| Author |
Message |
Peter Aduskevich (Slowslowpete) (67.75.113.34)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 26, 2003 - 12:39 am: | |
The tank that my gen. fuel pick up is in is 5 1/2 long. I was told to put the pick up at 1/3 the height of the tank. The tank is length wise in the bus and the pickup is at the end of the tank. The gen shuts down on the road when the tank is 2/3 full. Runs fine when parked. Don't know if the tank has baffles. Any suggestions . |
FAST FRED (67.75.106.223)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 26, 2003 - 4:59 am: | |
IF the tank is just for the genset and newish it should not be full of crud.
Lower the pickup to 1/2 inch from the bottom.
FAST FRED |
Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (65.37.90.139)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 26, 2003 - 7:23 am: | |
If you have the room, install a seperate tank for the generator. That way the pick-up can go to the bottom and you still won't run the main tank dry. As gensets use little fuel of no more than a gallon per hour, a smallish tank with an electric pump to top off from the main tank could work for you.
Baffles may help with the slosh problem, but not when on a long grade.
Peter. |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy) (24.196.191.70)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 26, 2003 - 9:04 am: | |
I really see no need to add another fuel tank. Just fix the problem you have. I had to add an auxiliary el-cheapo fuel pump from Pep Boys to assure an adequate supply of fuel to my genset under all conditions, as well as reprime it when I run low on fuel in the main tank.
Richard |
Frank Allen (152.163.252.163)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 26, 2003 - 9:17 am: | |
I put mine about an inch or two from the bottom of the tank , no elec fuel pump , worked just fine, id lower the pick up tube
Frank Allen
4106 |
Peter Aduskevich (Slowslowpete) (67.75.113.81)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 26, 2003 - 9:57 am: | |
I have a electric fuel pump on the gen.. I could move the pick up to the center of the tank with some effort . Would that help? It seems that most of you are putting the pickup much closer to the bottom.I'm sure I'm not the only one with a tank thats 5 1/2 ft. long. |
Peter E (Sdibaja) (66.123.254.151)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 26, 2003 - 10:29 am: | |
Peter A: this all gets down to personal needs and use.
Is your "pick up at 1/3 the height of the tank" being measured from the top or bottom?
"pick up at 1/3 the height of the tank"(from the Bottom) is a great idea, especially on a rig with a small tank, that way the genset can't take the last bit of fuel you need to get to the next fill up.
I assume that this is a diesel bus, knowing the make and model would help. My 4905 has a 165 gallon tank about 4 ft tall and I assume the pickup tube is about 1 or 2 inches from the bottom. I would feel comfortable with a genset pickup at 8 inches from the bottom. |
BrianMCI96A3 (65.41.249.60)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 26, 2003 - 11:35 am: | |
Peter,
it seems likely, there are no baffles in your tank. Taping the middle of the tank ought to help your problem considerably. As for the hieght of the pick-up, I look at it this way... lets say you have a 150 gal. tank and you mount the gen pickup at 1/3
it's hieght, when the gen cuts out you'll have 50 gal. remaining. At 6 mpg you'd have 300 miles range left. Do your own calculations, then mount your pickup where the fuel remaining equals the the safe reserve you want to maintain! Generally, there are few places where you are further than a 100 miles from fuel, but I probably will give myself a 200 mile reserve.
Brian |
Tom Caffrey (Pvcces) (65.74.65.3)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 26, 2003 - 10:39 pm: | |
Peter, one other possibility is to install a fuel-air separator in your generator fuel lines. I've used these and had no trouble from tank sloshing like you are experiencing.
We had a boat that had one. The tank was rectangular and it was a straight shot to the bottom for dipping. When I ran it out of fuel once, I dipped the tank and could not see any fuel on the stick.
Some kind of fuel-air separation is needed on all diesel cars and pickups, so you might be able to use something from a wrecking yard if a new one is too expensive or hard to find.
For what it's worth.
Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576
Suncatcher |
Peter Aduskevich (Slowslowpete) (67.75.96.85)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 26, 2003 - 11:59 pm: | |
I have a 53 Kenworth. Has twin 60gal. tanks. The tank is about 12 inches high and the pick up is at 4 inches from the bottom. That should leave me with 40 gal.to get to next fuel stop. (20 per tank). Never heard of a fuel/ air separator. I have a water /air separator on the gen. Gen. and bus are diesel. |
Tom Caffrey (Pvcces) (65.74.65.3)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 27, 2003 - 10:19 pm: | |
They have them or they would run out of fuel with quite a bit still in the tank.
The secondary fuel filter can be set up to do this job if the fuel outlet is low on the housing and there is a small air bleed to the return line at the top. I think that Mercedes used this setup, and may still use it.
The boat unit that I mentioned used a float valve in it's own housing that bypassed air to the return and air free fuel to the injection pump.
Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576
Suncatcher |
Jayjay (198.81.26.104)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 27, 2003 - 10:21 pm: | |
Check with the mfg. of the genset before adding an auxillary fuel pump. Some say it's a no-no. Mine is an Isuzu and they specifically state to not ad another pump, since the one on it will pull to a 25 ft. head. ...JJ |
Peter Aduskevich (Slowslowpete) (67.75.106.161)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 27, 2003 - 11:23 pm: | |
Tom, I will look at the M.B. secondary filter. I have a few 240D's around. Jayay , I also have a Isuzu which has one electric inline fuel pump. When it quits I stop the bus and just wait for the pump to stops clicking. And it starts up. A little rough at first but smooths out pretty quickly. Do not think I need another pump. |
BrianMCI96A3 (65.41.249.117)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, October 02, 2003 - 10:39 pm: | |
PETER! I was just sitting at the computer thinking about tapping the main fuel tank...
and how I would attack the problem you are having for myself, when I had a brainstorm! You say the location
of the fuel tap for the gen. is on the end of your tank 5 1/2' tank. To EASILY utilize this same convienent location, FIRST scribe a mark on the top of the gen fuel tap fitting.
Remove the tap fitting, and clean it thoroughly preferably with a wire wheel.
Find a 2 1/4' length of steel tubing that fits the hole in the tank side of the fitting.
Slip the tubing into the fitting and braze the tubing to the fitting.
Try to braze carefully and at the VERY end of the fitting, if you mess the threads up a little you can use a file to straighten them up.
THEN you can either leave the tube straight or bend the tube to the desired height, remembering that the scribed mark is the top of the fitting. Then screw the fitting back in carefully, and tighten the fitting till the scribed mark is at to the top. At that point you'd have a fuel pick-up that is in the middle of the tank and at what ever reserve level you wish, I'm planning to use a similar tube myself but from the bottom, if I can! |
Peter Aduskevich (Slowslowpete) (67.75.106.207)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 05, 2003 - 12:49 am: | |
Brian,I found a fitting near the middle of the tank. I will move the pick up there. I think I will put the pick up near the bottom. And fix my fuel gage. I am currently using the fitting that is used on house fuel tanks, If you don't tighten the nut very tight you can abjust the pickup height. Don't think I would use it any place but the top of the tank. When I first figured the fuel left depending on the pick up height it was in a static state. Never gave any thought to the sloshing. I don't know if you can factor in the sloshing effect any way but trial and error since the fuel dynamics of every tank will be different. Tom, The 240D's secondary filter has 5 lines coming off the top. May have to go that way. Next long run I will find out how low I can go on fuel before the gen. quits. I thank you all for your help. |