Fuel spill prevention

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vladcut26

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Jun 2, 2017
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Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
Non-Fluid Motion Model
Cutwater 26
Vessel Name
Nikoleta
Hello,

Is there a fuel spill prevention device that is installed permanently on the fuel vent line?

Cutwater 26, VP-D3-220, 2016.

Thanks a lot,
Vladimir.
 
Hello,

We do not install a fuel spill prevention system on the boats.

Thank you,
 
Hi Vladimir,

A potential solution for fuel spills from the vent line is a fuel/air separator made especially for this issue. I am investigating installing one on our CW30. Parker Hanefin makes one of these separators -- an LG100. These devices are installed in the vent line and allow air to vent while returning gas or diesel to the tank (all of this is according to the manufacturer not me). The fuel dock where I usually fill up has installed only high speed nozzles which are great for the big fishboats, tugs, and whale watch boats but brutal for our boat. The agitation and thermal expansion cause diesel to stream out of the vent line opening intermittantly -- obviously not good. So I have to have a absorbant pad covering the vent area and be ready to soak up the diesel which spills out. The fuel dock can slow the fuel flow down but this still happens even though I am being very careful and fuelling slowly. I am not sure if this device will even fit on our boat though I think that it will. The LG100 is about 4" diameter and 9" long and is about $100. I have ordered one and will report back once I have had a try at installing it. On our boat this will involve removing the starboard batteries and accessing the vent line in this area.
 
A few months ago I started using a Skandvik Clean Way fuel kit which I think I read about on another post on this site. We also have a C30. You can still hear the change in sound as the fuel nears the top. It works quite well catching the fuel that bubbles up, but make sure it's set upright and tight and have a cloth by the air vent as fuel nears the top because it spits a bit of fuel.
Pricey for what you get (although a lot of the cost is the exchange rate and shipping getting it here to Canada) but it works and it beats getting the evil eye from the attendant at the fuel dock. Others here may have tried it. Might be worth a try.
 
Last summer, when filling our tug at the Des Moines marina (best fuel price, by the way), the tech handed me a "No-Spill" used for catching burps from the fuel vent. This saved me having to put a cloth over the vent to keep fuel off my hull and out of the water. It had two suction cups and a small plastic container that caught the burps well. You just poured the catch into your fuel filler. It has been out of production for 10 years and I haven't found anything like it. It worked great. If anyone knows where to find one let me know! I should just build one, I guess.....

That helped. But Ronnie or Ivan also found that our fuel line was too long, leading to back ups during filling. They shortened the line and it greatly improved the speed of fill, reducing back ups and vent burps.
 
Thanks for the posts, I will now buy a Scandvik Clean Way -- I was considering this but now that I know that it works well on the CW30 I wil go ahead and purchase. I am still going to have a go at installing the LG100 on our boat because of the fuel spilling out of the vent opening issue. The high volume nozzles that we have to deal with at Steveston are causing lots of concern but because the fuel there is about 0.20 litre cheaper than our marina it wont take long to pay for it! I have also attempted to buy one of the suction cup devices but as you pointed out it is no longer in production -- maybe a liablity issue?? Too bad because they did work well. I'll post again after I have had a go at installing the LG100.
 
Thanks to all!

Yesterday I used the "handmade fuel spill prev. device". It looks like the "NO-SPILL" plastic bottles which are pulled from market.
An used 1/2 gallon milk container with a 1-3/4" diameter hole on it's side (on upper area), silicon round on the hole edges, two masking tape strips to hold the container on a boat side. That is. It looks funny on a fuel dock, but it works! 😉

Vladimir.
 
vladcut26":3t6f4cno said:
Thanks to all!

Yesterday I used the "handmade fuel spill prev. device". It looks like the "NO-SPILL" plastic bottles which are pulled from market.
An used 1/2 gallon milk container with a 1-3/4" diameter hole on it's side (on upper area), silicon round on the hole edges, two masking tape strips to hold the container on a boat side. That is. It looks funny on a fuel dock, but it works! 😉

Vladimir.
Click to expand...

It would be great if you could post an image of your device. Often I have modified other folks "inventions" as have so many others on the site to come to better solutions for problems like this.
 
Further to my earlier post . . . A couple of people have asked how the clean way device works with a chain (I I guess the pop bottle version too). I have no idea. After my cap went for a swim after being knocked by the fuel nozzle I stopped using the chain when I got a replacement. Caps are notably hard to find in Desolation Sound I discovered. Now I just set it on the cockpit floor while fuelling. If that's a concern clean way might not be the answer.
Thought I should mention that.
Yes I now keep a rubber spare.
 
10PoundHammer":3b021z12 said:
Further to my earlier post . . . A couple of people have asked how the clean way device works with a chain (I I guess the pop bottle version too).
Click to expand...

I haven't purchased/used this product yet, but I am really starting to consider it, and I too wondered "what about the fuel cap chain?"

There is a video in this link and it shows the chain lying to the side with the nozzle in the opening. It does still make me wonder if fuel will still spill out from the gap produced by the chain, but the video doesn't zoom into that piece

https://youtu.be/qJcCr6dGY0E
 
My fill cap chain broke due to the nozzle not able to fit in the fill hole as the chain took up too much space. This year the fuel dock has a new diesel nozzle and if just sits in the fuel hole only a very short distance and has a tapered lip that would never allow a chain in there. I used to have one of the gas version whistlers that worked very well too bad they stopped making them. I'm going to see if there is enough room for the racor lg100 on thCW28.

Stuart
 
We calculate how much fuel is needed to take us to 90 % capacity and stop there. That leaves room for foaming fuel and for later expansion from temperature and barometric pressure changes. If going on a long cruise and needing every drop of fuel available, you could fill to 90%, then slow down for the last 10%, still stopping before the automatic shut-off which frequently shuts off too late to avoid some spillage.
 
I ran into this big time today. I used our local fuel dock for the first time and they must have a fast pump as the vent line burbled and spit up almost continually during the fill. Fortunately the dock hand was right on top of it and threw a rag over the vent to catch spills. I also monitored the fill using a flash light over the tank and they stopped about 1-2" from the top (this approach works great on the R-29 CB!). I haven't looked closely at the tank but the vent must be close to the inlet line as I was 80 galloons down so it wasn't a result of splashing up...

I'm going to check on the Parker Lifeguard LG100. It has to be installed vertically and I'm don't know how good the access is to the vent line to pull this off. Andrew, do you know if this is possible?
 
Just to clarify, it looks like there's two issues being discussed here. The first is true overflow from the tank when it becomes full. The second is fuel spitting from the vent during filling. I had the second issue.

Hydraulicjump I just reread your post and now I wonder about our fuel line. It had to be replaced as it was pierced from the screws holding the side trim. Perhaps it's too long? I'll have to have this checked out. This was the first fill since the hose was replaced.

Shano, it looks like you were also dealing with the second issue?
 
Scuba Too,

I am dealing with overflow from the vent tube opening when the tank is half or less full to 90% full only with high volume pumps. I am also dealing with back splash from the deck fill again only with high volume pumps. I am not having any issues with overfilling my tank and fuel coming out of the vent tube opening which will happen every time obviously and the LG100 wont help this. I fueled today in Vancouver Harbour with a old, slow type of nozzle and we had about 5 drops of spray come out of the vent tube opening (which was obviously easy to deal with) and no back splash at all from the deck inlet. I fill up by only filling what my electronic system has told me that I have used and I am very careful when we get to the last 10 gallons (40 litres) by slowing down. But the last time I used a high volume pump (these pumps might be ultra high volume) I had fuel spurts coming out of the vent tube opening even though the tank was only half full and I also had diesel back splashing from the deck inlet. So I have ordered a Scandvik Cleanway device and my LG100 arrived today. Because the boatyard where my boat has been is so busy now I am thinking that I will have to install it myself (or at least try to). I will post again once I have had used the Scandvik (others here have had good results) and whether or not I can get the LG100 installed. I tried to bring our boat back today and basically got blown back into the harbour -- I probably could have continued on but the forecast was for the wind to pick up to 25 knots (it was 20 at the time) and we had lots of water coming over the pilothouse in the troughs and I had to go to either the North Arm or Sandheads (both bad places in 20+ knot winds) -- some of you probably know that Sandheads at 25 knots in a big tide = no fun at all! So I am hoping that the forecast is wrong and I can bring her back tomorrow.
 
Friends,

I am not certain I understand the terminology being used here, and would appreciate some help.

In terms of gallons per minute, what is "slow" or low volume? What is "high" volume, "super-high" or "very fast?" How can I identify which nozzle is being handed to me? Is the attendant at the fuel dock likely to know how many gpm his pump is set for?

Thanks
 
My vent tube used to spit, with slow and fast fill. I checked the incline of the vent hose and found it was routed through a hole in the engine compartment, along with the fill and saltwater hose. Of course the vent was on the bottom, giving it a slight low spot. I rerouted to be on top of the others and haven't had any spitting at all since. At the flattest positions of the vent hose, it now has a slight slope.
 
Lenny & Louise,
High volume nozzles are larger in diameter than standard nozzles. If the dock hand gives you one that barely fits, don't squeeze the handle all the way when filling. Start slowly and only squeeze about half way.
 
Shano":1guq8aq6 said:
Scuba Too,

I am dealing with overflow from the vent tube opening when the tank is half or less full to 90% full only with high volume pumps...
Click to expand...
What you describe sounds like fuel is being trapped in the vent, typically due to a low spot in the hose. Fuel gets trapped in there and when air tries to leave the tank during filling it pushes the fuel that is trapped in the low spot out of the vent. It only occurs when fueling fast due to the air volume being enough to carry the fuel uphill to the vent opening. When fueling slowly the fuel will move out of the low spot and open a path for air to escape but there isn't enough air velocity to carry it all the way up to the opening. If you listen closely even when fueling slowly you will likely be able to hear/feel air surging rather than steadily exiting the vent when filling slowly. This is indicative of a low spot in the vent line.

My R25 had this issue when I bought it(used). Filling had to be done very slowly to avoid spillage out the vent. Removing about four inches out of both hoses solved the problem. To do so a few of the wire ties securing the hoses had to be removed/relocated.

Installing the device that you describe should certainly help. Particularly if a bit of slack is removed from the vent hose during installation.
 
Hi All, I wanted to update this thread on what I have been doing on this issue. I did purchase a Scandvik Cleanway device and used it for the first time last fill-up with a high volume pump. I have been filling up at low volume pumps until this last time so no problems as before on low volume pumps. The Cleanway worked well with no fuel spillage at all. The fuel barge has also dialed down the volume on their pump so that probably made a difference also. I had a few back gurgles where the diesel came into the first baffle on the Cleanway which is no problem as the diesel just drained away in a few seconds and had no fuel spill out of the vent at all. So a spill free fill which is good! I will get the LG100 installed this winter if it will fit because I already have it and it seems like it would be a good device in all cirumstances anyway. I did remove the fill cap safety chain but that may not be necesary because the Cleanway insert is rubber and it might fit with the chain intact.
Shane
 
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