Fueling Problem
 

Is anybody else having this problem? When I go to put gas in my boat with a gas can it will not accept it. Yet, at the pump it goes in fine at $3.60 a gal. :confused:

Re: Fueling Problem
 

So, your boat doesn't like gas from a gas can? Or it physically isn't possible to fill your boat from a gas can? I'm confused :confused:

Re: Fueling Problem
 

It will not take the gas from the 5 gal can. It will take about 1/2 gal then just over flow.I put a longer filler tube on the gas can and still does the same. I just dont get it.

Re: Fueling Problem
 

That's really bizarre, I've never heard of that! Is your vent line clogged up or something?

Re: Fueling Problem
 

Maybe there's an anti-siphon gate in there that the force from a pump overcomes, but the relatively weak flow from a gas can does not?

I'd be interested in knowing the answer to this one, too, because I'd rather fill a 5 ga. can on-shore than pay gas dock prices.

Jim

Re: Fueling Problem
 

Re: Fueling Problem
 

it is probably the angle of the boat in the water the gas line and the vent are in the back of the fuel tank the vent should be at the front the tank air locks will not accept fuel if you put weight in the bow to level it out when fueling it should take care of your problem

Re: Fueling Problem
 

I have not had the issue with trying to fill from a gas can, but rather the gas pump.

The first weekend in the water I put nearly 40 gallons in.....for the next 3 weeks, the only thing I could get in the tank was about 7 gallons.

It would pump a few gallons and then overflow out the fill tube...and rather than keep polluting the river, I gave up.

A week later, I put the gas pump in and it took 30 gallons like nothing!

Not sure if it was just vapor locking on me or what, but I knew I was getting low on fuel and needed more than the 7 gallons I managed to squeeze in.

Re: Fueling Problem
 

I don't know what the vents on these tanks look like, but sailors (we have a sailboat, too) are familiar with a problem that can occur with holding tank vents. These usually come out somewhere on the hull, not far under the toe rail, and are just a small fitting with a tiny little hole. Well, sometimes spiders find these little holes an attractive place to nest, blocking the hole. The result, of course, is difficulty flushing waste into the tank, and the possibity of implosion when pumping-out. (Which, as you might imagine, can be exceedingly disgusting.)

So I guess the first thing I'd check, if encountering problems filling as have been described here, is that the vent is unobstructed.

It's usually considered wise, amongst sailors, to occasionally give such vents a squirt of something like Home Defense bug killer/repellent.

Jim

Re: Fueling Problem
 

I have never been able to fuel on the water. If i go to a marina, the pump will constantly click off like tank is full. Fuels fine on the trailer. Mine is a 96 Shaba 200

Re: Fueling Problem
 

look at the point where the gas fill hose & the vent hose enter the tank in the back. the tank air locks!!! if you have a fitting welded to the front of the tank for the vent it will solve your problem.

Re: Fueling Problem
 

Well, not sure how, but my issues seemed to be resolved the other day when I pulled in to the gas dock and easily pumped $100 into the tank with no trouble....
My family used to have issues like that with a 27-ft. Regal we used to have. One person would stand as far forward on the bow as possible while one fueled.
Was the only way to get gas in that boat....everytime for 3 years!

Re: Fueling Problem
 

OK, maybe a little... I have no problems with fueling this boat! I had an old Monterey that I had to get people to sit up front to get the flow better and I had to undo the vent line from the tank and blow out water/fuel that got stuck in the line. I reworked the line so that nothing could settle in it. Don't know if this helps!

Re: Fueling Problem
 

I have the same problem here. If I try to top it up at a Marina, the nozle clicks all the time. I think it's the way the boat sits in the water, nose up. I believe the fuel tank is tipped into such an angle, that fuel sits at the filler neck of the tank itself when the tank is 3/4 full or more.

On the trailer, I will fill it up to the top. Unfortunatly at the marina, you can't stay in the boat while fueling. Therefore, having a few bodies on the bow to allow the boat to level up, is out of question.

I stopped last Sunday at the marina to fill up after cruising at 35 mph for 1 hour. All she managed to pump in, was $5.00 (not even 6 litres) worth with fuel and it was overflowing thru the vent. An hour riding??? I should mention that my engine is the 5.0LX (GM 305). I had to burn more than just $5.00! Gas gauge fluctuates so much, I can't rely on it. As I said, the boat sits nose up in the water, so fuel reading is not accurate even when the gauge needle stabilizes. I seem to get a more precise fuel reading when sitting on the trailer. Right now the gauges reads half full, that's after 2 hours of cruising at 35 mph.

After topping it up with $5.00, I left and cruised for another hour back to the trailer. I took it home and didn't fill it up again. I am curious to see how much fuel I will put in it at the pump. I am assuming a good 70 litres for 2 hours of cruising. My fuel tanks is 40 gallons (151 litres). I will find out this weekend when I top it up. I will update this post after I top it up this weekend....More to follow.

Rick

Re: Fueling Problem
 

I know in my case s.a.charlie is right on, my boat wouldn't fill at all at the pump, one person got in the front and it filled right up so just a little change in the way it sits made all the difference. If you are filling on the water the weight of the 5 gal gas can may be just enough to cause that.

Re: Fueling Problem
 

This won't help you get the tank full when on the water, but there's a sticky thread about fixing the jittery fuel gauge. Well worth the couple bux and the time to fix it.

Re: Fueling Problem
 

I have seen that and I will definitely do that fuel gauge mod. But first I have to install the smart tabs and then a "battery switch".

I have a second deep cycle battery which will go in the boat as well. With a battery switch, I will be able to select which one of the two I wanna use.

I wanna make sure I don't get stranded in the middle of the lake after a day lounging around listening to the stereo.

Re: Fueling Problem
 

Did you already buy your battery switch? If not, I strongly recommend an ACR rather than just a switch. No messing with switching from battery to battery. The "house" battery runs all your accessories and the starting battery is used to start the boat. Once the boat is running and a positive charge is being produced, then the ACR automatically applies the positive charge to the low battery.

This is what I installed. It was $95 on ebay.
http://bluesea.com/category/2/productline/overview/329

The trouble with switching from bat 1 to bat 2 is that if bat 1 is dead, and you move the switch to bat 2 to start the boat, once the boat is running, you shouldn't change the switch back to bat 1 because you can fry your alternator. Also, you don't really just want to put the switch on "combine" because as soon as you do that, you begin discharging the good battery to the dean battery resulting in less power to start your boat.

Not saying the switch is a bad thing. It definitely gives more piece of mind than carrying just one battery, but the switch requires more thought than the ACR.

Re: Fueling Problem
 

First time I hear about this "ACR" relay....I will definitely look into this.....How hard is it to install? I know how to install the "battery switch". It's pretty basic. There is a battery switch you can flip from position 1 to position 2 while engine is running. It's called the"Make Before Break" switch.

Does the ACR install the same way? It sure sounds like a better set up. Thanks for the info! I was going to buy the switch tomorrow. I will investigate into the ACR relay now.

Re: Fueling Problem
 

If you found one that is ok to switch while the motor is running, that might be the absolute easiest way to go.

The ACR is not much harder to install, but does require a bit more work. The only real difference would be that you need to separate your accessories from your starting system. To do this, I ran an additional wire from the back of the boat to the ignition relay on my breaker panel. Other than that, just hook the batteries together through the ACR and switch and make sure that only one positive goes to the starter and the other goes to the ACR. It seems like there was another wire somewhere, but I just used the diagrams I found online to get mine going.

I just cleaned my office and threw out my drawings of how I hooked mine up, but if you need a more precise explanation, I could verify my wiring hookups on the boat and give you a better description.

Re: Fueling Problem
 

I have had this problem with my boat also. It has to do with the angle of the fuel nozzel. It must be pointed a certain way or it clicks off. And filling from a gas can requires a funnel with a long spout.

Re: Fueling Problem
 

In my opinion, it was a poor enginering design. The fuel filler neck should of been installed on the side of the boat, not the back. With the filler neck in the back, not only you can't top up the tank, it also allows fuel to spill into the water when overflowing. That has happend to every marina trying to top up my boat. My Sea-Doo jetboat had the neck on the side and it was no problems filling that boat up, on the trailer or on the water....