This weekend was very windy on the Ches. Bay. I was out Sat for a trip from West to East and saw sustained winds at 20-25 kts with gust to 35. Needless to say, I stirred up some sediment in my fuel tank and when it came time to start, I got a couple of minutes while I was taking in the sails, and then the engine quit(otherwise very reliable Yanmar 3HM35F). After bypassing the Racor, minor trouble shooting and repeated attempts to start, there was little or no juice left to kick over the engine. I then sailed as close to the small entrance of a unfamilair marina as posible, set the hook, left my wife on board and dingied in. A local couple graciously gave me a ride to get some cans of diesel, my thinking that maybe my gauge was wrong. It was moving between 1/4 to a little over 1/2 with the waves, but more fuel couldn't hurt. They offered more help if I couldn't get it fixed, so after another hour with darkness approaching and the wind still up, I reluctently asked them for a tow. They towed me in without issue or complaint and offered us drinks and dinner after we tied up in a slip not being used a member of their family. This is why I love boating, because of the quality people you meet! Any way, to solve this problem, I was thinking of installing a small "hopper tank" fed by an electrical pump with an overflow back to the main tank. The engine would then draw from the "hopper tank". The back up mode would be the ability to revert back to the original set-up...I am not an engineer, but I did stay at a holiday inn last night...do you think this would work? Pro's/Con's...Thanks...Bryan
Windy Weekend Problems
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Little fuel tank
Same engine as yours , old fuel tank , even old fuel ...! I carry a smal plastic tank ( 2gal ) of diesel on board When I have fuel problems I connect the pastic tank directly to the fuel pump aside the engine block Manually pump a few times,( you do not need an electric pump ) bleed the air and Voila Works all the time !
Same engine as yours , old fuel tank , even old fuel ...! I carry a smal plastic tank ( 2gal ) of diesel on board When I have fuel problems I connect the pastic tank directly to the fuel pump aside the engine block Manually pump a few times,( you do not need an electric pump ) bleed the air and Voila Works all the time !
or
you could try another approach Bryan which might also solve the apparent problem. If you have anything which you use to suck oil out of the pan, just open the cleanout or remove the fuel level sender (for the fuel tank)periodically and pump out the bottom inch of the tank for inspection. If it's clean you're peace of mind will increase drastically; if not, no amount of filtering can preclude a recurrence. Just did it last weekend and it took maybe 10 minutes tops. Don
you could try another approach Bryan which might also solve the apparent problem. If you have anything which you use to suck oil out of the pan, just open the cleanout or remove the fuel level sender (for the fuel tank)periodically and pump out the bottom inch of the tank for inspection. If it's clean you're peace of mind will increase drastically; if not, no amount of filtering can preclude a recurrence. Just did it last weekend and it took maybe 10 minutes tops. Don
Can you recall if the engine was running
when you may have heeled over excessively? I have seen fuel tank pick up lines suck air into the fuel lines/filters/pumps that will stall diesels. If you are curious, you can sometimes see air in your glass sediment bowl, but having the correct tools to bleed the air out of the line usually solves the problem. It's happened to me more times than I like to admit. The best fix is to keep enough fuel in your tank (unless you are a racer).
when you may have heeled over excessively? I have seen fuel tank pick up lines suck air into the fuel lines/filters/pumps that will stall diesels. If you are curious, you can sometimes see air in your glass sediment bowl, but having the correct tools to bleed the air out of the line usually solves the problem. It's happened to me more times than I like to admit. The best fix is to keep enough fuel in your tank (unless you are a racer).
Fuel Filters?
I would think that the immediate solution is to pull the fuel line running from the fuel tank to your primary filter and pump the remaining fuel and sediment out of the tank. Keep pouring in a gallon of fuel which you have filtered or allowed the sediment and or water to settle out until you are getting nothing but clean fuel. Discard the dirty fuel and filters and re-fill with clean fuel and new filters, which you presumably have on board as your spares for just this type of situation. You may want to look at installing a Raycor filter with a clear plastic bowl so you can see what's causing the problem before it becomes a real problem next time.
I would think that the immediate solution is to pull the fuel line running from the fuel tank to your primary filter and pump the remaining fuel and sediment out of the tank. Keep pouring in a gallon of fuel which you have filtered or allowed the sediment and or water to settle out until you are getting nothing but clean fuel. Discard the dirty fuel and filters and re-fill with clean fuel and new filters, which you presumably have on board as your spares for just this type of situation. You may want to look at installing a Raycor filter with a clear plastic bowl so you can see what's causing the problem before it becomes a real problem next time.
More info
I know I Definately sucked some air, The next morning I bled the system and was able to get it started..It was just a little rough to bleed the whole system after by-passing the filter. At the time, I was still not 100% sure of the problem..I was getting dark and the bay is shallow, so I gave up trouble shooting early in exchange for some remaining daylight. I guess I am just figuring the hopper tank would remove the possibility of sucking air?
I know I Definately sucked some air, The next morning I bled the system and was able to get it started..It was just a little rough to bleed the whole system after by-passing the filter. At the time, I was still not 100% sure of the problem..I was getting dark and the bay is shallow, so I gave up trouble shooting early in exchange for some remaining daylight. I guess I am just figuring the hopper tank would remove the possibility of sucking air?
Been there, done that...
did the same with my former H31 right off the bay bridge. Strong wind, was motor sailing trying to head up for Annap Harbor and bang..engine went dead. Always at the worst time. Learned early on that it sucks air easily and won't start without a thorough bleed. I rarely use the engine now with any heel.
did the same with my former H31 right off the bay bridge. Strong wind, was motor sailing trying to head up for Annap Harbor and bang..engine went dead. Always at the worst time. Learned early on that it sucks air easily and won't start without a thorough bleed. I rarely use the engine now with any heel.
We were sludged, too
Coming back from St. Michaels on Sunday, the tach started wavering between 2600 and 2400, then gradually would do no better than 2000 under load. Given the conditions, we kept going at that speed. I'm going to replace the filters this week. My other thought was that the prop had gotten tangled in some line. If the filters don't fix it, I'm going for a swim. Harry
Coming back from St. Michaels on Sunday, the tach started wavering between 2600 and 2400, then gradually would do no better than 2000 under load. Given the conditions, we kept going at that speed. I'm going to replace the filters this week. My other thought was that the prop had gotten tangled in some line. If the filters don't fix it, I'm going for a swim. Harry
Bryan
I had a similar stalling problem. Discovered the mesh in the pickup tube in the fuel tank was clogged (along with an obscenely clogged primary). This was immed. after purchase from the PO. The first thing I did was to scrub out my fuel tank (pumping out, then swabbing w/ rags & coathanger through sender hole, first soaking up the residual diesel, then pouring in a quart of paint thinner and changing out the rags until they came up wet, but clean), then changed out all my filters, then burped and bled. Now that I know my whole system is clean, I am going to buy a deck fuel filter to keep most of the water/dirt from entering my tank in the first place. For 30 bucks, the West Marine filter recomended in the article reference below sounds like a good investment. I think I'll be content with that, but a day tank certainly would work, if you want to do active scrubbing before fuel heads toward the engine.
I had a similar stalling problem. Discovered the mesh in the pickup tube in the fuel tank was clogged (along with an obscenely clogged primary). This was immed. after purchase from the PO. The first thing I did was to scrub out my fuel tank (pumping out, then swabbing w/ rags & coathanger through sender hole, first soaking up the residual diesel, then pouring in a quart of paint thinner and changing out the rags until they came up wet, but clean), then changed out all my filters, then burped and bled. Now that I know my whole system is clean, I am going to buy a deck fuel filter to keep most of the water/dirt from entering my tank in the first place. For 30 bucks, the West Marine filter recomended in the article reference below sounds like a good investment. I think I'll be content with that, but a day tank certainly would work, if you want to do active scrubbing before fuel heads toward the engine.
Day tank and fuel polisher
If you'll add a high capacity filter (I highly recommend the Racor 500 series) between the pump and small tank in the set up you describe you'll have a fuel polisher and day tank. This will allow you pump only highly filtered fuel into the day tank even if a bad batch gets onboard into the main tank. This set up also allows you to filter fuel in and out of your main tank while the engine is off (say, at anchor or while in the slip.) With a second Racor 500 between the day tank and engine it's unlikely that the engine will ever be shut down due to sludge problems. The Racor 500 is great because a) filters are cheaper and b) they're easier to change due to a top that comes off and a drop in cartridge. It's also easy to drain with a built in petcock. With a vacuum guage on the Racors you can also monitor filter status.
If you'll add a high capacity filter (I highly recommend the Racor 500 series) between the pump and small tank in the set up you describe you'll have a fuel polisher and day tank. This will allow you pump only highly filtered fuel into the day tank even if a bad batch gets onboard into the main tank. This set up also allows you to filter fuel in and out of your main tank while the engine is off (say, at anchor or while in the slip.) With a second Racor 500 between the day tank and engine it's unlikely that the engine will ever be shut down due to sludge problems. The Racor 500 is great because a) filters are cheaper and b) they're easier to change due to a top that comes off and a drop in cartridge. It's also easy to drain with a built in petcock. With a vacuum guage on the Racors you can also monitor filter status.
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