Topping up R-21EC fuel tank and avoiding fuel spills

B

baz

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Jun 19, 2009
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Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
Subject: Topping up R-21EC fuel tank and avoiding fuel spills

I find filling up my fuel tank is rather precarious in that it's just to easy to overfill and cause a fuel spill. Some fuel pumps push the fuel out and horrendous speeds and for a small 19 gallon fuel tank the fill-up/top-up can be done in a few seconds.

Doing the fuel top-up single handed is kind of awkward as viewing the fuel level in the tank with having a full enclosure is nigh impossible.

What have others done in this regards to ensure no fuel spill happens ?

Thanks. 🙂
 
Most time there are two doing the filling, the dock hand and myself. If you listen you can hear the fuel reach the top through the vent line. When filling with the boat on the trailer there are no cushions so I open the locker lid and watch the level. No real solution but i thought this out and can't see an elegant solution. It it does get such good fuel mileage I don't worry about filling it to the brim when cruising, it goes for 50-60 hours between fills, only time I like to get it real full is before putting it away fro the winter.
 
Evening baz,

I've marked the side of my tank in 5 gallon increments. Before fueling, I compare the level in the tank with the marks and find I can judge very closely how much fuel it will take to top-up.

CN
 
CN: Excellent .... will do the same. Good suggestion. When solo I can check the tank level and then know how much to pump. Thanks. 🙂
 
Guys: I concur with CN's option: mark the side of the tank in increments with black marking pen. I have done this and it is so easy to quickly check and assess. The fuel gauge on the console has been inaccurate from the start so I disregard it. The mechanical sensor is subject to lateral surge anyway so even if it was adjusted correctly in the first place it would not give a constant accurate reading. If these tanks had fore and aft baffles (dwarf bulkheads) installed internally at the manufacturing stage this would minimise the lateral surge and assist the fuel sensor to maintain a more accurate reading: I have previously queried why this was not thought of in the initial design phase, this but to my knowledge the fuel tanks are still the same design: minus baffles.

As for filling the tank at the local servo ('gas station' to you guys in the US) I also have found this to be a bit of a risk for spillage, especially as most of the nozzles are factored for quick fills. My solution, which may not work for everyone,is to maintain 30 litres of diesel in my garage in jerry cans. I merely decant the amount of fuel I need using a five or ten litre can, which is easier than lifting a 20 litre container at one time. As I need to I visit the local servo and refill.

Naturally, if you are travelling all over the place then this won't work, but as long as you don't open the fuel hose nozzle 'full bore' then it should not be too much of an issue. I have found that the fuel bowsers which cater for cars/SUVs have a slower flow rate than those which are reserved for long distance trucks.

Hope this helps. Regards to all. Stevan
 
I had the same issues as rest and I am using a Mr. Funnel. It has a filter and you control the flow by running the fuel into the funnel at a slow pace. I attempted to insert an image but the process is exhausting. I read posts on this site all the time that would be much more easily explained with a simple image. We post to sites like Facebook all the time where images can be uploaded in seconds to bad we can't do that here.

The image is in my photos if you care to look for it.
 
How are you guys marking the tank,my tank is black.I cant see the level.
 
Afternoon lone R,

My tank (2016) is translucent off-white, marked with permanent marker; can see the fuel level quite clearly.

CN
 
I always remove the cushion and open the cover to see the fuel tank as I put diesel in it, this way when there is about one inch left before it is full, I stop pumping fuel. Leaving one inch,provide enough room for the diesel to expand and there is no fuel leak resulting from overfilling.
 
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