Alternate SCCA approved fuel cell manufacturers

[RussMcB]

That ALL sounds really good except, for that red part.

Will be interesting to see what somebody pays (or is quoted) for a replacement bladder for some car.

If it turns out to be a 'resonable' price, it will indicate just how badly the 'other guys' have been ripping us off.

Rick, see post #11 above.

[budawe]

Here's a company that, while does not have a SFI or FIA cert, does very good repairs and doesn't price like it's a monopoly. http://www.hartwigfuelcell.com If they're good enough for the FAA they're good enough for me.

[Speed Sport Engineering]

I've recently had Eagle, ATL, and Fuel Safe all quote a cell for me. It's a wedge shape cell with two wedge angles, and a narrow top requiring a fill nipple / cap. Eagle quoted around $975, ATL was around $1300, and Fuel Safe was around $1400. All for a tiny cell around a 5 gallon capacity. I bought the exact same cell a few years ago for $450.

[samiam520]

I contacted the people at Eagle Fuel Cells to get a quote. I gave them the dimensions of a standard, off the shelf, ATL FC152 wedge fuel cell. They came back with a price of $925.00

Fortunately, I designed my new car around the dimensions of the FC152 fuel cell which I ordered today from SR Racing for $550.00

[Mark_Silverberg]

ATL and fuel safe are very comptitive with their off the shelf cell pricing. You can not expect a custom bladder to compare with that.

Eagle has been investigating some off the shelf cells but has not decided what they should be.

[samiam520]

Mark,

I totally agree. I guess I was hoping for a little less delta between the two prices.

I'm not really sure what is driving these seemingly inflated prices for fuel cells.

[Roland V. Johnson]

The war on terror!

[budawe]

Mark, with all due respect, how can you call their prices competitive when they have no competitors? Yes, material prices have risen but these prices just don't make any sense. It' like dog food; the other day I noticed that canned dog food has risen 30% in the last two years. No wonder that company profits have risen while sales have fallen. Sorry, I have fallen off topic.

[Jerry B.]

the Fuel Safe "Enduro" with can which is a FIA Ft-3 approved cell that is 30% less in cost than the Sportsman soft bladdered cell. The Enduro is a "hard rubber" bladder and comes in off the shelf sizes for Prod cars etc 5 to 32 gallons. It looks like the roto molded Jaz and other plastic cells that are a lot cheaper. Whether it is the same "plastic" material of the cheapies I dont know.

Then F.S. also has the same red Enduro cell in BLACK and they call it the "Race Safe Racing Cell" that does NOT have FIA certs but is identical in every respect to the red Endro model BUT does not have certs. These are 15% less in cost than the Enduro.

In above posts it has been said that most if not all problems (read fires/leaks) come from OTHER than the cell. Absolutely correct.

Certainly FS/ATL can invest in tooling for two or three wedge or small cells, get approval and sell them for a LOT less than the going custom rate. A few sizes wont fit everyone but will fit a lot. Companies like Jaz could get FIA certs but from what I understand it is not a cheap nor easy procedure. Knowing them they also dont care, and in FS/ATL's case they have the market pretty well ties up on customs but as other custom builders come on line will have some competition.

[EYERACE]

Thank you ApexSpeed and the originator of this thread.

Eagle instead of Fuel-Safe is making the new CB-302 bladder with foam for my Crossle 32F. I will save about $250. And probably a little bit more as shipping from Wisc. to Fla is probably not as much as it would be from Calif.

The price for the Continental's bladder will be about $100 less than the Crossle......but Jim at Eagle has not had 10 of the VD orders whic hwould save about another $75

[924RACR]

+1 to this; based on comments from another thread about foam replacement, I've sent my cell (from my '90 SE1) in to Eagle for evaluation for modifications (relocate the filler) and a re-cert... awaiting the response to see if it's reworkable or not.

Or there's always a new 5-gal wedge cell from ATL for $640 (which is basically all mine is, a typical 5-gal wedge).

[924RACR]

Final resolution on this one - a phone call to ATL with a credit card, new cell is on the way.

I did hear back from Eagle, who did thoroughly inspect my old cell, but it wasn't worth salvaging, and they couldn't compete with the price from ATL. Likewise, we checked with Fuel Safe on pricing as well, but they were easily double the ATL price. Apparently they're not hurting for business.

[budawe]

Vaughn, you may not know it but ATL and Fuel Safe are owned by the same company.

[924RACR]

I did, thanks... which makes it all the more absurd why their pricing's so far different!! Silliness...

[lenhart05]

Does anybody know what's the SCCA ruling with the Fuel Safe Enduro CB401 formula cell? It states that it is FIA FT-3 certified, yet also roto-molded. The dimensions match my original aluminum fuel tank almost exactly.

http://www.fuelsafe.com/store/formul...b300-1586.html


thanks,
Tad




1

the Fuel Safe "Enduro" with can which is a FIA Ft-3 approved cell that is 30% less in cost than the Sportsman soft bladdered cell. The Enduro is a "hard rubber" bladder and comes in off the $shelf sizes for Prod cars etc 5 to 32 gallons. It looks like the roto molded Jaz and other plastic cells that are a lot cheaper. Whether it is the same "plastic" material of the cheapies I dont know.

Then F.S. also has the same red Enduro cell in BLACK and they call it the "Race Safe Racing Cell" that does NOT have FIA certs but is identical in every respect to the red Endro model BUT does not have certs. These are 15% less in cost than the Enduro.

In above posts it has been said that most if not all problems (read fires/leaks) come from OTHER than the cell. Absolutely correct.

Certainly FS/ATL can invest in tooling for two or three wedge or small cells, get approval and sell them for a LOT less than the going custom rate. A few sizes wont fit everyone but will fit a lot. Companies like Jaz could get FIA certs but from what I understand it is not a cheap nor easy procedure. Knowing them they also dont care, and in FS/ATL's case they have the market pretty well ties up on customs but as other custom builders come on line will have some competition.

[Dave Gomberg]

Does anybody know what's the SCCA ruling with the Fuel Safe Enduro CB401 formula cell? It states that it is FIA FT-3 certified, yet also roto-molded. The dimensions match my original aluminum fuel tank almost exactly.

http://www.fuelsafe.com/store/formul...b300-1586.html

SCCA does not "rule" on FIA FT-3 certified cells. The certification is all that's needed to make it GCR compliant. If that cell works in your application, use it.

Dave

[ZEKESPEED]

Pyrotect a great resource for FIA-FT3 Approved tanks and bladders for all racing fuels. Customs welcomed for all types of racing applications. WWW.pyrotect.com

[BeerBudgetRacing]

My understanding is the people that started Pyrotect are the people that sold FuelSafe to ATL.

Now their getting back in the fuel cell business.

So they should know what they are doing..