Fuel transfer manifold

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Poach

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2013
Messages
234
Location
United States
Vessel Name
Poach
Vessel Make
Sabreline Trawler
How do others set their fuel transfer valves when underway?
 
The valves on only one tank of four are open. The valves for the fuel polisher (transfer also) and the sight gauge are closed.
 
2 tanks, each with its own supply and return valve. Fuel transfer line that has a valve at each tank.

As Marty said, we leave the fuel transfer valves and the sight tube valves closed except when using them. Normally, I will have the suppky and return valves for one tank open and the valves for the other tank closed. Occasionally, I will have the Stb supply line and th port return line open while running if I need to move fuel to the port tank. This is risky however because I could forget about it and drain the Stb and overfill the port if I'm not careful.
 
Every other day, port to engine/return line to port tank and the next day starboard to engine/return line to starboard.

Of course I did discover my engine requires that pink stuff. Clear does not make her go. The starboard tank was a water tank and I thought I had all the water out. To my chagrin that was not so.

From stall to back underway took five minutes. Three of those were in raising the stop anchor. It's really quite simple and I do not have to bleed Betsy. The electronic fuel pump does it for me.

Life is sweet.

On Betsy once the injectors are full as I understand it the fuel simply runs through and back to the tank via the fuel return line. All I know for certain is I do not have to bleed the engine and that's WONDERFUL.

Not all engines have this capacity.

I still get diesel on my nails when I open the petcock at the bottom of the Racor500 and wish that were not so. It would be great to be able to drain the bowl by opening a valve. My pump will refill the Racor bowl with fuel.

Side Note: I placed the electronic fuel pump (one of those Mr. Gasket brand units found at the auto parts stores for $60) before the Racor. That way it can fill the bowl without priming. I do not need to "protect" the pump and felt this was a better way to set it up.
 
Someone please explain why you would only use one tank at a time. I have 2 tanks of 330 g each and leave them both feeding the engines all the time. I return to both tanks as well. I leave the crossover line open as well. I do shut off the fuel lines to the polisher. Am I doing something wrong?
 
Use the same tank to fuel the engine and returning any excess fuel to the same tank. Have to choose among four tanks. Normally return to the originating tank to avoid over-flowing another tank. Not like there may be reason to transfer fuel to a not-full tank.
 
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Hmason, I'm with you and in fact I leave auto fuel polisher on as well -it runs 2 hours a day. 325 gallons each tank and they draw down equally. Keeps things balanced as well. Never a fuel problem knock on wood .
 
kelbylinn said:
Hmason, I'm with you and in fact I leave auto fuel polisher on as well -it runs 2 hours a day. 325 gallons each tank and they draw down equally. Keeps things balanced as well. Never a fuel problem knock on wood .
Click to expand...

Glad I'm not alone. Since I fill both tanks at the same time, the odds are bad fuel, if present will be in both tanks.
 
Have disengaged my fuel polisher. Use its pump to transfer fuel among tanks and to prime engine when needed.
 
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During refit and tank replacement I split 1/3 off the tanks outboard of the engines to create port and starboard day tanks of 385 liters each. Those tanks can only be filled via the fuel polisher, they do not have any deck fills.

There are cross-overs that I can open between the day tanks and adjoining tanks, and also cross-over from port to starboard, but these are normally closed The aft tanks have a cross-over between them that I normally leave open.

I have fuel manifolds for supply and return to all 6 tanks. I can draw from any one tank and return to any tank. Normal use is to run from, and return to, the day tanks only.

My sight gauges have valves top and bottom which have flow restriction that operates in the event of a tube failure, so I don't turn the valves off.
 
Howard:
I too leave it all open. That way the boat stays in trim no matter what.
When I bought this boat, there are 4 water tanks, set up with crossovers and sight gauges. The broker spent a lot of time extolling the virtues of the system, ignoring the fuel systems. First time I had to go find which tank to close, which to open, I opened all of the valves. I haven't looked at them since. There is simply no need. When I jump into bed, if I hear the tank below my mattress oil canning,( the lowest in the boat) I know it is no longer full, so at the next opportunity, I take on water, filling all 4.
I always take on fuel in both tanks, and I always fill right up. I know I need fuel if I have more than 100 hours on the clock since my last refuel. At 4 gph, average consumption, I will still have lots in reserve.
 
I think it's near impossible to make any comparisons without knowing a boat's complete fuel system design. What you do on one boat may have no bearing on another because the fuel system is set up differently. I think this is the source of Hmason's confusion. I ran my Grand Banks like he does, but it's meaningless when looking at how I run my current boat.
 
janice142 said:
I still get diesel on my nails when I open the petcock at the bottom of the Racor500 and wish that were not so. It would be great to be able to drain the bowl by opening a valve. My pump will refill the Racor bowl with fuel.
Click to expand...
Which Racor do you have? You may be able to buy the fitting for the bottom of the bowl that is tapped 1/4" FPT. Both my 1000s and my 500 have those fittings. Believe they come that way if the bowl has the metal shield.

Ted
 
I only draw and return to the starboard tank. Fuel polishing and transfer use different plumbing. Burn about 16 gallons per day (8 hours) cruising, so only transfer fuel every 3 days or so. Prefer not to fill both tanks when fueling in case of bad fuel. Fill the port tank; polish to the starboard. Close all transfer valves when not in use. Usually fill the port tank when both tanks get below half and can be all transferred to starboard.

Ted
 
We draw from both tanks while cruising. I keep the sight gauge valves open. I keep the feed valves to the polisher from each tank closed while cruising. Really the only times I isolate tanks is for polishing and fueling.
 
I have four tanks for the two engines and genny. The tanks are connected by big 2" transfer pipes at the bottom of the tanks. Only the two outboard tanks have deck fills and the inboard tanks are filled from the outboard tanks through the transfer pipes.

I will normally isolate the tanks and draw and return from the inboard tanks.

Every few days I will need to level-out the tanks as the genny only draws from one of the tanks. Levelling is very quick as the transfer pipe is large.

Every few weeks I will transfer some fuel from the "spare" outboard tanks to the "active" inboard tanks.

This is more work than leaving everything open but I believe it provides some protection against contamination. As only the outboard tanks have deck fills, the inboard tanks fill, by gravity, through the transfer pipes. As such, I understand water and crap will tend to pushed to the inboard tanks leaving the outboard tanks possibly cleaner. In case contamination is detected, I can switch to the outboard tank until the dirty inboard tank is dealt with. That's the theory anyway.
 
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O C Diver said:
Which Racor do you have? You may be able to buy the fitting for the bottom of the bowl that is tapped 1/4" FPT. Both my 1000s and my 500 have those fittings. Believe they come that way if the bowl has the metal shield.
Click to expand...

That would be great Ted. My Racor500 does not have the metal bowl. It has that plastic turn gizmo thingy at the bottom. Pain in the posterior and I swear the next time I open it I'll write on the assembly which way to turn.

In stressful situations (like the darn boat stopping for instance) I kept opening when I intended to close the thing. Easily remedied however an arrow would be smarter for me.

I like labels, even on the Obvious stuff.

I noted the 1/4" NPT sizing. This is not a front burner project however it is a wish list item for certain. And hopefully I've got all the water out of the starboard tank though I'm not counting on that.

This morning I ran the polishing system for a while -- nothing. I need weight aft in the starboard corner (where the pickup point is) so that's on the To Do list.

Thanks to you (and Steve's link) I know what's required. Now I need to see if it will fit with my setup.

Thanks again!
 
I would like to get ours set up to one location . We have 5 tanks . One is direct to genny only . I only put fuel in one tank that is stand alone and plumbed only to the fuel polisher . I transfer and polish from this tank to other four . It's a lot of valves and at first it was confusing but have it worked out now . But everything in a central location with nice manifold would be sweet .
 
janice142 said:
In stressful situations (like the darn boat stopping for instance) I kept opening when I intended to close the thing. Easily remedied however an arrow would be smarter for me.

I like labels, even on the Obvious stuff.
Click to expand...

Not a bad idea. I like labels as well. For example, on every thru hull valve, I draw an arrow on the hull with a Sharpee showing which way to turn the valve to close it.
 
A couple weeks ago I had to go in the hospital for some heart surgery . I knew we were going to be away from the boat a few days so we shut off all thru hulls . We are usually at the boat almost everyday . When we went back to the boat after being away we noticed the power was off at the marina . The first thing I thought of was starting the genny and getting everything charged back up. Well you guessed it I totally ignored my big fat sign saying
"OPEN THRU HULLS FIRST " and fired up the genny . It didn't sound so good so I shut it off quick . Then saw my note on the dash :facepalm: . There was no need in getting in such a hurry . Luckily I didn't toast the impeller .
 
Pack Mule said:
"OPEN THRU HULLS FIRST " and fired up the genny . It didn't sound so good so I shut it off quick . Then saw my note on the dash :facepalm: . There was no need in getting in such a hurry . Luckily I didn't toast the impeller .
Click to expand...

Been there, done that on two occasions. The first was the raw water feed for my engine on my Catalina 36. I didn't realize it until the high temp alarm went off. :facepalm:

Second time was on my genset on my new boat after changing the impeller. I had close the thru hull to do the change but forgot to open it again. Genny ran for about 15 seconds before I shut it down.

Great way to feel stupid. :cry:
 
Regarding labeling, all our fuel transfer valves have two labels. One printed normally, and one printed vertically. This way which ever way the valve is set, the label tells you in words printed "right side up"
 
No Mast said:
Regarding labeling, all our fuel transfer valves have two labels. One printed normally, and one printed vertically. This way which ever way the valve is set, the label tells you in words printed "right side up"
Click to expand...

My fuel valve manifold is below a set of dual Racor filters. These are located low on the back ER wall and can easily be reached when the hatch is opened, even without getting down into the ER. However, they can NOT be easily seen. They are labeled, but to see the labels I have to contort to try and see them, then the labels are too close to be seen clearly with my old eyes.

I ended up putting labels on the plate between the Racors. That way I can change the valves by touch without having to actually look at them.
index.php

index.php
 
Howard,

We have the same setup.

Bob

hmason said:
Glad I'm not alone. Since I fill both tanks at the same time, the odds are bad fuel, if present will be in both tanks.
Click to expand...
 
hmason said:
Glad I'm not alone. Since I fill both tanks at the same time, the odds are bad fuel, if present will be in both tanks.
Click to expand...

And most importantly, that works for you and your boat.

I usually like to know exactly what tank it's feeding from and returning to, but sometimes I do feed from both tanks.

My issue is that the return is not equal, as it favors the port tank.

Often I leave both returns open, just to equalize the tanks as needed.
Sometimes I polish fuel at the same time, sometimes I don't.

Pretty much any combo works as long as one feed and return are open.

I've tried running with no feed open, but it doesn't last for long.:eek:
 
When I shut off all the valves (summer storage) I use blue painters tape and tape over the start button on the engines and the start switch on the generator. Using a sharpie I mark "off" on the tape. So far this had reminded me to open the valves, but then so far I have remembered to open the valves first, then remove the tape.
 
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