Switching to the other tank during travel

C

capt. meares

New member
I have the original two gas tanks that came with my boat along with the original fuel selector switch. I have not traveled far enough to need to use more than one tank since I have had the boat, but that will soon change. when I do want to change over to the other tank which has sat empty for a year and just got filled up, I expect there will be air in the line, and I need to bleed it. Will it be so simple as to just turning the switch and no need to do anything? What is the best methodical way to do this? What other things should I be aware of?

Thank you
 
I can not speak for any air in the system, I have not come across that. When I am underway and want to switch tanks, I use the fuel tank selector switch and pump the bulb to make sure gas is reaching the engine. Never had a problem.

Martin.
 
How are your primer bulbs set up? I have a bulb on the line from the tanks to my selector, with a filter in between, and then I have my selector go to a bulb, followed by a water separating filter.

You should be able to get the air out using your primer bulbs. Squeeze until just firm.

You can pull the fuel line from your engine and it will continue to run for a time. Most engines have plenty of fuel in the carburetor to deal with the small amount of air that is in the line, especially if you have primed the lines properly.

I generally switch my tanks while underway, and do so with a variety of boats. I have seen advice that the engine should be stopped when tanks are switched, but have never understood exactly why this is necessary, nor suffered any ill effects from doing so.
 
Same for us. Never had any trouble just flipping the switch under way. Give the bulb a few squeezes after the switch for good measure. Greg
 
capt. meares":12xl69xi said:
I just have one primer bulb between the tanks and the motor. I will try switching over in my driveway to make sure there will be no problems.
Click to expand...

If you are doing the switching in the driveway, be sure you have water running to the OB's.

YOU already knew that though, right. :oops:

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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capt. meares":18cj5luk said:
I just have one primer bulb between the tanks and the motor. I will try switching over in my driveway to make sure there will be no problems.
Click to expand...

have you looked down between your tanks and lazarette for another bulb? I assumed that I only had my one filter/bulb topside until I was not getting fuel to my filter. I chased my fuel lines down to the tanks and was surprised to find a racor filter under there, as well as another bulb that primed my upper filter.

I can't say I love the setup though. I'm not sure why I need two filters, nor why I'd need them separated so with primer bulbs between them. It's not the simplest system and I have been underway and lost fuel prime and had to pump the bulb to restore prime. It's never happened during a particularly inconvenient time, but there are definitely times I would not want to deal with that, and am considering removing the additional racor and bulb.
 
I have two tanks, one filter, and one bulb. The filter and the bulb are after the selector.

When running low and the engine starts to skip, I just switch to the other tank and the engine continues to run, no squeezing involved. If I don't switch fast enough and the engine dies, it just takes a few cranks on the new tank to get it going again.
 
Some things to consider, mechanical fuel pump V/S electric and carbs V/S fuel injection. I would prime the line from the tank that hasn't been used before heading out. I would not recommend running the first tank dry especially if water is rough. I would switch when down to about a quarter tank. 27 year old tanks could have some crud that a rough ride would stir up and maybe leave you in a bad spot.

Regards, Rob
 
IMO, The fuel pickups are at the bottom of the tank. Any crud that is kicked up by rough water will probably get sucked up whether the tank is full full or 1/4 full.

The only difference might be if you hit rough water when the tank is already low, then the ratio of crud to fuel might be higher.

Of course, this is a reason to use the boat more to keep the crud from accumulating in the tanks by running them out on a regular basis.
 
One of the first projects on the boat were removing the tanks to inspect all the screw s in the floor. When doing this I cleaned them, so I am not worried about crud in the tank, and I also was able to determine there aren't any other primer bulbs.
 
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