[C320-list] Water in fuel

[Jon Vez]

I believe the 'gadget' the Jeff is referring to is the H2O Out product.
There have been several positive reviews on these. They make one for your
fridge (keeps the freezer from icing up) as well as the inline fuel vent
product. I was tempted--however the one downside is that once the dessicant
turns pink, you need to remove it and dry it out via microwave or air
drying. Not sure I want to regularly remove this from the vent line.

I did replace my fuel tank. Although it was due to a leak at a seam, when I
did remove it I took a close look at the tank and found that there are
baffles in the tank--a good thing except when needing to properly clean it.
I'm not sure you can do a thorough cleaning without cutting a proper
inspection port. If your tank is more than 10 years old, it isn't a huge
investment ($400 as I recall) to simply replace. The job itself is fairly
straightforward...hope this helps!



-----Original Message-----
From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
[mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Jeff Hare
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 9:52 AM
To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Water in fuel

There is also a new gadget written up in sail mag recently (or latts and
atts) that is an inline fuel vent desecant canister to absorb the water out
of the air. It doesn't soak up fuel, just water.

I've been considering this.

Also, if your climate changed, you may be in a more humid area or an area
with greater temp swings?  If so, it seems more important to try to keep a
full tank to prevent condensation.  I suspect you are aware of all this
already.

Jon Vez and some others have replaced the fuel tank themselves.  I may be
mistaken, but that didn't seem to be too outrageous of a job and you would
have a fresh system to move forward with.  Do be very careful about not
dropping any screws or metal objects where they could roll up to the fuel
tank.  Salt and dissimilar metals will give you a nice tank leak at some
point.

Good luck!
Jeff



On Jun 25, 2012, at 11:25 AM, Marko Jamnik <mjamnik at markocreative.net>
wrote:

> Into my third sailing season with my 1995 - 320. Boat came from brackish
waters to fresh water.  I had the motor taken out and had the  motor mounts
replaced as well as reconditioning the engine, all of the hoses filters
primary & secondary filters, zinc nodes impeller etc.  after all that it was
tested and the result the engine was in A1 condition. The last two seasons
no problems until now.  It's a Westerbeke 30B with a total of 1000 hrs.
> 
> I tried starting the engine this week and after two minutes the engine
stalled. I cranked it a number of times and no luck. The fuel gauge was
full. I had a mechanic look at it only to tell me that I was pumping through
water, out of the injectors that all I saw. The plan is to clean out the
tank and replace it with cleaner fuel. I think it was a matter of time that
the balance of water levelled with the fuel and with some sloshing around I
reached that cutoff point. Now my concern is that this will be a costly fix
especially since I have water in the system now. Concern of mine is that a
complete removal of water has to happen, I can't afford water in the
cylinders since it won't burn and once the fuel does kick in it can blow a
seals. The mystery here is how much water is in the system already 
> 
> 
> I have checked the O ring and it's not cracked I still have to check the
vent fitting but this will be after the fact.
> 
> Before I hand over my retirement fund, just kidding. I'm wondering if
anyone else has had a similar experience.
> 
> If only it could run on water?
> 
> Mark
> 
> #304