Fuel Vents???I read the other day about one of the Brats checking his fuel vents and found the vent hole pointed forward and no loop in the line. SO,, I thought I better at least check mine just in case, thinking no boat builder would install a tank vent that way more than once... Well mine must be the more than once boat because they were the same way his was. No loop in the hose and pointed straight down to the tank. I flushed the tanks right after I got the boat and I did get some crud out but not much. Maybe the previous owner never got in any rough water with it. Besides the tank is a 60 gallon aluminum, so maybe not in long enough to get saltwater in it. It was a pretty easy fix for mine. Just took the vent off at the tank, cut a short piece of 1/2 copper water pipe to couple the hoses, 2 feet of 5/8 fuel vent hose, and a couple stainless clamps. Looped the hose up to the underside of the deck and then down to the vent. It was probably 1/2 hose on the vent, but 5/8 fits perfect and was a lot easier to get on my barb. Not everyone has tanks like mine and yours may be a different size, but GUYS!! you better check yours just in case. The vents has 2 holes in them and I did turn them down and back before I tightened them up.. Mine is strictly a salt water boat and that don't mix very well with gas and outboards... :amgry
fuel Vents on the 22 Cruiser, maybe others.
- Thread starter Sea-C
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journey on
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Let's see; those vents are to let air in when fuel is removed from the tank. Put a loop in that line and it'll have residual liquid. This would produce a differential pressure across that loop. Not sure how that'd affect the tank, but I'd think about it. A hump on the upward side would eliminate that problem. And the vents do have a screen in the inlet hole to help prevent water ingress. I checked the fuel tank on Journey On, which has 2 vents, just like all 25's and there was no water/crud in the fuel after 8 years. The factory had the vents facing down.
They built Journey On with loops in the bilge pump outlet, which kept one of the pumps from working. I installed a syphon breaker in both pumps inside the cabin.
Boris
They built Journey On with loops in the bilge pump outlet, which kept one of the pumps from working. I installed a syphon breaker in both pumps inside the cabin.
Boris
Maybe the 25 is different than the 22 and maybe the original tanks are installed right but as far as collecting moisture, every time you fill the tanks that line has quite a bit of air flow through it. With an upper loop, there is no place for moisture to sit, it either goes overboard or in the tank. But I doubt there will be that much of a moisture problem with the amount of air flow going both ways.. I realize the vents have screens in them, but that is to keep critters out and probably wouldn't do much for keeping water out.
I wonder if your vents are positioned like mine were (and many other 22's as well. That is, right up under the bottom of the gunwale so there is no "normal" way to make a loop. I guess the builders figured "oh, the higher the better for the vents" (of course that's not really true, as this way there is a nice slope leading right into the tanks, whereas if they were mounted lower you would have room for the usual hose loop that keeps nuisance water out).
But it sounds like you did get a loop in, so maybe yours are not mounted that high up?
In my case I had to do something. There are solid plastic "P trap" type vents that one can use instead of a hose loop, but the problem is they require a bit more clearance above them than I had (I didn't even have the inch or so they required). However, the same company makes a "flush" version that takes a larger hole. Aha! So what I did was enlarge the hole for the flush version, but instead of enlarging it symmetrically, I enlarged it "down" only. That made juuust enough room to fit the P-traps. Whew! It is written up and illustrated in detail in my "Sunbeam~22 Cruiser" thread:
(Starts with the first post on Page 3, in case this does not go there)
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?p=232654
In progress:
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I'm curious what yours look like?
But it sounds like you did get a loop in, so maybe yours are not mounted that high up?
In my case I had to do something. There are solid plastic "P trap" type vents that one can use instead of a hose loop, but the problem is they require a bit more clearance above them than I had (I didn't even have the inch or so they required). However, the same company makes a "flush" version that takes a larger hole. Aha! So what I did was enlarge the hole for the flush version, but instead of enlarging it symmetrically, I enlarged it "down" only. That made juuust enough room to fit the P-traps. Whew! It is written up and illustrated in detail in my "Sunbeam~22 Cruiser" thread:
(Starts with the first post on Page 3, in case this does not go there)
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?p=232654
In progress:
In:
I'm curious what yours look like?
Sunbeam: I knew there were other style vents, but I had enough room to get a good loop in these by rerouting the extra piece of hose I installed. I have about 6 inches or so to the inside top of the deck and it will work to keep the water out I'm sure. I will keep an eye on them and I had rather have a different style, but I have used this type routing in several other boats without any problem. Fishing off the coast of Alaska, you get green water coming completely over them all too often and it still kept the water out of the tanks. I did however almost lose my boat one night on the way in with 3 days of fish on. I had the holds completely full and hit a school of kings just as I was ready to pull the gear and head in to the packer. I didn't have any room in the tanks so I just kept throwing them on deck until I could clean them. I was only about an hour from the packer and as long as I kept them wetted down they would be fine. The wife was at the helm and yelled back that the bilge pump was coming on a lot. I had a big red light on the dash for the main pump and I watched it as I was cleaning fish. It was running almost constantly. Would kick off and then a few seconds later it was back on. It was an old 36 foot wooden boat and I thought with the load I had on that it might have tweaked the the shaft packing and was letting water in through the box. I pulled the rest of the gear and had Lori kick it up to the 8 knots we could run and headed for the packer. There was 2 other boats in front of me but when I told Steve that I might be sinking, we all pitched in and got me unloaded. Sure enough as the boat started coming up in the water, the pump slowed its cycle. The next morning I was getting gear out from the cockpit area and there laying down in the bilge was a 1 inch hose I had tied up against the deck earlier that season that originally went to a bilge pump that I didn't use any longer. The thru-hull was below the guards and I was loaded up to the guards which left a full 1 inch stream of water run into the bilge. I had just tied it up in a hurry and not well enough. I didn't bother to plug it because I knew it would never take on water clear up there. That's why I have always had 2 bilge pumps on every boat I have owned. ( Sorry about the long story) Hope I don't get yelled at...
Whew, that's quite a story! I enjoyed reading it and I think others here will too.
It sounds as though the original vents on your 22 were mounted much lower than mine were. Mine were just under the top of the gunwale - literally. There was absolutely no way to run a normal loop. I have seen numerous other 22's like mine, and can only assume that at some point(s) in time, someone thought it was a bright idea to put the vents up higher - someone who did not understand that it's better to start with it lower and have a loop. On the other hand, I've seen many with the lower vents too, so it was not all of them. Glad you were able to solve yours with a loop!
Also glad you did not sink that time with all the fish aboard.
It sounds as though the original vents on your 22 were mounted much lower than mine were. Mine were just under the top of the gunwale - literally. There was absolutely no way to run a normal loop. I have seen numerous other 22's like mine, and can only assume that at some point(s) in time, someone thought it was a bright idea to put the vents up higher - someone who did not understand that it's better to start with it lower and have a loop. On the other hand, I've seen many with the lower vents too, so it was not all of them. Glad you were able to solve yours with a loop!
Also glad you did not sink that time with all the fish aboard.
One of the previous owners re-routed the vents to the splash well, and above the inner transom. It would be almost impossible to get water in them in that spot. Never plugged the old vent holes, but they look to be installed low enough that a good loop could be used.
I really haven't looked to see if there was a loop or not, but there should be room for one, and I'm definitely going to!
I'm a double bilge pump man too. I have one in the transom sump with the hydrostatic (automatic) switch and a big one on a float switch up by the cabin, starboard of the cabin door. Neither has a loop in the hose, although the sump pump has a check valve.
I really haven't looked to see if there was a loop or not, but there should be room for one, and I'm definitely going to!
I'm a double bilge pump man too. I have one in the transom sump with the hydrostatic (automatic) switch and a big one on a float switch up by the cabin, starboard of the cabin door. Neither has a loop in the hose, although the sump pump has a check valve.
That is probably a good plan to have them high in the engine well. I have only been on 2 22 footers including mine and I never bothered to look before I read one of the guys concerns about his. Not very often a guy gets into that kind of seas but it does happen. My bilge pumps thru-hulls are high enough to not cause any problems but an anti-siphoning valve should be on just for peace of mind if nothing else. My brother in law almost lost his 46 foot troller in Alaska. He had ran his bilge pump hose into his sink overboard hose and as long as there was no plug in the sink, it was no problem. Well they were anchored one night up by Deer Harbor and forgot to drain the sink before going to bed. My oldest son was with him on the boat and the boat had bunks down below in the focsle. I guess he rolled over in the middle of the night and let his arm slip over the side of the bunk and the water went clear to his elbow. I don't see how that could happen if you have a float switch unless the pump quit after it had ran and the water siphoned back in. But he said that was exactly what happened.