Fuel Vent Weeping

Mike Doman

New Member
Jun 4, 2018
2
Boat Info
1998 Sea Ray 440 Express Bridge
Engines
Twin Caterpillar 3126
Just looking for a show of hands of how many members have fuel weeping/leaking through fuel tank vents when fueling. My 440EB weeps quite a bit whenever I fuel up. Mostly this is caused by newer diesel pumps that have larger nozzles and larger hoses and pump at a high rate. Found a solution but wanted to see how common of a problem this is with other yacht owners.
 
Many have talked about it on here and it appears to be pretty common. Some said to listen for the gurgling as that means it is getting close to full. Please share your solution.
 
Not really a problem here. Only put in $5 at a time.
 

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We've experienced this even though I stop fueling as soon as I hear the gurgling sound.
 
The trick is to not overfill. I believe it leaks based on your last fill up. If you get fuel in the vent lines from your last fill up it will bleed out from the pressure of your next fill. Our boat came with an attachment that goes over the vent when filling up and it’s the one thing I can’t find since ow ing the boat. I’m sure I’ll find it when we sell the boat.
 
Yes, have experienced that on my new boat. I get drops of fuel blowing off the vent. Seems to be directly related to the flow rate of the fuel entering the tank, regardless of how full it is. Solved by slowing the fill rate.

Capt Rusty noticed the fuel blowing out when we were filling in Annapolis, and remarked that this seems to happen more with short hose runs between the deck fill and the tank. I know my run is pretty short.
 
Just looking for a show of hands of how many members have fuel weeping/leaking through fuel tank vents when fueling. My 440EB weeps quite a bit whenever I fuel up. Mostly this is caused by newer diesel pumps that have larger nozzles and larger hoses and pump at a high rate. Found a solution but wanted to see how common of a problem this is with other yacht owners.
Yes it is an issue. I would be interested in your solution. Thanks
 
Just looking for a show of hands of how many members have fuel weeping/leaking through fuel tank vents when fueling. My 440EB weeps quite a bit whenever I fuel up. Mostly this is caused by newer diesel pumps that have larger nozzles and larger hoses and pump at a high rate. Found a solution but wanted to see how common of a problem this is with other yacht owners.
Yes, it is a problem on my 99 Sundancer 380 DA. Sometimes it starts when I first begin to refuel, and of course towards the end when I am listening for the gurgle. I would also be interested in your solution.
 
If the vent line is weeping during normal filling, I would think that there is a low spot in the vent line. Think of it like a P-trap in a household drain line. The escaping air, pushed out from the filling process, picks up droplets of fuel caught in the trap. I'd make sure that there aren't any low spots in the vent line.

Jaybeaux
 

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