Fuel guage ideas???

[Fred G]

I have an 81' Hunter 30, and I would like to have a fail safe fuel guage (A wooden dowel is my favorite method), however the filler tube bends slightly so I cannot use the wooden dowel method that I used on my last boat. Do you folks have any suggestions on a flexible version of the wooden dowel fuel guage?

 

[Jim Cook]

Try a dip stick from a junk yard. (nm)

 

[Frank Pratt]

What I did

Last summer I waited until I ran out of fuel, I then went down and shined a flash light through the tank and relized I finally knew just how much fuel was left in the tank.

 

[Steve]

Fuel Line on a Dowel

Try placing a dowel on the end of some fuel line (make sure of a very tight fit). The dowel will give you the reading you used to have, and the fuel line should allow it to flex through the bend. This may work if the bend is not too radical.

 

[John V.]

More infor?

What kind of fuel, gas or diesel? What kind of tank, plastic or aluminum?jv

 

[Fred G]

Tank info and alternate solution

The tank is metal. I don't think it is aluminum, but it could be. I looked at the filler tube and it turns out that the filler tube comes down from the back of the cockpit, turns 90 degrees and follows the cockpit forward about a foot, and then turns 90 degrees down into the tank so a flexible guage rod is not going to be very feasible. On a happier note, I replaced the fuel guage yesterday, and the new one seems to work much better. I guess I will live with that for now. Thanks for all of your help!

 

[Capt. Marc]

Keep track of hours

I have a fuel guage on my Beneteau OC350, but most guages are notoriously unreliable. I topped off, and ran the boat for a "good round number" of hours (10) and topped off again. this gave me the average use/hour, at different speeds. Now I monitor the hour meter, in addition to keeping an engine log.Marc

 

[Paul Akers]

Count the hours, also

I do the same as Capt. Marc and find it very accurate. I log all running time in half hour increments in an engine log that I designed. I find this method very accurate and also lets me keep track of engine maintenance (oil changes, etc) and repairs. I also use it as a trip log to log destinations and distances.