Marty Please give me the manufacture's name and model number and I will do a quick check about quality and price. Regarding top pick tanks for diesels. I can't believe these are now requires because the concept is really not inline with diesel operations, adding a lot of unnecessary inconvenience and safety issues. The only time I ever saw these is on boats where the company also offers gas engines and they are to lazy to put in a proper gravity feed diesel system. In a gas engine spills or leaking is more important the air in than line. This is because gas leaks are super dangerous and gas engines are not sensitive to air and will keep running as air is purged or vented by the delivery system. In a diesel engine keeping air out is the most importuned consideration as even a little air will stop the engine. Diesel leaks are secondary as the are not even close to being as dangerous as gas leaks. As tanks get low sloshing will expose the pickup tube to air, in a top pickup system this will immediately break the siphon, in a bottom pickup the air will purge in the tank and the remaining fuel will continue to gravity feed the keel tank. E-II has four cruise tanks connected to a keel operations tank, plus a reserve tank. With top pickups you will have to periodically fill the operations tank using a pump and adjusting the valves to pull from the proper tank. If you forget or the pump doesn't work, and these pumps are notorious unreliable because fuel is hard on impellers - the engine stops. With bottom outlets you will have gravity feed from all tanks to the operations tank. Automatically the operations tank will be kept filled until all cruise tanks are empty and than, and only than, the operations tank will start to empty. So the only time air can enter and stop the engines is when ALL THE FUEL IS GONE; NOT ONE OR TWO TIMES A DAY WHEN THE OPERATIONS TANK IS LOW AND NEEDS MANUAL REFILLING BY YOU. Also by keeping the keel tank filled you assure that remaining fuel is always as low in the boat as possible. I installed top pickups in Stan Randall's boat at his insistence and everytime he sees me he tells me what a mistake it was. He will visit this weekend. These concepts have been recognized by safety agencies for years and I can not believe they have changed their position. Can you get any verification that top pickups are now required in diesel operations? BK ---------- > From: EXODUS52@aol.com > To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com > Subject: GLASS MATT BATTERIES > Date: Thursday, October 29, 1998 4:52 PM > > I have been advised by my supplier that the best bet today is the new glass > matt batteries. I am thinking about them for my new boat. > whould appreciate any comments either from experience or other knowledge. > thanks. > > Marty Livingston > Exodus II > Marina Del Rey