Fuel tank vent line thingamabob?

S

snal

New member
My boat has 2 plastic "thingamabobs" in the fuel tank vent lines (both of which I discovered to be broken)...at first I thought these might be some sort of water stop, just in case water got in thru the vent, but after seeing the "guts"...they are simply an expansion chamber with a center plate (washer-like) and necked down at both ends to match the hose diameter.
These are plastic, and I can duplicate the part out of stainless, but what does it do? I can't see as how it would stop any water.
 
snal":u1juy4ek said:
My boat has 2 plastic "thingamabobs" in the fuel tank vent lines (both of which I discovered to be broken)...at first I thought these might be some sort of water stop, just in case water got in thru the vent, but after seeing the "guts"...they are simply an expansion chamber with a center plate (washer-like) and necked down at both ends to match the hose diameter.
These are plastic, and I can duplicate the part out of stainless, but what does it do? I can't see as how it would stop any water.
Click to expand...

There probably was a floating ball or disk in there to act as a check valve so fuel doesn't spill out while fueling? I added 2 of these when I installed 25gal tanks. When my vents quit making noise the tanks are full :mrgreen: :beer
 
Hmmm...that makes sense! They broke just below the "washer" so I'll check to see if there's anything that'll "rattle" up above.
 
The new ones I have, that I never installed, don't have a ball, only the hole in the 'washer' shaped disc. It acts as a whistle until a drop of fuel gets in there, then it stops whistling. You're full!
 
Another related problem with the fuel vents over the years has been water intake into the tanks, particularly when the little screened openings in the vent fitting were turned forward and took on spray water when underway, or were turned upward and took on runoff rainwater.

The solution has been to add a gooseneck type of fitting in the vent line, placing it above the vent outlet to prevent water intrusion.

The original anti-siphon valave was a Perko, but here is one by Attwood.

antisiphonvent_f.jpg


Here is the surge protector you currently have, also by Attwood.

fuelsurgeprot_f.jpg


Joe.
 
When I went to the Sequim CBGT, I filled both tanks prior to leaving home. Had about 21 gallons in each 22-gal tank. If I made just a moderately hard stop I noticed fuel coming out of the vents and going down a steep hill, anything over a gentle coasting stop caused fuel to come out of the vents. With 18 gallons in each tank, I do not have this problem.

I had been thinking about how to solve this problem and it looks like the surge protector Joe shows should do the trick. My vent is a couple of feet forward of my fuel tank and about 16 inches higher than the top of tank. You can see it in the photo, between the side cleat and the C in C-Voyager.

Anybody have any other ideas?

18_cv.gif

________
Dave dlt.gif
 
Back
Top