Fuel Whistle?

[shortroyd]

I always refuel on the water, and every time as the tank gets to full, there is some kind of overflow causing spillage down the side of the boat and usually either onto the dock, into the water or down my leg. Worse if there are passing boats causing wake when refueling and the boat is rocking.

Has anyone installed something like this?

Barton Fuel Whistle

Would it be compatible with the breather lines of our boats?

 

[Texjet]

Never saw anything like that. It definitely would be nice to have some warning before the fuel burp from the overflow. Sometimes I can hear the overflow start to gurgle, but not always in time.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I always refuel on the water, and every time as the tank gets to full, there is some kind of overflow causing spillage down the side of the boat and usually either onto the dock, into the water or down my leg. Worse if there are passing boats causing wake when refueling and the boat is rocking.

Has anyone installed something like this?

Barton Fuel Whistle

Would it be compatible with the breather lines of our boats?

Where is the fuel coming out of? The main fill or the vent? I’ve not read a post on here that I can remember where people had fuel splashing out like you describe, usually it’s that fuel handle keeps clicking off and filling the tank takes a long time.

 

[drewkaree]

Haven't tried it, but for that price, I would consider something like this instead:

Portable Power Water/Fuel Transfer Battery Pump

I personally own 2 of those pumps. I don't use either for fuel, but water and anti-freeze both stop the pump when they trip the sensor/wire in the pump. They're fairly sensitive as well, if I'm not paying attention when pumping out into a bucket, if there's some splash that goes back up the nozzle, it shuts off the pump and starts beeping to alert me to the shutoff. I'm sure the side "wings" can be trimmed off, but I don't know if that would work when pushing the nozzle further into the filler tube.

*edit* noticed the current price. BC (before Covid), I paid less than that for BOTH of mine. Dunno if someone has a more economical solution, but if I were in your shoes, I'd still consider the pumps - as it is, I'm thankful I got them for the price I paid.

 

[shortroyd]

Where is the fuel coming out of? The main fill or the vent?

It’s always out of the main fill. I once filled it up on a trailer at a petrol station and it was like you described - clicked off a bit early. But the 5 times I have filled it on the water at a dock (3 different docks) it has spilled out at the end. Wonder if it is a difference in how the auto shutoff things work, or simply the boat rocking, or maybe gravity (the boat in water sits a lot lower than the pump, whereas on my trailer it was really high?)

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

It’s always out of the main fill. I once filled it up on a trailer at a petrol station and it was like you described - clicked off a bit early. But the 5 times I have filled it on the water at a dock (3 different docks) it has spilled out at the end. Wonder if it is a difference in how the auto shutoff things work, or simply the boat rocking, or maybe gravity (the boat in water sits a lot lower than the pump, whereas on my trailer it was really high?)

That still sounds a bit odd to me based on the different fueling issues people have reported here in the past.

So to be sure we are on the same page;
1-when you fill the boat up the fuel goes in without the handle clicking off all the way until full?
2- when you fill the boat up does the fuel handle click off unless you fill it at a reduced pace?
3-Does the fuel splash out just as the handle clicks off, or is there a pause after handle clicks off before the fuel comes out?
4-Are you the one filling the boat each time or is it another person?
5-Has the person filling the tank tried to get as much fuel as possible in the tank? What we yanks call topping off.

On your connext screen, on one of the pages there is a fuel used read out, on every boat that I have read about his fuel used indicator is very accurate, in my case to one tenth 1/10th of a gallon, .38 liters. This what I use to know how much fuel should go into the tank. There has been several people, mainly those with the 40 gallon / 151.4 liters who have had issues with their main graphical fuel gauge not coming off full evenly, jumping down to half or 3/4 of a tank from full as the fuel level is drawn down. Perhaps you can reset this fuel used metering tab after a full fill up and then check this readout before getting fuel so you will know when the tank is nearing full to help prevent spillage.

In reference to the questions I asked above, to me, it sounds like there is trapped air in the tank, and when the tank gets full, the tank burps out this air and in the process pushes some fuel out with it. This also makes me think that there could be a venting issue, the fuel tank vent flows through a carbon canister, and topping off the tank can put liquid fuel into this canister effectively either blocking the vent or dramatically reducing the flow through it, or in a few cases this canister somehow filled with water. This is where most people have had their fueling issues, but, in those cases the fuel was very hard to get into the tank at anything above a snails pace.

In the main fuel fill line is small spring loaded flapper valve that is inserted in the fuel fill line just above the fuel tank itself. The purpose of this flapper valve is to ensure that all vapors coming out of the tank as it fills passes through the carbon canister to capture the majority of those vapors for emissions reasons. In several cases this flapper valve has gotten turned sideways causing very restrictive fuel filling.

I hope that something I’ve written above will help you trace down why this is happening to you.

 

[shortroyd]

1-when you fill the boat up the fuel goes in without the handle clicking off all the way until full?

Correct

2- when you fill the boat up does the fuel handle click off unless you fill it at a reduced pace?

I seem to be able to fill at full speed without it clicking off

3-Does the fuel splash out just as the handle clicks off, or is there a pause after handle clicks off before the fuel comes out?

The handle clicks off, and then 1 second later the fuel spills out of the fill hole

4-Are you the one filling the boat each time or is it another person?

Yes always me - that may be the problem!

5-Has the person filling the tank tried to get as much fuel as possible in the tank? What we yanks call topping off.

No, no topping off

I think you are right about the vent. The boat was put into a container on its side. Not sure if it would have had some fuel in it, but maybe in the process the vent jammed or the vent tube got squashed? I’ll try checking it myself or get them to inspect it all fully at the 50 hour service.

Great idea using the fuel used measure as a way to ensure I mostly fill without over filling, will try that.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

1-when you fill the boat up the fuel goes in without the handle clicking off all the way until full?

Correct

2- when you fill the boat up does the fuel handle click off unless you fill it at a reduced pace?

I seem to be able to fill at full speed without it clicking off

3-Does the fuel splash out just as the handle clicks off, or is there a pause after handle clicks off before the fuel comes out?

The handle clicks off, and then 1 second later the fuel spills out of the fill hole

4-Are you the one filling the boat each time or is it another person?

Yes always me - that may be the problem!


5-Has the person filling the tank tried to get as much fuel as possible in the tank? What we yanks call topping off.

No, no topping off

I think you are right about the vent. The boat was put into a container on its side. Not sure if it would have had some fuel in it, but maybe in the process the vent jammed or the vent tube got squashed? I’ll try checking it myself or get them to inspect it all fully at the 50 hour service.

Great idea using the fuel used measure as a way to ensure I mostly fill without over filling, will try that.

Okay sounds like there is an air bubble of some sort and the tank burps after it’s full.

Maybe try filling the tank most of the way then stop a few gallons short of full for a few seconds then finish the last few gallons?

From what I’ve read here, Usually the tank won’t fill like it does for you if the vent is restricted…but it is what it is. You can try pulling the outer plug which will expose the screen and try blowing into the vent to see if it is restricted..