Fuel Tank

[jimfin]

Hi All
I want to fit a fuel gauge and so I am going to have to fit a sender to the tank.
Has anyone done this job.
Any advice would be appricated.

[lazyoldriverer]

No Actual experience but Google came up with:-

http://www.airworlduk.com/fsender.html
Hope this helps

[pollyc]

We've had a sender and guage fitted to PollyC. Not sure of the make or model, sorry (I'll try to find out), but after removing the port side wood panelling, there was enough space to cut a 3" hole and fit the sender. The guage is installed in the re-designed instrument panel.

The kit on the airworld site looks about right and the price isn't far off either. I'd make sure that the tank was drained and vented for a day or so, before cutting the hole. I have an aluminium tank, and sparks weren't an issue for me, however you can never be too careful I suppose.

I like the idea - gives me a feeling of safety to know how much fuel I have. There is the odd fluctuation on the guage (as the power surges under heavy revving), but nothing I cannot cope with.

Good Luck

Geoff

[lazyoldriverer]

Dulcinea has a Fuel Guage, when installed I do not know, but it is not terribly accurate, not linear, but it is good enough.

One tip on Installation.........dont smoke!!!!!!

[jimfin]

Thanks for all the replys. I'm getting some new gauges and making up a new dash. I'm getting the gauges from http://www.greatlakesskipper.com/categories.cfm .
I've had a look at the tank and think I could get it out. The thing is to drain and disconect everything before I start pulling at it. Hardest part to get at apperes to be where the filler is conected.

[pollyc]

The filler hose is not too big a problem - more time consuming really.

I replaced mine last season after water got into the tank through a faulty filler cap.

I dd have to remove the paneling on the port side, and took off the old filler cap. This left enough play for the filler hose to be pulled off through the hole in the deck. It was a good job I did this really, as the old hose consisted of a steel pipe connected by two shorter lengths of clear polythene hosing (don't think the safety people would be too impressed by that !). The other problem was, the pipe had been rusting, and the tank was full of cr*p.

However, I used one of those extending magnets (looks a little bit like a car aerial), on a handle, and waggled it around in the tank (through the sender hole for the fuel guage). Worked a treat - all the small metal filings came out really easily.

The cutting of the new filler hose was the biggest challenge - it is reinforces with **very** strong steel (wound in a spiral), and is a bugger to cut ! The only other tip I would give you, is to make sure that your unions are really tight before filling up. I forgot to nip up one of the jubilee clips tightly enough, and fuel leaked into the bilges. Took about three days to vent the boat properly, as the fumes came through into the cabin (not pleasant - we had to evacuate!).

I've also now fitted a (metal) cartridge type fuel filter on the tank side of my pump. It has a water trap too just to be safe. I also add 'dri-fuel' to the petrol to make sure that any residual water is dealt with. Two days on the system waiting for repairs (after water and cr*p got into the carburettor) was not much fun last year - I want to try and avoid that again !!

Good luck

Geoff