Storage of small amount of diesel fuel

[Sea Hunt Video]

In my efforts to be more "intimate" with my beautiful 1982 Yanmar 1GM diesel I installed an additional Racor fuel filter as the "primary" with the fuel filter attached to the engine now being the "secondary" filter.

If I accidentally run out of fuel and have to refill the tank from empty, I will also have to bleed the fuel lines, injector, filters, etc. I seem to recall someone telling me that I should keep on board a small amount of diesel fuel in a separate container. This small amount of fuel would be used to add to the clear plastic Racor filter bowel and the Yanmar fuel filter on the engine as part of the "bleeding the lines" process.

Assuming I have this right (many of you are painfully aware of my track record ), is there any particular kind of container that I should use (or avoid)

I am thinking of just getting a small plastic water bottle and storing the diesel fuel in it.

Thoughts

[Markst95]

Robert, what about a hikers Coleman fuel bottle? Holds about a quart, made of aluminum. Or at least a Sigg aluminum water bottle. Should cost less than $15 for either.

[Joe Myerson]

Hi Robert,

Last season I purchased two small (2 1/2- to 3-gallon) red plastic CARB (Calif. Air Resources Board) compliant gasoline cans. I put yellow safety tape around each can and wrote "DIESEL" on the tape.

These cans are small enough to carry on board a 25D, and easy to handle. And I found that I could pour their contents into my filler cap (located on the aft deck) through a slit in an engine "diaper" without spilling a drop.

It's a great way to carry almost a half tank of fuel, should you decide to take your new love on a long cruise.

Best of luck with your boat!

--Joe

[S/V Necessity]

MSR sells several sizes of fuel bottles (I think it is actually made by sigg) I would use a a bottle specifically made for storing fuel, as opposed to one made for drinking. I beleive the coatings on the inside of the bottle are different, and the cap and o-ring may be also. MSR makes atleast two stoves that can burn diesel, so their bottles should be up to the task.

[Ken Cave]

I carry a number of 2 and half gallon containers on board when traveling, however, when I change my filters, I also carry a meat baster and fill up the filters to the top with diesel before installing them. As a result I have never had to bleed the lines or the injectors on my engine.

Add a baster to your supplies. You will not be sorry.

Ken Cave
CD 28 Dragon Tale
LaConner, WA

[Jim Davis]

I try to have my primary filter(s) below the level of the fuel in the tank(s). This requires a shut off near the filter, but lets the filter refill by gravity and therefore no problem with bleeding.

Filter Change:
Turn the fuel off
Drain the filter
Replace the element
Open the bleed valve (plug)
Turn on the fuel
Close the bleed when the filter is full

Note the above can easily be done underway if needed, and if there is water in the fuel it will be. I can also just drain water from the filter without any complication by leaving the fuel valve open and opening the drain. A small coffee can catch the water/crud.

[Maine_Buzzard]

You might have a primer pump on your diesel filter too. If there is a small bleeder screw and a larger (1") thumbscrew in the center, open it up when you change the filter.

On my Racor, you can unscrew that and pump it a few million times to pull a head from the tank and then let it gravity flow until the bleeder fills in.

+1 on the MSR fuel bottles- mine are probably 10 years old and indestructible. I do agree that marking fuel/ petrol containers is paramount... Too many things look alike these days.

[Jim Davis]

That is probably one of the most insidious devices ever perpetrated on the modern mariner. The full and proper description is probably banned in family conversation. A outboard squeeze bulb before the filter works much better and has the extra benefit of allowing you to push fuel all the way through the system to bleed it.

[Sea Hunt Video]

Thanks very much for all of the responses.

In the short term I am probably going to go with a SIGG fuel container.

S/V Necessity:

When I first read your post and saw "MSR" and "SIGG" I thought you were referencing a MilSpec Sniper Rifle made by Sig Sauer.

Geez, sometimes I am really not living in the "now and present".

Maine Buzzard:

My Racor fuel filter does not have a separate fuel pump (at least I do not think it does ). The only "pump" is the one on the Yanmar 1GM itself.

[Kevin Kaldenbach]

I keep a quart of AFT to prime my fuel system. It works great in the transmission also.

[RC James]

Robert/Sea Hunt- have been following your posts for a number of years, and will make the following recommendations:

The fuel tank capacity of the 25D is approx 11 gals (memory only- not guaranteed accurate), and the fuel consumption at approx 2000 RPMS is 1/10 gal per hour. This will give you more cruising range and time under power than your boat can hold vittles and your holding tank can contain stuff (unless you subscribe to the 5-Gal-bucket-brigade/Over-the-side-she-goes school).

Now, I'm not quite sure if you or the previous owner have/had made any upgrades to the insulation ability of the rather-less-than-stellar cool-keeping ability of the top-loading reefer..... ;-}-- but there is nothing more lousy than a Totally Warm Guinness....... and that can contribute to the full holding tank syndrome---Dragging them over the side in a net bag is an acceptable way of keeping them cool and extending your cruising range.........

My common practice is to keep the fuel tank at least half full.
A 2 1-2 gallon plastic fuel tank will give you an extra 25 hours of cruise time.....(Neil, that's assuming that my arithmetic is correct),, and Robert, you should be in the Bahamas by that time!!

On a personal note, I did venture out w/ 1/4 tank of fuel on a really choppy windy day....and encountered the DREADED AIR starvation to the engine. Had occasion to become intimately involved w/ the bleeding of the engine over the next month and a half. Good sound at idle, but serious fuel-starvation at higher speeds. I finally read the manual, and loosened EVERY fixture serially downline....... Will NEVER let the fuel tank get to less than 1/2 full again!

And, Sea-Hunt, I do carry a small 2 1/2 gallon container of diesel fuel with me in the standard Red Fuel Can...... available at all K-mart/Walmar/Target stores as a backup. And if I ever get the tank below 3/8 capacity... in goes the extra fuel.

On a side note, are you in the water yet, and under sail? You've got a great boat and will have no problem with it under sail. This model just seems to want to take care of it's owners. RC

[Joe Myerson]

You've got a great boat and will have no problem with it under sail. This model just seems to want to take care of it's owners. RC

Amen to that!

[Larry DeMers]

The primer bulb must be on the vacuum side of the racor. They are not intended to have fuel forced through, but rather it must be drawn through.
I would not leave that device permanently in series with the fuel line either. The danger if the bulb should melt or get cut open is far too large. I cannot imagine the CG passing it in an inspection.

Instead, use valving and a 12vdc diesel truck type fuel pump to do both priming and fuel scrubbing. Works very well.

Larry

That is probably one of the most insidious devices ever perpetrated on the modern mariner. The full and proper description is probably banned in family conversation. A outboard squeeze bulb before the filter works much better and has the extra benefit of allowing you to push fuel all the way through the system to bleed it.

[Sea Hunt Video]

RC James:

Thanks for the additional information and advise. I bought a 5 gallon yellow diesel container and a "gravity feed hose" (not sure of the real name for it) that several on this board recommended for filling onboard fuel tank from diesel can. I have not yet tried it out.

I wanted to get a small (quart or less) size container just to use to fill the bottom of the Racor filter when bleeding the fuel lines - assuming I have emptied the onboard tank and thus suctioned out all the fuel from the clear bottom of the Racor filter.

I looked again yesterday. I do NOT have any type of primer bulb on the Racor filter I installed - again, at least not that I can see.

While I very much appreciate your thoughts on preserving Guinness in its properly "chilled state" I must disagree with you about your statement that "there is nothing more lousy than totally warm Guinness." While warm Guinness is to be avoided if at all possible (regardless of what are Irish and British friends say ) warm Guinness is better than no Guinness at all. No Guinness would really be lousy.

S/V Bali Ha'i was put in the water on 14 November. She is on her mooring at the local sailing club.

[Steve Laume]

Isn't the entire fuel system, up to the pump, on the vacuum side of the system?

I keep one of those fuel bulbs with some hose on it for various uses aboard Raven. They never seem to last that long and I don't think I would want one in my primary fuel system. It would definitely become the weakest link in the system.

Bleeding the fuel system has always been easier than I was led to believe. The universal has an electric fuel pump and that might help the situation, Steve.