| Author | Message | ||
| JackW
Rating: N/A |
Been mulling this over for a while now, is 144 gallons enough? Why would I need the aux. tank? It would be nice to have the whole front bay. What say you? | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
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144 is plenty | ||
| JackW
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Hey TWODOGS! I owe you an explaination. Suffice it to say I was stranded in Seligman for a week, with an impatient companion. Agreed, 144 gallons is plenty, and the aux. tank takes up alot of space in the front bay. Will be removing it tomorrow. | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
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I filled up in Amarillo...drove to Los Indios...the long senic route...1113 miles...still got 1/3 tank...diesel is now 2.08 in San Benito...wheww...will be migrateing north as soon as the sandhill crane start their migration...probably a month,maybe two...144 gallons does fine...need to keep it fresh....sitting diesel gets old.... | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
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Jack - Are you going to be running a diesel genset? If so, you might seriously consider keeping the factory aux. tank. Gives you another 35 gallons of boondockin' capability. Just re-think what you were going to put into the middle bay, and perhaps move it to the front one. FWIW, RJ PD4106-2784 Fresno CA | ||
| JackW
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Hi RJ, The aux tank in my bus (MC8, same as MC9) is in the rear center of the front bay. You have brought up a good point that I hadn't considered. Will have to do some calculations on the wabasto, and gen set run times, and make a decision at that time. If anyone has numbers on extended boondocking with a diesel gen set, I would like to hear some real world numbers. | ||
| Brian Brown (Fishbowlbrian)
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Plus, if the aux. tank runs only genset and heat, you can use off-road ("red dye") fuel and it should cost a LOT less than the taxed variety. I'd leave it in. You'll still have plenty of room in the bays for all of your junk... I mean, necessary stuff. *grin* BB | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
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Brian - The aux tank on an MCI is plumbed into the main tank, there is no separate fill for it. There's the equalizer balance pipe underneath the baggage bin floor (protected by a shield from road debris), and a vent line between the tanks in the tunnel that runs down the overhead center of the bin. Taking the tank out is a BIG project, almost as bad as removing the restroom!  Jack - I know the aux tank's in the front baggage bin, have had to pack luggage around it countless times 'way back when. . . What I meant was re-think what you'd planned to put in the middle bay, and consider if it would work in the front one, thereby leaving the middle one empty. Better yet, see if you can get all your systems in the rear bin, thereby leaving two empty - lotsa room for Mama's "stuff"!!  Don't forget that you've also got the HVAC compartment access in the front bay. If you're pulling the OEM HVAC unit like many do, now you've got additional space to work with. (And no, I've never heard of anyone moving the aux. tank to this area, altho I suspect it could be done. Get out the tape measure!) Whatever you do, make sure the pickup tubes for your genset, Webasto, etc., are several inches higher than your main engine pickup. Repriming the Detroit's a PITA. HTH, RJ | ||
| JackW
Rating: N/A |
So, the balance pipe is under the bus. Have been pondering this for a while, and was wondering how they were connected. Will be taking the tank out tomorrow. Took the cover off today, the rest seems straight forward. Brian, I definatley considered the offroad fuel deal, the need for fulltimer's cargo space won. | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
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Jack - How much fuel is in the tank(s) now? You'll lose a lot when you break the connection between the main and aux!! | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
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Rule of thumb, 144 gallon fuel tank: * Plan fuel stops every 500 miles. * Always fill tank fully. The above will help prevent repriming situations, especially with diesel-powered house systems. | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
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don't know about other states...here...off road diesel is about 2 cents cheaper...not worth the trouble... | ||
| Stan Rating: N/A |
If you are removing the central heat and A/C the auxilary fuel tank will fit in that space. As RJ says it is lot of work and you get a lot of fuel in your face but it is is easy to shorten the pipe connecting the two tanks. | ||
| Vin (Billybonz)
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In Illinois the fuel tax on diesel is almost 40 cents per gal. Even tho I live 60 miles from Chicago city limits, I still have to pay for convenience of living near that turd by the lake. Even if you have a separate tank for heating fuel, I doubt that Flying J will give you an "off road" or Ag price on diesel. I believe in Illinois you have to wait for your state income tax refund to get your money back. The exception is if you have fuel delivery at say, a farm with a storage tank. Does anyone know how this works? Bones | ||
| Bruce Henderson (Oonrahnjay)
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__. In NC, there are "Farm Only" pumps, dyed fuel that's about $.40 per gallon cheaper. Also, at many truck stops, you can have the cashier book your non-road fill as "reefer fuel" and get a similar discount. | ||
| JackW
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OK, not going to remove the tank for right now. Will have to do this when I can get under the bus. Thanks for all your input. The fittings must be on the bottom of the tanks, correct? | ||
| Sojourner (Jjimage)
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And bolted on flanged, which mean completely drain both tanks when remove. FWIW Sojourn for Christ, Jerry | ||
| Brian Brown (Fishbowlbrian)
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Aux. tank is plumbed to the main tank, eh? Shows what I know. Me? I wouldn't take it out, In fact, I'm curious how hard it'd be to add one to a main. I like range (esp. when the kids are sleeping *LOL*). But I won't hijack your thread with such questions. I got plenty of bigger fish to fillet at the moment. And, wow, you don't get much of a break on the red dye. I thought about half of the end cost of fuel was in taxes. For me, it would have to be about half the cost before I'd hassle with finding sources. Always great info here, guys! BB | ||
| bruce king
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I installed another full-sized tank into my rear bay, and then built the holding and fresh tanks to fill the rest of it. so i have a capacity of 144 x 2, or 288 gallons. I did that because diesel fuel can vary by $0.50 a gallon or more across state lines. So when i travel i use the flyingj website, and plan my diesel stops on what state has the lowest price. An example last spring was south dakota vs wa. SD had diesel for $1.94 (spearfish, on I90) and wa had diesel for $2.33. a little planning allowed me to arrive at spearfish with one tank empty and the other down to 30 gallons, allowing me to fill 258 gallons there, saving around $100.00 on that fillup. having the ability to suck up 250 gallons makes it worthwhile to scout out price difference as little as a nickel a gallon; the $12.50 saved buys lunch more often than not. The spare tank cost me $200 from Sam Caylor. | ||
| Brian Brown (Fishbowlbrian)
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Bruce: sounds like a smart setup. Typical coaches with a 500-700 mile range cannot be too selective on fuel stops, but you can. Is there a transfer switch on the dash? Curious how you plumbed it all... Thanks, Brian | ||
| bruce king
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I haven't connected the two tanks at all. I plumbed my webasto and genset into the 2nd tank, and left the original tank as it was. I purchased an electric fuel pump with an automatic shutoff to use when i wanted to transfer fuel between the tanks, or to fuel other stuff. it pumps 8gpm, bought it at a farm supply store. this basic unit is what you see on fuel drums in the back of pickups. i have to pull forward to fill the 2nd tank, but it's usually not a problem. stop, fill 1st, pull up 15 feet, fill 2nd. This made it much simpler to install; i purchased reduction valves to reduce the fuel line from 5/8 to 3/8, and then attached it and I was done. it got a little more complicated when i attached the webasto -- but it was a 15 minute wrench job, not a 2 hour drill job. I did this mainly to allow me to use offroad diesel in the 2nd tank if I choose. Mostly I put road diesel in both, but its nice to have the choice. | ||
| Brian Brown (Fishbowlbrian)
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Wow, very ingenious setup. Thanks for the info! BB |