Another seemingly pointlessly complex drawing from my fevered brow, this is the proposed fuel system. For those not completely daunted by the graphics's "London Underground as conceived by a schizophrenic" qualities, this is, I hope, the way to fuel's paradise.As recently noted, the engine is out and off to the clinic for "augmentations" of a sort. Beneath its sooty mass is a tank, allegedly a stainless steel former holding tank, that I propose to convert to a diesel day tank. What grim, ancient horrors await me when I unbolt that inspection hatch I leave to the reader's imagination, but something Lovecraftian wouldn't surprise me.
After that anticipated nastiness, and after a hospital-grade clean-up, I hope to plumb this tank to receive clean, nay sparkling, diesel fuel from the existing keel tanks via the "FilterBOSS" dual Racor filter/pump combo bought some time ago. The engine had to come out to get to the tank, and the water tanks have to come out to install the new, lower, longer tanks, and this will give me the room to bolt the FilterBOSS unit and several dozen feet of fuel and vent lines hither and, I dare say, yon.
Isn't boating fun?
Oh, and in the period between gutting the engine bay, rerouting most of the DC system, yanking out the exhaust system, hot water tank and painting the entire bay with soundproofing paint, I have to
1) fabricate a thrust bearing (My good friend Captain Matt has an excellent and reasonable lead on this job).
2) remove the rudder and pull the shaft out.
3) inspect and true the shaft and the stern gland, and replace or modify as necessary.
4) install the Aqua-Drive coupling and replace the existing motor mounts
And so on.
I am finding that boat modification and fitting out is like the notion of "punctuated evolution"...many pieces are assembled and yet nothing happens for what seems like geologic time...and then there is a sustained burst of change and one by one, things happen.
I have to get the outside stuff involving the holes in the boat done by the end of April, because engine back in or not, I'm launching. I suspect a second year "on the hard" would tax the patience of the club executive more than even my own.
Although I must say one has lots of chit-chat standing 15 feet in the air on a stationary deck. "So when ya leavin'?" has passed the five-hundred mark...it's all I'm ever asked, and my answers are by the nature of the beast provisional and surrounded by occult juju and taboo.
3 comments:
Very interesting. Many questions, but here are a few;
1. What is the lift height from the keel tanks to the day tank?
2. What pump will you use.
3. Will you have a mechanical backup?
Thanks
Gerry
Thanks for the questions, Gerry.
1) The proposed day tank is actually beneath the engine, and so is about the same level as the keel tanks on the other side of the engine bay half bulkhead (between the pilothouse and the saloon companionway steps. The "rise" is about 12 inches.
2) The fuel transfer pump is part of the FilterBOSS installation. Moving various ballcocks allows the fuel to be filtered via the tanks alone, meaning if I wish to clean up dubious diesel, I need only a couple of hours, a filter element and a handful of amps. The FilterBOSS will be at the same height as the lift pump of the engine, about 20 inches above the engine bay "floor".
3) Yes, I probably will for the fuel transfer between the two forward keel tanks, for emergency service and trim purposes, and also to drain any filtered diesel from any tank into a jerry can for gravity fed fuel directly into the engine should I suffer a failure of both the lift pump and the spare lift pump. I also prefer to hand-pump jerry cans with hand-pumps and hoses, rather than by pouring them into Baja-style deck filters, as there is less splashing and dirt/containments have a chance to settle out in the plastic jug, making for a cleaner, less polluting pour. There are several hand-pump manufacturers out there; I like the look of these models, which are used on trucks and on farms: https://www.petrodirect.com/product.asp?productID=1422
Hope this answers your questions.
Thanks for the detailed reply. I will have about a 6ft lift from the bottom of my keel tank to the top of the day tank, so I am looking for a suitable (i.e reliable) 12v DC pump.
Keep up the good work.
Regards
Gerry
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