Everything Fuel-Related
Tanks & Re-fueling:
Rosie has two 65 gallon fuel tanks located under the galley and NavStation floors. We always carry two 6 gallon jugs on deck both for increased fuel capacity and for emergencies (a miscalculation could leave you empty). Measuring is done via a dip stick, one of which is calibrated in 6 gallon increments. When filling up we always poor these jugs into the tank first to ensure they do not become old. Unless we are filling up from a high throughput American port, we use the BaHa filter (located under the galley floor) for every ounce of fuel that goes into the tanks. This is a three phase filter that can even filter out water. The only problem with using the filter is if you miscalculate the required amount then when you reach capacity and fuel bubbles onto the deck you typically then have a full filter that just keeps giving. The solution I have adopted to get round this issue is to stop 5 gallons short and provided the filter looks good, do the last 5 gallons without the filter. The vents for the fuel tanks are under the lower corner of the dodger on their respective sides. Put a rag round these vents during filling as fuel tends to splutter out. Alternative to holding the jugs and pouring, there is a siphon tube under the galley floor. Put the thick end in the jug the thin end in the baha filter, place the jug on the cockpit combing just forward of the jib winch. Now instead of sucking and getting cancer (like our fuel guy in the Galapagos - yikes!), place your hand/rag around the tube and jug opening (leave the breather closed) leaving a small hole for your mouth, then blow. If you have a reasonable seal you will start the flow of fuel. If the filter looks like it is filling too fast and may overflow then push the hose to the bottom of the jug to slow the flow.
Tank Cleaning:
90% of all engine problems are fuel related is the fact thrown around regarding boat diesel engines so I take my fuel cleanliness seriously. In 2003 I cleaned out both tanks via the inspection ports. We have an inline electric fuel pump just before the lift pump very useful for priming the engine (more on that later) this can be jury rigged to help with tank clean out if you ever need to perform the operation. The books say once a year, I say once in 3 unless you have a problem. The strategy I adopted was to:
- Disconnect the output to this electric pump and connect a long thin hose to it (loose under the galley floor, a great hose connector is a plastic pen with insides removed - the kind without the little breather hole).
- Remove both inspection ports.
- Place small hose in tank NOT being cleaned
- Turn on the fuel pump. This solution has the advantage of emptying a tank through the Racor filter so all depris is removed and not transferred to the other tank.
- If I remember rightly emptying the tanks this way leaves a few gallons of fuel in the bottom of the tank so I got a second hose on the Racor Inlet and vacuumed out everything.
- Now use a cloth and clean away.
- Repeat with the other tank.
Fuel Filters:
We have a 2 stage filter system on Rosie. Under the galley floor we have twin Racor filters with a vacuum gauge in the middle. Next is the on engine fuel filter. The Racors I change whenever it pulls a minus 10 vacuum. The engine filter I change every 500 hours or so. As the Racor stops most of the dirt the engine one lasts much longer than it normally would.
Changing Racor Filter:
- May be changed with engine running.
- Turn valve to select backup/other filter
- Remove T handle and lid careful not to get dirt in center hole.
- Pull up old filter and place in zip loc bag for disposal
- Remove O-ring from T handle and inside of lid
- Replace rings ensure rub diesel on both sides of seals
- Slide in new filter
- Top up with diesel from jerry jugs.
- Put on lid and tighten.
- At this stage (assuming you are in a location where loss of engine would not be a problem) I always switch back to the new filter and run for 10 mins to ensure I have no air in the system. I would hate to have an emergency later where I need to switch filters then have the engine die on me. To date it has never introduced air by changing the filter in this manner, but you never know.
Changing Engine filter:
Changing the on engine fuel filter is a little tricky due to its location. I initially used to remove the whole assembly and change the filter in the sink, then replaced the whole assembly. However once I saw how it fit together I have since managed it in place. Warning: Once you unscrew the top middle bolt the lower assembly drops down. If you let it fall into the bilge it is a pain to retrieve as it is not magnetic, so take care not to drop. The hard part is getting the gaskets in place, good luck! Once replaced follow the bleed routine below.
Bleeding the engine:
The Perkins manual has a great section on bleeding, just to add a few of my own comments since we have an inline electric fuel pump the manual knows nothing about:
Loosen the output to the fuel filter, once loosened a few turns physically pull the pipe out a millimeter to brake connection.Loosen the bleed nut on the side of the injector pump (the 5/16 one)Pull the electric fuel pump switch located on the engine side of the piece of wood the Racor's are mounted on.Once fuel bubbles out of the filter outlet, keep going until no bubbles. Tighten.The side of the injector pump normally takes a while of pumping fuel out until it is free from bubbles. Don't cut corners and tighten up too early you will end up coming back and doing it again. Tighten and turn off pump.Loosen the aft of the two top pipes in the fuel injector pump (1/2 inch). Again pull the pipe up once loosened to break connection.Run electric pump again. Wait until free from bubbles and tighten and turn off pump.Last stage is to loosen all 4 injectors and crank the engine with full throttle.Do not crank for more than 20 seconds at a time, you will burn out the starter motor/solenoid.Once a good spurt has come out of each injector pipe tighten.The engine should not fire until all 4 injectors are tightened down.This last stage is easier with two people, but just cranking for 20 seconds from the cockpit, then tightening, then going back to try and start the engine works.If engine still won't start I normally just go back to the bleed nut on the side injector and go forward from there. If you let enough fuel flow the first time it always works!
Loosen the output to the fuel filter, once loosened a few turns physically pull the pipe out a millimeter to brake connection.Loosen the bleed nut on the side of the injector pump (the 5/16 one)Pull the electric fuel pump switch located on the engine side of the piece of wood the Racor's are mounted on.Once fuel bubbles out of the filter outlet, keep going until no bubbles. Tighten.The side of the injector pump normally takes a while of pumping fuel out until it is free from bubbles. Don't cut corners and tighten up too early you will end up coming back and doing it again. Tighten and turn off pump.Loosen the aft of the two top pipes in the fuel injector pump (1/2 inch). Again pull the pipe up once loosened to break connection.Run electric pump again. Wait until free from bubbles and tighten and turn off pump.Last stage is to loosen all 4 injectors and crank the engine with full throttle.Do not crank for more than 20 seconds at a time, you will burn out the starter motor/solenoid.Once a good spurt has come out of each injector pipe tighten.The engine should not fire until all 4 injectors are tightened down.This last stage is easier with two people, but just cranking for 20 seconds from the cockpit, then tightening, then going back to try and start the engine works.If engine still won't start I normally just go back to the bleed nut on the side injector and go forward from there. If you let enough fuel flow the first time it always works!
What are people saying about Sailing to Jessica?
"Great true sailing adventure. A couple cuts ties with land and sails around the world only to find what the were looking for all along. Fun read!." - Brenda on Goodreads.com
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