Primer Bulb

[iggyw1]

I have a serious question about the gas line primer bulb on my boat. I replaced the fuel lines going from my under the floor gas tank, to the water seperator then to the motor itself. the lines are full of air and I pumped and pumped and pumped the ball and I am not getting any fuel into the lines. Now here is my question that I need an answer for: How is the ball suppose to act straight out of the package?? When I tested the new ball when I got it, I squeezed the ball (an Attwood 3/8" ball) and I got ZERO suction until I discovered that when I cover the discharge end with my finger as I squeeze the ball, I then got suction. If I do this with the fuel line hooked up and connected to my motor, how can the air get out of the line? Seems like unless the air gets out of the line, it will not fill up with gas.

I was always told to pump until the ball gets hard, but I pumped my azz off and it seems like the fule is not getting sucked up out of the tank. I know i have no leaks sucking air. I checked that out real good. How do I get the air out of the line while pumping the ball???? Thanks!

 

[racerone]

The bulb is a simple manual fuel pump.-----A good bulb will move air.-----Test this bulb using a bucket of water.-------It should get rid of the air and start pumping the water.

 

[JimS123]

Balls are one way. Are you sure you connected it up the right way?

 

[iggyw1]

Yes, I connected it the correct way. As I said, when I took it out of the package, I squeezed it and felt NO SUCTION. Once it put my finger over the discharge side of the primer ball when I squeezed the ball,the suction end had suction. If I did not cover the discharge end with my finger, it has no suction on the suction end at all, just if I blocked the discharge end with my finger. Is this normal?? I am thinking that when the lines are hooked up, on the discharge end there is a connector that connects to the motor which blocks that end (as my finger does with no lines connected to it), so this would produce a suction at the suction end, however, if this is the way it works, where does the air go that is in the line if the gas line is connected to my motor?

 

[iggyw1]

The bulb is a simple manual fuel pump.-----A good bulb will move air.-----Test this bulb using a bucket of water.-------It should get rid of the air and start pumping the water.

I will definitely do this tomorrow. Just put a short piece of hose on both ends, put the suction end hose in the water and the ball should discharge the water from the discharge end without me even putting a finger on the discharge end ?

When I took this primer ball out of the package, I put my finger on the suction end and did not feel ANY suction on my finger at all when I squeezed the ball, until I put another finger on the discharge end when the ball was fully squeezed. Was trying to find out if this is normal for the primer ball to act this way??

 

[wooky30014]

I bought a new primer bulb only because the one that came with the boat was all cracked and dry rotted. I put the new one on with new fuel line as well and I squeezed that thing until my arm got sore and no gas at all. SO, what I did was the cut the metal valves from the old one and fitted them to the new bulb. I now have excellent fuel flow with just a couple of pumps

Oh, and by squeezing this before installing it you could hear distinctly the valves working and is why I decided to swap them out

 

[iggyw1]

I bought a new primer bulb only because the one that came with the boat was all cracked and dry rotted. I put the new one on with new fuel line as well and I squeezed that thing until my arm got sore and no gas at all. SO, what I did was the cut the metal valves from the old one and fitted them to the new bulb. I now have excellent fuel flow with just a couple of pumps
View attachment 358273
Oh, and by squeezing this before installing it you could hear distinctly the valves working and is why I decided to swap them out

Glad that wout when I squeeze the ball with no resistance on the discharge end, there is no suction at all on the suction end. Seems like the ball needs my finger (or maybe the gas line connector) on the discharge end to get suction going.

 

[wooky30014]

Used to be that when you bought squeeze bulbs, gas cans, all kinds of stuff they were better than the stuff being replaced, THEN the goobernment stepped in and we all know how hard it is to get gas out of these new valved gas cans, nearly impossible unless you saved the old necks or visited Tractor Supply for one of their adapter kits

The new primer bulb I bought had the Evinrude name on it as a direct replacement but the bulb didn't work, plastic valves I think is the problem

 

[iggyw1]

OK. I

The bulb is a simple manual fuel pump.-----A good bulb will move air.-----Test this bulb using a bucket of water.-------It should get rid of the air and start pumping the water.

just did as you suggested. I put a short hose on each end of the prime ball and it pumped water out of a small pail. I have the ball connected in my boat three feet from the gas tank. Then it goes another three feet to the water separator. Then out of the separator to the motor which is another 3-1/2' from the water separator and some slack as well for the motor to turn. Is this too much hose? (although things worked fine with my old gas line and ball). The water separator is filled with gas. Would it help if I filled the gas lines someway before I hooked them up onto the barbed fittings?

 

[wooky30014]

How would you prime the gas line / primer bulb once hooked up to the motor ? These made now aren't worth a flip, as racer said, a "good" one should pump air, don't know who makes a "good" one these days. Like my own experience a brand new bulb failed to prime

Oh and let me add this, I'd be starting out with "dry" lines each time because when getting ready to retrieve the boat I'd unhook the line and let the engine run it dry

 

[XS POWER]

Hold the bulb with the arrow toward the sky

 

[roscoe]

Hold the bulb with the arrow toward the sky

Do this, many of the new bulbs must be held vertically, arrow pointing up, ti make the check valves work.

The bulbs are 2' from the motor on my boats, between the water separator and the motor.

You do not have too much hose.
I have 15' of fuel line to my separator, then 5' to the motor.

 

[dingbat]

I have the ball connected in my boat three feet from the gas tank. Then it goes another three feet to the water separator. Then out of the separator to the motor which is another 3-1/2' from the water separator and some slack as well for the motor to turn.

Couple of things…
The seperator is not in the correct location in the delivery system.

The correct order is tank - separator - primer bulb - motor.

Fuel must be “sucked” thru the separator, not pumped thru the seperator.

The separator must be full of fuel or you will never get it the bulb to work.

Pull the fuel line from the fuel pump and try pumping the bulb.

The primer bulb must be held with arrows pointing to sky. Holding it level doesn’t cut it

 

[iggyw1]

Couple of things…
The seperator is not in the correct location in the delivery system.

The correct order is tank - separator - primer bulb - motor.

Fuel must be “sucked” thru the separator, not pumped thru the seperator.

The separator must be full of fuel or you will never get it the bulb to work.

Pull the fuel line from the fuel pump and try pumping the bulb.

The primer bulb must be held with arrows pointing to sky. Holding it level doesn’t cut it

OK I will re-route the fuel line and put the primer ball in line AFTER the water separator. I see now that it is 'pushing' the fuel into the separator rather than 'sucking' the fuel out of the separator. however, the separator is full of fuel at the time. Thanks!

Note: I won't get a chance to work on it until tomorrow. I will post my results when I do the work and try it.

 

[iggyw1]

Hold the bulb with the arrow toward the sky

I have been holding it upward when trying to get it going, but thank you for the suggestion.

 

[dingbat]

OK I will re-route the fuel line and put the primer ball in line AFTER the water separator. I see now that it is 'pushing' the fuel into the separator rather than 'sucking' the fuel out of the separator.

Otherwise your pumping the trapped water back into the system.

however, the separator is full of fuel at the time. Thanks!

Sounds like the system is air locked.

If you've lost "prime", which you obviously have if you replaced the hoses, no amount of "pumping" is going to prime the system against the dead head of a fuel pump or separating filter in your case.

The fuel line needs to be vented to atmosphere (removed from fuel pump) to allow the trapped air in the system to escape as you pump.

Because of this, I start and run the motor before introducing air into the fuel delivery system via hose or filter change. That way the motor starts right up and does all the "pumping" for me. No need to screw around filling filters with fuel prior to installation either.

 

[wooky30014]

Pointing the arrow on the bulb UP is something new (to me) and not mentioned on the packaging

 

[dingbat]

Pointing the arrow on the bulb UP is something new (to me) and not mentioned on the packaging

https://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/primer.html

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Orientation​

It is also advantageous if the primer bulb can be position in such a way that during priming it can be oriented vertically, with the direction arrow pointing skywards. This will allow gravity and the weight of the fuel inside the primer bulb to help with the operation of the one-way valves. If the primer bulb is oriented with the flow arrow pointing downward, gravity and the weight of the fuel in the line above the inlet check valve may spoil its operation, and the primer will not work properly.

This subtle but important point—orienting the primer bulb skyward—is often overlooked in many installation, but it really helps the primer bulb to do its job. This trick was shown to me by an experienced Mercury outboard mechanic, after I complained that the new primer bulbs he had installed did not work well. The difference in results is amazing, and just by changing the orientation of the primer to vertical, its operation is much improved. In just a few squeezes it should be possible to fill the bulb with fuel.

 

[JimS123]

OK I will re-route the fuel line and put the primer ball in line AFTER the water separator. I see now that it is 'pushing' the fuel into the separator rather than 'sucking' the fuel out of the separator. however, the separator is full of fuel at the time. Thanks!

Note: I won't get a chance to work on it until tomorrow. I will post my results when I do the work and try it.

Don't do anything until you sterilize the bulb and get all the water out of it.

 

[wooky30014]

One of those moments with an added facepalm, makes sense but didn't think about the actual actions of the bulb and valves, mine with the metal valves pumped air no matter which way it pointed. Thanks for this insight and info