Fw: TWL: fuel tank levels
Subject: Fw: TWL: fuel tank levels
From: Andy Clark (slowboat@XXX.XXX)
Date: Mon Mar 04 2002 - 23:24:49 EST
Hi, Bill. I thought of doing it the way you suggested to correct a
similar, but port heaviness on our boat. I decided, however, that the fuel
shut-off valves were just too awkward to get at on a regular basis, except
in an adrenalin-generating emergency.
What I did was install swing valves in the lines from each tank to
the manifold (fuel comes from fittings in the bottoms of the tanks). This
prevents any cross-flow of fuel between the
tanks and incidentally makes fuelling easier since you don't have fuel
flowing from the full tank to the lower tank while you're trying to fill
the
lower tank. It also prevents burping of fuel from the full tank's vent on
the low side of the boat when filling the tank on the high side.
If you're not familiar with them, these valves have no springs, so
there's no appreciable resistance to fuel flow. They have a top-hinged disc
that swings down onto a machined face under the influence of back-flow or
gravity,. The gravity aspect is useful when the tanks are full and the boat
develops a list (crosswind. heavy crew <G>) so that fuel does not flow from
the hi tank to the lo, overfill the low-side tank and burp out the vent.
It's important, therefore, to install them in the correct flow orientation,
and with the swing hinge at the top
Andy Clark
ANTARES
CHB 34
Homeport, Everett Washington
------------------
>
> From: Bill Martin
>
> For what it's worth, my tanks are rarely at the same levels Dan. The boat
> is a little heavy to the starboard side. Because of this, and because I
> feel it's just generally good practice, I keep the two tanks isolated and
> burn fuel from one or the other depending on trim that day. My starboard
> tank is generally kept somewhat lower than the port to maintain proper
trim.
>
> Bill
>
