fuel vent problem

[Russell]

Has anyone had a problem with fuel coming out of the vent during refueling? This happens only on the port side vent and is a nuisance to soak it up. My guess is some fuel gets out into the vent line at some point and then the pressure of the filling fuel forces it up and out the vent. Is there supposed to be something in the line to prevent this? Thanks.

[tbnolin]

Yep, sure do. I start off filling at a fast flow and then back it down when I feel like she's getting to the top. If I don't, diesel will come spewing out the vent. And I believe it is the port side. I think you just have to go slow and easy towards the end to minimize the overflow. Good luck

[Sea Story]

Several years ago on our 28 TE, I got tired of fighting this problem. Our vent is on the starboard side. I disconnected the hose to the deck vent and routed it to a plastic catch container inside the cockpit between the toe rail and the boat side. I use a Kraft plastic container about 2" in width with a oversize hole in the top for the vent hose. That way any over flow goes into the container and I can add it to the tank instead of the surrounding water. I usually replace the container about once a year when it deteriorates from the weather. - Howard

[Russell]

Thanks for your comments. I think the vent hose is not installed correctly. It should go straight up to the vent. Instead the hose sags down into the bilge and fuel collects there. As soon as I start to fill the tank it blows this fuel out the vent. I almost never fill the tank so the fuel must splash out when the boat rocks side to side. I am not sure why this never happens on the starboard vent which seems to share the same configuration.

[DougSea]

I had this same problem on both my 28 and an older center console. Shortening the vent lines so they were more "upright" really helped.

The container idea above sounds pretty cool, and, if you have a problem of fuel backing up the fill pipe here's an option from Vetus:

http://www.vetus-shop.com/vetus-fsa-fue ... -1778.html