We Have Plenty of Gas

[madhatter160]

We've had our boat for about six weeks. During those six weeks, I've learned a ton...some from reading, some from watching, and some from first hand experience.

Last weekend we went out on a large inland lake. The gas gauge read just shy of half a tank. I figured that on an inland lake that would be plenty. Well, I didn't realize just how large 20,000 acres is. We ended up running 14-15 miles that day, mostly at cruising speed or WOT. We were headed back to the launch when she quit about a mile out. She was out of gas. Fortunately, we were boating with a friend and he towed us back. A quiet dock and favorable wind helped us dock successfully with no power. No one got hurt and there was no damage. In the end, it was my own big dumb fault for not keeping an eye on the fuel gauge.

I've done some research since and I have a question about the actual usable capacity of a fuel tank. My manual says my boat has a 35 gallon fuel tank. I suspect, though, that not all 35 gallons are accessible by the engine. My guess is that a few gallons are actually below the intake. Is that right?

 

[cribber]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

There will always be some gas in the tank that you can't get to and really that's where all the gunk resides. You need to calculate you average fuel consumption rate and use the two thirds rule. Use one third going out and one third coming back so you'll always have that spare third of a tank for an emergency. Another tip is when your headed home top off your boat's tank so you always have a full tank ready to go. Just hit it with some Stable or Seafoam if you're going to let the boat sit for several months.

 

[TMoNeE]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

I ALWAYS top the boat off before going out, never know when you might need more than you thought

 

[Thad]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

Yep, better to top off and not need it than to need it and not have it.

I have learned there is no such thing as enough gas on a boat. And no, you are not alone, there is a reason I learned that too.

My take on fuel gauges and speedos on a boat...they just fill up the space on the dash so it looks better. I have never seen one that accurate.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

Doesn't the "E" on the guage stand for "Enough"?

 

[xeddog]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

Do I understand this correctly? You ran 15 miles and your gauge sez you used nearly 15 gallons of gas??? You didn't say what kind of boat/motor/drive you have, but it sounds like you'd better HOPE your gauge is shot.

Wayne

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

You can never have too much gas on board !!!!

 

[ifallsguy]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

Flow meter comes to mind. One that works with a GPS

 

[jim372]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

on my starcraft with 50 hp ouboard i have 4 tanks for 24 gal . now i have also a boat with i/o and 50 gal tank built in , i will have to trust gauge
odd thing is it has 2 fuel gauges , not sure yet why

 

[BF]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

well... you had no need to guess. If you filled it after you ran it until it quit, how many gallons it took to fill it is exactly how much fuel your boat can access. If you didn't pay attention, you should be able to able to figure it out if you remember how much $$ it took to fill and how much fuel was on that day. Of course if some went into the truck/car or you only 1/2 filled the boat, then you're back to guesstimating.

If you knew your total "usable fuel", then if you filled up sometime when your gauge is reading "1/2", you'd probably find that it reads that when it's actually only about 1/3 or so of the usable fuel left. That's pretty common in cars, and also in boats I'd guess. The top "half" of the tank is often bigger.

You might consider changing the fuel filter in case some crud got sucked up.

good luck with the boat, sounds like you're enjoying it.

 

[Gromulin]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

Flow meter comes to mind. One that works with a GPS

Que? What is this Flow Meter you speak of? I was about to get out the calculator and open up Garmin's Mapsource for my 60CSX and try to figure out total miles of track vs. Gallons used on our camping trip week before last to try and get a redneck *average* of how much fuel I used, and how much distance I covered. ABout a non-scientific as it gets...but over time should give me an idea of "flow". I think. Hope. Guess.

I have a 70 Gal tank...so it's kind of Academic...but I also have access to the Sacramento river and could, theoretically, go many, many miles on the river towards the delta.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

sometimes when you fill a boat on the trailer, it isn't full, butr has a trapped air pocket.

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

Doesn't the "E" on the guage stand for "Enough"?

No................everlasting.

 

[BF]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

sometimes when you fill a boat on the trailer, it isn't full, butr has a trapped air pocket.

on my sea ray, it's the other way around... the fill is at the stern, so it fills completely on the trailer, but would get a pocket when filling on the water... I agree though, different boats can be different. But the point is where do you normally fill the boat? If it's on the trailer on the way to the launch, then that's all you'd get for usable fuel, whether there be an air pocket taking up space or not.

Hmm, has anyone ever seen an "idiot" light for fuel on a boat? I never have... but maybe the newer ones have one (?)

 

[Thad]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

Hmm, has anyone ever seen an "idiot" light for fuel on a boat? I never have... but maybe the newer ones have one (?)

My boat is an '01, it has an "idiot light", but it only comes on when I am driving...

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

odd thing is it has 2 fuel gauges , not sure yet why

Cunfucious say 'Man with gas gauge always now how much. Man with 2 never quite sure'

 

[DJ]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

I ALWAYS top the boat off before going out, never know when you might need more than you thought

Best advice.

I NEVER go anywhere (starting out) without a full tank.

 

[Reel Kahuna]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

Last year I was invited to fish with a guy who bought my Trophy. We got underway when I noticed that the fuel gas was on "E" and mentioned it to him. He replied that he had a gas jug in the cabin so no problem. Well after a day's fishing when heading back he runs out of gas so he retrieved his gas jug which was only a one gallon jug and we're still 10 miles from his slip. Needless to say we ran out of gas again and ended up being towed in. Forturnately I haven't fished with him again

 

[madhatter160]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

Do I understand this correctly? You ran 15 miles and your gauge sez you used nearly 15 gallons of gas??? You didn't say what kind of boat/motor/drive you have, but it sounds like you'd better HOPE your gauge is shot.

Wayne

That was my thought too. That seems really low MPG, even for a boat. I have a 1996 Four Winns 205 Sundowner with a Volvo 5.0L engine.

I am also going to take advantage of this...unique...situation to measure the amount of gas available to the engine. The next time we take her out, I'll fill it up all the way and see how much she takes. Then after we're done for the day, I'll fill it up again and see how much she used. By noting the amount of time we were actually running the engine, I'll have a good idea of gallons per hour under normal usage (some puttering around, some cruising, etc).

And another question: 87 or 89 octane (or other)?

 

[ifallsguy]

Re: We Have Plenty of Gas

What is a flow meter?

It's a sensor that's placed inline on your fuel line. Most GPS units, such as LowRance, use networking that lets the meter feed how much fuel you are using. Pretty accurate. In my case, I have the flow meter networked into my GPS, which gives me fuel use per hour, GPS mileage per gallon, range to empty and fuel remaining.

Something you might want to look into. You can research on the LowRance web site.