you have the Stealth AC/DC system or just the DC running off the cranking battery?

Is this the same "shelf" set up you have in yours? It's kinda hard to see but I basically have a shelf setting on top of the tank running forward to that cross stringer.

shelf_zpsogo5jyf1.png

 

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2 hours ago, conocean said:

 

I wouldn't like the balance of my boat if I would've put all three of my batteries in the console nor was the floor under the console made to hold that much weight. Bob and I at IMS discussed this before rigging my boat and I'm glad I set it up the way I did, especially for poling.

I saw this super clean setup on a boat for sale a few weeks ago. That's why I was asking.

 

console1.jpg

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Jason- I have the Stealth ac/dc system so all my batteries charge while I run, starting with the house battery 1st then TM battery1 then TM battery2. My fwd hatch set-up is not like yours. I have pics somewhere that I've posted a few times for other forum members. Let me see if I can dig them up and post.

Marsh- That's a super clean set-up, for sure. But it would throw off the balance of my boat. Plus, the floor of my boat simply wasn't designed to hold that much weight in such a small area. Everyone has an idea of what they like and what works for them. Many people don't even think about keeping their boat balanced, they just go with what makes sense in their mind. I work for a custom yacht builder so we are constantly monitoring weight distribution for balance and I've learned a lot when rigging my skiffs where balance is even more critical.

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