Tank Breathers & Strainers.

Ensure peak performance with our premium selection of fuel tank breathers, water tank breathers, petrol tank breathers, diesel fuel tank breathers, and fuel tank breather kits. Designed for optimal tank protection and fuel efficiency, our products prevent contaminants from disrupting your operations. Explore our durable tank strainers, diesel fuel tank strainers, and fuel tank strainers, suited to industrial projects and heavy-duty machinery. Equip your tanks with reliable protection today and keep operations running smoothly.

FAQs

Common questions answered.

Five of the questions we hear most often on carpark and street linemarking gear. Full knowledge base on our FAQ page.

  • What is a tank breather?

    A tank breather is a fitting on the top of a fuel, oil, or water tank that lets air in and out as the liquid level changes. Without one, dispensing creates a vacuum that pulls the tank inward; refilling creates positive pressure that has to escape somewhere. A bare open vent works but lets moisture, dust, insects, and pollen straight into the headspace. A filtered breather (Donaldson TRAP, Banlaw Remote, GO Filter) traps that contamination and keeps the fuel or oil clean. Most modern industrial tanks ship with a 2 inch breather socket pre-fitted; the breather screws straight in.

  • Why use a strainer on a fuel tank?

    A strainer sits inline at the pump inlet (or on the suction spear) and catches coarse contamination before it reaches the pump body. Diesel pumps tolerate dirty fuel for a while, but rust scale, weld swarf, and dried sealant fragments scour the vane set, score the pump cavity, and eventually destroy the pump. A 40 or 80 mesh strainer at the inlet is a 50 dollar component that protects a pump worth ten times that. The basket lifts out for cleaning at every service: no consumables, just inspection.

  • Are breathers needed on water tanks?

    Yes. Water tanks need to breathe too: as the tank fills it has to push air out, and as water is drawn down air has to come in. The Jetwave Labyrinth breather is a water-specific design that uses a tortuous path to exclude mosquitoes (which would otherwise lay eggs in the headspace) and dust without restricting airflow. For potable water tanks the breather should also be insect-screened and shaded; for non-potable industrial water (cooling, washdown) a standard labyrinth breather is sufficient.

  • Can I install a breather myself?

    Yes. Most breathers thread directly into a 3/4 inch, 1 inch, 1.5 inch, or 3 inch BSP socket on the tank top. Identify the existing vent point, choose a breather with matching thread and orientation (vertical for static, horizontal-tolerant for mobile), wrap the threads with PTFE tape, and screw it in hand-tight then a quarter turn with a spanner. Check that the breather direction arrow (where present) points the right way. A first install takes ten minutes; replacement is faster.

  • What does a tank strainer do?

    A tank strainer (basket or Y-pattern) is an inline mechanical filter that captures coarse solid contamination from the fluid stream. The flow enters through the inlet port, passes through a perforated metal basket or wire mesh, and exits through the outlet port; debris too large to pass through the mesh stays in the basket. The strainer body unscrews or unbolts at service intervals so the basket can be lifted out, hosed off, and replaced. Strainers are not the same as filters: a strainer captures larger particles (40 mesh = 400 micron, 80 mesh = 180 micron); a filter captures finer ones (down to single microns). Use a strainer to catch the visible contamination and a filter downstream to catch the invisible.

Full guide

Choosing the Right Tank Breather or Strainer

Tank breathers and strainers protect the fluid in your tank. A breather lets the tank vent air in and out as the level rises and falls without letting moisture, dust, or insects in with it. A strainer sits inline in the dispense or transfer line and catches the larger contaminants before they reach the pump or the receiving system. Most fuel and lubricant installs need both.

Tank breathers. Every closed tank has to vent. As fuel is dispensed, air comes back in to equalise pressure; as fuel returns or rainfall warms the headspace, air is pushed out. A bare vent pipe lets that air carry water, dust, and insect ingress straight into the fuel. A filtered breather (Donaldson TRAP DN20, DN25, DN40, DN80; GO Filter Breather Anti-Splash) traps moisture and particulate down to a few microns before the air reaches the headspace. The Banlaw Remote Breather adds a fine 3 micron filter rated for hostile environments. Match the breather thread (3/4 inch BSP, 1 inch BSP, 1.5 inch, 3 inch) to the tank's existing vent point.

Mobile vs static breathers. Tanks that move (service trailers, mobile fuel trailers, ute-mounted GO BOX units) need an anti-splash breather (Donaldson TRAP Mobile range) so motion does not push fuel out the vent. Static depot tanks can use the standard filtered TRAP series. Water tanks need a labyrinth-style breather (Jetwave Labyrinth) that excludes mosquitoes and debris while still allowing the tank to breathe.

Strainers. A strainer protects the pump from coarse contamination: scale, swarf, debris, and the bit of insect that gets in via a damaged breather. The GO YSCF and YSSF Y-strainers (cast iron Table E or 316 stainless ANSI 150) sit inline at the pump inlet and lift out the basket for cleaning. The GO BSC and BSW basket strainers handle higher flow with a larger debris capacity. The Macnaught 40 mesh and 80 mesh element kits are spare elements for the Macnaught HASS series strainer body. Mesh size: 40 mesh stops debris larger than ~400 microns; 80 mesh stops debris larger than ~180 microns. Finer than that, you need filtration, not a strainer.

Sizing. Strainer port size has to match or exceed the line ID at the install point. Undersizing a strainer chokes the pump inlet and causes cavitation; oversizing reduces capture efficiency. Standard sizing is 2 inch up to 12 inch on both the cast iron and stainless ranges.

Related categories

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