Love to get ahold of the guy who installed my fuel tanks

B

Beflyguy

New member
I was going to install fuel tank vent surge valves a couple of days ago and as I took hold of the rubber lines, they felt very stiff, too stiff for hoses a couple of years old.

I purchased some new 5/8" fuel hose and when I removed the original hoses today to install the valves, I was very upset to find this hose used for the vent.

200psi_water_hose_used_for_fuel_vent.jpg


That's right, it was 200psi water hose, commonly known as heater hose!

Now I am seriously pissed off at the guy who installed that hose as I imagine a couple of years down the road explosions and fire after the hose splits allowing raw fuel into the bilge. I could make a list of construction issues but this tops everything!

I would like to catch this guy and see how fast he can stop, drop and roll.
 
Wow! If I had a C-Dory produced in that same era, I'd go right out at the first opportunity and check out my hoses! :shock:

Joe. :roll: :thup
 
Can you say "liability"? The revolving owners with no vested interest takes its toll....sorry to hear about this but it's good you found it and fixed it.
 
Beflyguy":1yzxs52l said:
That's right, it was 200psi water hose, commonly known as heater hose!
Click to expand...

Brian, thanks for posting this! I will check mine asap. What should I look for? I should be able to get a hand on them through the round access holes in the small cockpit steps (or those above).
---
mike
 
Mike...":188kly76 said:
Brian, thanks for posting this! I will check mine asap. What should I look for? I should be able to get a hand on them through the round access holes in the small cockpit steps (or those above).
---
mike
Click to expand...

Mike,

You could look for the word "water" on the hose but the first clue for me was that the hose was abnormally stiff, apparently affected by the gas vapor. I would be exceedingly happy if I could help one of our C-Brats save a potential disaster! I have to imagine there is more than just my boat with bad hoses.

I'm not certain but I believe our Tomcat was finished by Some Sea Sport personnel when Fluid Marine was in charge.

I repaired the starboard side tonight and it was as bad as the port side and probably leaking at the tank connection.
 
Just to clarify- Boats built by Fluid were built by Fluid. There were no partially finished boats shipped to Sea Sport. All the Sea Sport boats were 2010 boats. I beleive that Triton boats will begin as 2011 models.

There was only one person who worked for Fluid who went to Sea Sport, and they let him go because they couldn't afford to keep him. The down side is that there is now no one at Sea Sport / Triton who knows what was in the boats previously. Which is part of what makes us nervous as a dealer.
 
Thanks for the clarification Matt. I thought someone told me that my full headliner was installed by Sea Sport people but I probably have it wrong. Any idea who or or where my boat was put together? I don't have the HIN handy.

By the way, I am not really planning to track down the loser who used water hose for my fuel vents but it might help other owners.
 
hi brian,
sorry to hear about this issue, just to clarify, if this hose was factory installed, got to blame management, as the laborers where only following demands made upon them by the "management team". either way i'm glad you discovered this problem, corrected it and shared with c-brats.
best regards
pat
 
patrick and linda":28ofg4tl said:
hi brian,
sorry to hear about this issue, just to clarify, if this hose was factory installed, got to blame management, as the laborers where only following demands made upon them by the "management team". either way i'm glad you discovered this problem, corrected it and shared with c-brats.
best regards
pat
Click to expand...

Yes, I do blame management, but somehow I don't see a manager or supervisor telling a worker to install water hose on a fuel tank. Anything is possible of course but I do think that the guy cutting a piece of hose that clearly says "water" on it and pushing it onto a fuel tank fitting should have had second thoughts and not installed it. Of course maybe he never had a first thought.

Maybe my assumption that a manager would have more knowledge and a greater sense of responsibility is wrong, but my best guess is that this mistake happened because of ignorance, carelessness or both.

My opinions are coming from managing an automotive business for 34 years where I know there are opportunities 100 times a day for an employee to put a customer in danger. They keep them safe because they are ethical, responsible and knowledgeable people.
 
HI BRIAN,
can't disagree with what you say. in boating nothing surprises me. i was having work done on my boat and while the workers were taking a break i thought i'd check out compartments that were now exposed for a look see. found a multi voltage tester dropped behind a wall that could have only been left behind at the factory. found plenty of screws lying about as well as wire ties.
what you're talking about is totally different, i guess it is possible for a worker to pick up the wrong hose and not know it or perhaps didn't care,
doesn't say much for quality control and/or loss control, as a safe guard or back up.
maybe one problem is wages received by the workers building boats. if you or i did the work no one could afford to buy the boat because you and i would demand higher wages.
hey, the good that came from this is that you discovered the problem and corrected it.
best regards
pat
 
Just checked mine. They say: "MPI PREMIUM MARINE FUEL SAE J1527 US COAST GUARD..." can't read anymore....but at least they are FUEL hose. And I checked BOTH vent lines.
 
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