What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

Dan_o

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I want to put a 15 hp kicker on my boat. Instead of having a seperate fuel tank, I want to split my fuel line at the transum, and run a line to both motors. I believe I will have to have a bulb for each line after the split. both motors are 2 cycles and run on 50:1 mixture. Is this going to work? thanks for your responce.
 

tashasdaddy

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

you also need as 3 way stop ****. tank, ****, bulb, motor.
 

Dan_o

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

Is that just for safty, or is it so the vacum works when the fuel pump pulls fuel to one of the engines? To seal off the other engine. So I need one on the fuel line from the gas tank to the spliter, one on each of the fuel lines leading to each engine, before the bulb. Is that correct. Thanks again for your responce. Dan
 

gss036

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

A little more info would be helpful, what is your main engine? Are you running a built in fuel tank? Do you have water/fuel separator filter? Most filters have 2 inlet and 3 outlets. I have been running my kicker on the same tank for years and have never had a cut off valve and they worked just fine. When I re powered last year they put a cut off on for the kicker but I never close it. Some engines run fine that way, others have trouble.
 

Dan_o

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

I'm doing a rebuild. Put in a 40 gal. in floor tank. The tank is installed mid ship, under the floor. Main engine is a Mercury 115 I6. Kicker is going to be 15hp crysler seaking mounted on transum next to 115. Ran a fuel line to transum. Will split at last cross support. Had thought of putting in water seperator, but hadn't made a decision. From what what was said, they make them with more than one outlet. So I wouldn't need a splitter. Just use water seperator as one. A shut off valve would be a good safty feature somewhere in the system. Thanks for any and all input. Dan
 

JoLin

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

I'm doing a rebuild. Put in a 40 gal. in floor tank. The tank is installed mid ship, under the floor. Main engine is a Mercury 115 I6. Kicker is going to be 15hp crysler seaking mounted on transum next to 115. Ran a fuel line to transum. Will split at last cross support. Had thought of putting in water seperator, but hadn't made a decision. From what what was said, they make them with more than one outlet. So I wouldn't need a splitter. Just use water seperator as one. A shut off valve would be a good safty feature somewhere in the system. Thanks for any and all input. Dan

I used a filter/separator housing from West Marine- it was a Sierra kit that came complete with filter. 2 inlets, 2 outlets. Plugged one of the inlets, ran a hose from each outlet to its respective motor, and done. Painless, neat and everything was properly filtered.
 

pecheux

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

Had once owned a Merc 115 hp on a 20 footer Boston Whaler type boat and a OMC 9.9 kicker right next to it on a sailboat type bracket. I simply installed a T on the main built in tank fuel line and plugged in an extention fuel line to the kicker. Each line had it's primer pump so one OB could not dry out the other. If it did I would not have knowed since I operated only one OB at the time and the fuel line were plugged in each motor permanently. There might have been better ways to do it ... but back then that was the only way I knew how ... LOL
 

jay_merrill

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

There are a number or ways that you can do this.

You could install a three way valve (off, main engine, kicker) with a bulb on each of the lines that go to the engines. You could also have one bulb, located just ahead of the three way valve.

Another option is to have a fuel/water separator, with two lines running from the exit points. Once again, two bulbs downstream or one upstream of the filter would be fine.

You can also just use one line and move it form one motor to the other. You may have to construct an adapter to do this, since you are running different engine brands, but the method is workable.

Don't worry too much about bulb location. I've seen all sorts of comments about where they "must" be located, but have found in practical everyday use that it doesn't much matter where you put them.
 

Dan_o

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

Thanks for all the responces. I'm going to buy a water/fuel seperator and runtwo lines out of it. One to each engine with their own bulbs. Can't wait to get it set up.
 

tashasdaddy

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

"Thanks for all the responses. I'm going to buy a water/fuel seperator and runtwo lines out of it. One to each engine with their own bulbs. Can't wait to get it set up"

this is the best way. the reason i suggested the 3 way valve, is that sometimes the bigger motor will siphon fuel off the smaller motor, and then suck air thru the smaller motors carb. the separator will stop this.
 

jay_merrill

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

... the reason i suggested the 3 way valve, is that sometimes the bigger motor will siphon fuel off the smaller motor, and then suck air thru the smaller motors carb. the separator will stop this.

Good point and exactly why I go back and read threads after contributing to them. I currently swap a single fuel line when I use my kicker. When I was running dual motors, they fed of off separate tanks most of the time and when I finally went to running one tank at a time, I had rearranged the plumbing to include a separator, with two engine lines running out of it. Because of this, I never experienced "air siphoning."

Gotta love the "many minds" aspect of these forums, because you constantly learn stuff if you allow yourself to take it all in.

BTW, one quirk that I discovered about feeding two tanks into a separator, without a valve to select one at a time, is that the tanks will not always draw down evenly. I have no idea why this happens, but I experienced it with two different separators that were manufactured by two different companies. If anyone has any ideas, I'd sure love to hear them.
 

Frank Acampora

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

WELL! I hate to be the lone dissenter but: I run my kicker with a separate line that connects to the quick-connect at the filter/separator. I carry an easy to store 3 gallon extra tank. That way, if my problem is with the main tank or if I just stupidly run out of gas, the kicker has its own supply and 3 gallons should get me to help or shore. ( I am never more than a couple of miles out.)

I also have on board an adaper that connects the 3 gallon tank to the main engine if the problem is indeed the main tank.
 

Dan_o

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

I have given this some more thought. I have one fuel tank 40 Gal. I will run a single hose to the water/fuel seperator, approx. 9' to the rear of the tank under the transum. Comming out of the seperator, I will have a hose with a bulb running to the main engine. At the seperator, for the kicker, I will have a two prong merc gas hook-up for the kicker. That way I can hook up my kicker or not. A few years ago, the connection for the fuel line at the engine of the kicker broke. I could not find another one, so I hooked the fuel line directly to the engine. I will be able to just disconnect it if I want to put my kicker on another boat. Thanks again. Dan
 

jhebert

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

If you feed two engines from a common fuel line, and only one engine is running, there is a risk that the suction of the fuel pump could pull fuel from the line to the non-running engine, and eventually this could lead to air being drawn in, assuming the fuel system on the non-running engine was open to the atmosphere (as would occur with a carburetor motor).

If each engine has its own primer bulb, the one-way check valves in the primer bulb would act to prevent any back flow of fuel. However, the primer bulb check valves are not perhaps 100-percent reliable.

In the case of a main engine and auxiliary engine, it seems like a reasonable idea to put a positive shut off valve in the feed to the auxiliary engine. In this way when the main engine is running the feed to the auxiliary can be completely shut off, removing any chance the main engine could pull fuel and air from that part of the system.
 

gss036

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

Make sure each engine has a primer bulb as stated in the prior post, that way it should work ok, that is the way mine has been rigged for 20 years now.
I also carry a 3 gallon plastic can w/separate hose for the Yamaha kicker. I have carried that for many years and only last year did I have need for and it kept me off the rocks 15 miles from home. I was then able to get into deeper water and work of the fuel problem and get back home safely. It only takes one incident to enlighten once sense of need for a back up plan.
 

happy cierra

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Re: What about splitting the fuel line for a kicker.

"Thanks for all the responses. I'm going to buy a water/fuel seperator and runtwo lines out of it. One to each engine with their own bulbs. Can't wait to get it set up"

this is the best way. the reason i suggested the 3 way valve, is that sometimes the bigger motor will siphon fuel off the smaller motor, and then suck air thru the smaller motors carb. the separator will stop this.

My 2155 cierra main gas tank has a vent. I think something like that would prevent siphoning from the secondary line.
 
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