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Old 03-20-2020, 07:48 AM   #21
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Originally Posted by OldDan1943 View Post
I also purchased and donated an airplane instrument hood. The school likes to teach the students to believe in their compass and the electronic chart plotter.
Of course, there would also be a spotter to tell the helmsman correction, when in the confined quarters of a single lane bridge and the cribbing..
A word of advice, after you have the compass calibrated.... if you still do not believe your compass, throw the compass over the side. You doubt it once and you will never believe it when desperately need.

Very good points. Instruments are useless if you don't know how to trust them. Personally, I consider the compass strictly as a backup with current tech. I rely on the COG line and COG heading indication on the plotter far more than the compass, as I typically care more about what direction I'm moving rather than what direction I'm facing. Of course, a cross check to the compass and the laptop (with independent GPS) happens as well just to make sure I'm not being fed bad info.
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Old 03-20-2020, 08:01 AM   #22
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I love my replacement poly tanks.

I can see the level at any state of running or filling.
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Old 03-20-2020, 08:06 AM   #23
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We have two 150 gal tanks on each side. The side tanks are connected by a 5/8" valved line, and the port and starboard pairs are connected also. There is only one sight tube per side, on the forward tank on each side. Like above, one inch is 5 gal per tank, so I sit in the ER (with our Ear-Tek headphones), close the connecting valves, and watch the site gauge til almost full, then tell my wife to put the exact same # gal in the other side tank. Repeat on other side. Would love to raise the vents above the fills, but not really possible on our boat.
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Old 03-20-2020, 10:28 AM   #24
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We had the whistle in the vent line on our last boat and it worked great, as long as you stopped filling the second it changed pitch.

Even a 2 or 3 second delay and you would get fuel coming out of it, though.
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Old 03-20-2020, 11:35 AM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldersalt View Post
Is there any reason the tanks have to be completely full?

Fueling on our boat (GB 32) is a two-person job. The admiral runs the fuel hose while I sit in the engine room watching the sight glass. At about 90 or 95%, I yell at her to stop fueling. I have no problem with not filling the tank to the very top. Never had any problems with condensation or unusual growth in the tank because the tanks are not completely full, though I usually toss in some biocide for good luck.
Oldersalt
^ this!

We only run our fuel down to 10% to 20% anyway. If you’re cutting it that close, you need larger tanks .
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Old 03-23-2020, 02:52 PM   #26
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On my Mainship 390, I close the crossover in the bilge, then top each tank using the no-spill with suction cups (pictured in a post above) over the vents. FloScan gives me a good idea how much will be needed. I listen carefully, the change in sound is distinctive, but it's still easy to get a burp at the fill if I'm not careful enough. Open the cross-over, reset the FloScan and I'm on my way.
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Old 03-23-2020, 03:18 PM   #27
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And, if all the above tips are observed and you still spill a bit of fuel, keep a good quality pump-action spray bottle handy, filled with 50/50 water and liquid Dawn or another good grease-eating detergent, and spray it on the spill. The sheen magically disappears. Well, maybe not if you spill a gallon.
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Old 03-23-2020, 03:45 PM   #28
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When the nozzle is inserted the fluid does not allow air to escape fast enough. One day I will try to find an old piece of hose that fits into the fill hole and a tight fit on the nozzle. An extender. The thought is if the end of hose is well below top of tank air can get out as fast as fuel is going in and yes you listen for the sound of filling or watch for fluid to come up.
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Old 03-23-2020, 09:19 PM   #29
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My two tanks voice a load whistle while filling from the vents. As some others have said, as long as you instantly stop fueling when the whistle changes pitch I have no spills.

As for the advice on the spray bottle of dish soap, yes it works well at dispersing the visual aspect of the diesel spill. It does this by sinking it to the bottom. Making the spill actually more detrimental to the environment as diesel quickly evaporates much of the spill relatively quickly if left on the surface of the water.

In Canada, if DFO (fish cops) or the Coast Guard see you spraying soap on a diesel spill you will get fined for the soap as well as the diesel.
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Old 03-23-2020, 11:04 PM   #30
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In USA you will also get fined.
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Old 03-24-2020, 01:15 AM   #31
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When I replaced my tanks I made sure the fuel inlet was slightly lower than the vent outlet. Problem solved. Now there is never any overflow out the vent. The fill pipe riser always fills up first , shutting off the flow.
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Old 03-24-2020, 06:03 AM   #32
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Put fuel in slower
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Old 03-24-2020, 08:15 PM   #33
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Somebody asked "Why does one need to fill their tanks all the way up?"......because the world is *&^%*&^%*&^%(&^% ENDING!!!!! Come on man. Get with the program. We will be trading rolls of toilet paper for gallons of diesel in no time!!!....

When my tanks gurgle or change pitch, it is already too late. But it is only a little bit coming out of the vent and it is fairly easy to access.
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