Diesel tank vent leaks
Ernie Reuter
Billy Manana
Ernie, fuel spilled in the cockpit as a result of over filling the tanks used to bedevil us until we started to use the "Davis No-spill", a device that covered the P-40 fuel vent in the cockpit and caught the excess fuel. We use it every time we fuel Wind Witch. It has worked like a charm. Not over filling the tanks is history and, with no spills, no odor. I hate to say I like the fuel vent in the cockpit, but having had seas boarding over the transom &/or being pooped, &/or pushing through high waves on the bow makes me understand how having that vent outside the cockpit is an invitation to sea water in the fuel tanks. Unfortunately the Davis device is no longer being made. Might find one in an old boat parts junk shop. I sure wouldn't part with mine.
Sorry if this doesn't help.
B.
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rcyoung
Ernie Reuter
Ernie Reuter
Ernie Reuter
Ventura, CASV JourneyJeffWe had the exact same problem on our P40 - fuel "burping" into the cockpit while heeled under sail.Try one of these Racor fuel/air separators. I put it inline just below the vent fitting in the vent hose. We have never had a problem since.
https://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|311|2349059|2349073&id=133911
Jim Henerberry
robhen...@hotmail.com
I was lucky enough to have to
replace our entire fuel tank system. (Original mild-steel fiberglass encased
tanks 'percolated' tiny holds in an area were the glass was pulled back but not
properly resealed when a surveyor opened the inspection plate, under the aft
shower stall, allowing water to egress under the glass encapsulation and onto
the mild steel. [I fixed it once in 1999 and was told it would hold for about
10-years as the steel rusts under the epoxy patch and let’s go to reform the
same leaks.] The patch lasted until 2009 --~10-years--and started leaking again
on a full tank after filling the tank too fast --popping the top near the
patched area.)
The luck in having to replace the tanks allowed me to redesign the fueling
situation so there's no chance now of an over-spill and the full mark was
easily obtained and easily visually verified. Like fueling a small airplane where one could go and look at the
wing-tank fueling port, to visually verify the fuel was indeed 'physically
topped-off' –it is a little less traumatic to run out of fuel on the boat
than in an airplane--, but none the less, just as embarrassing for sure.
One thing about visual verification, as China Doll logs showed numerous
'surprised' entries about running out of fuel when piloted on a calculated and
estimated GPH and tank age fuel load, that should have given the range (distance
or hours) attempted, but failed to do so (usable fuel load much less than the
apparent fuel load). Turns out to really get a full tank was not that easy with
how the original system was designed. (Total of 4 tanks in a 2 x 2 setup
--port/starboard-- whereby there was a common pipe between each fore and aft
tank, and one fill-up point on the side deck per tank pair) --fill-up port,
which was higher than the tank's vent port in the aft cockpit. So filling to a
stated 3 inches below the side deck fill-point would always push fuel out of
the vent...
Another issue was the vent lines running from the fore and aft tanks only
relied upon an aft tank vent line, going to the vent port, (configure in a
tee-line hookup arrangement, which meant when the lower top of the fore tank
hit the full mark, fuel was pushed backwards into the main vent line), which
was a line that did not cleanly run without any kinks in it, so it would pool
fuel in low spots, blocking the vent when filling the tanks. Top it all off
(pun intended), no one could really know that if and when the fill port filled,
was the tank filled (usually never as it turned out --according to the log
entries)? Typically, it was not filled as also the aft tank filled off the fore
tank by a common 1-1/2 line that was connected at the bottom of the tanks, and
air usually was trapped at or near the top of the aft tanks.
Long story short, no one could get the designed 180 gallons (90 per side)
shipped onboard off the high deck filling ports. Usually it would take someone
with a bucket at the two vents in the aft cockpit to first expel (blow out) the
trapped fuel in the vent hosing, and then sit there and wait until gurgling
would start as an indication the top of the tank was getting filled with fuel.
Too many times I would get an impatient power boater behind me at the fuel dock
not understanding why it was taking so long to ship onboard a mere 80 to 90 gal
of fuel, in an hour.
So following the design of the Vetus tank vent (see below) --which vented at
the filler neck so the overfill would simply pour back into the filler line-- I
designed a new system that included a new 'day-tank' --also adding 20 more
gallons to the lot to get 200 gallons total--, plus one common filling point
that could handle a very high flow rate --now surprising power boaters when I
could ship onboard easily 100 gallons in 15 minutes (seasonal refueling or a
long 'power' passage --like one of the many cancels transited in the last few
years...).
The new design allowed the two common tanks to vent into one another and then
the last 'aft' tank would vent into the top of the 'day-tank' –the ‘day-tank’
would then vent to the overboard (aft cockpit) vent port --just one vent was
needed to vent the last tank in the series—but I put in 2 so to match the
original number of vent (and cutouts in the aft cockpit coming inside the
cockpit).
VETUS Splash-stop for fuel
The fuel Splash-stop is connected right under the deck filler plate [top of ‘day-tank’ is the housing shown] to ensure that overflowing fuel or foam cannot flood onto the deck. The excess diesel or petrol fuel is collected in a parallel hose which functions as a reservoir [day-tank is the reservoir], returning the fuel back into [the same tank] tank.
 |
|
[Vetus “Splash-Stop” shown, only for illustrative purposes, but was not used in the day-tank filling setup, as the day-tank was the ‘common’ filling area with the vent lines… I only copied the 'idea' of the design --anti-foam/spill filler port with a common fill neck and vent housing...]
Jeff Beller
https://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|311|2349059|2349073&id=133911
The issue is while sailing. The boat rolls or heels and we have this problem.Does anyone have a loop system between the tanks and the vent opening and if so what is the level and direction of the loop with relation to the tanks and the opening?
On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 08:27 Ernie Reuter <ern...@gmail.com> wrote:
We are not talking overfill here. We watch each fill thru the opening and stop 3” down from the top. I would not call that overfill..That also leaves quite a bit of unused fuel capacity......not a very good thing.
On Thu, Apr 26, 2018 at 23:14 rcyoung <rcy...@optonline.net> wrote:
Don't overfill and there is no issue.Regards,BobSent via the Samsung Galaxy Note® 4, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: Ernie Reuter <ern...@gmail.com>
Date: 4/26/18 4:14 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: Passport Owners <PassportOwners@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Passport] Diesel tank vent leaksI’m sure that this is not a new one but the diesel tanks connect and vent into the cockpit of the P40. Now this is great if one doesn’t want to dump into the sea any fuel which is how other systems are set up but........on making a passage with full fuel tanks, smelling diesel in the cockpit and worse....tracking it all over is really not good.How have you all dealt with this issue?ThanksErnie and BetteSV Iemanja #66.......currently in St Augustine FL.--
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