[SPLASHED] I/O (Sterndrive) Conversion to Outboards

[nola mike]

What do you do with all the gas

 

[tpenfield]

What do you do with all the gas

It goes in the cars and whatever else needs gasoline.

 

[Scott Danforth]

like the snowblower.....

 

[tpenfield]

OK, I only needed to pump out 8 more gallons until I got air. (using the fuel pick-up fitting). (48 gallons pumped out, total)

So, my data looks like this. . .
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The sender sort of works . . . . but the readings are quite erratic . . . they over-state, and then under-state, the actual fuel level. I know it won't be perfect, but it looks like a lot of room for improvement.

Next step will be to examine the sender.

 

[Lpgc]

On my boat the fuel level sender is a lot closer to the rear of the tank than to the front of the tank. The gauge normally reads higher than actual tank level because it is at the deepest end of the tank due to the bow normally being higher than the stern.

I did think about the possibility of adding a 2nd sender closer to the front end of the tank... If senders are available in half or double elecrical resistance spec then it should be possible to wire them in series/parallel, the gauge would then read closer to average depth of the tank than depth just at one end of the tank.

 

[tpenfield]

The sender is in the middle of the tank (which makes sense) . . . I took the sender out for some bench testing.

The tank is pretty much empty . . . might be a gallon or so towards the back. The tank looks fine.

The sender does have some issues in a couple of the ranges. . .

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In the upper (more full) range the resistance is out of sequence and in the lower range (25-30% full) there are a couple of improper resistance values that show up intermittently . . . which is probably the reed switches acting up. It explains why I was seeing the inconsistency & dramatic drop as the tank level was lowered.

The values are not linear, but there does not seem to be a standard for such, other than the endpoints (33 - 240 ohms)

Anyway . . . I'll be getting a new sender.

 

[tpenfield]

FWIW - the tank is 20-21" deep (high), as the fuel sender is 20"

 

[Lpgc]

They may be designed not to be linear to compensate for some none linearity in the gauge or the way the voltage signal changes if it makes part of a voltage divider circuit etc?

But I see what you mean about the problem areas, it definitely shouldn't jump around in resistance like that.

 

[tpenfield]

I was not sure if the sender was the USA type (33-240) or the EU type (0-180), but confirmed it is the USA. My Veratron gauges have an analog input for the fuel sender and it is selectable as to USA or EU. I believe it also has a custom range setting. So, it is converting resistance to a % full value, which gets displayed on the screen.

 

[tpenfield]

I feel like I am attending the NMEA2000 'school of hard knocks'. I went to add a network connection to my Garmin GPSMap . . .

I got a 'drop' cable . . . went to hook it up . . . oopps !!! male-2-male connection. . . no worky . I guess the end resistor is supposed to be there on the 'backbone' . . .

Probably need the 'T' connector to add a connection . It should arrive tomorrow.

 

[nola mike]

like the snowblower.....

the what?

 

[nola mike]

So, aside from the mid range discrepancies (which agreed shouldn't be there), is the attitude of the boat on the trailer the same as when it's sitting on the water? My sender is also towards the stern, and it's location makes it so that the tank level doesn't start dropping there until it's used maybe 1/4 tank (again, depending on the balance of the boat). I ended up bending/modifying the pickup arm (traditional type not reed) so that it would give me the most accurate reading at idle, just me on board. Also I'm more concerned about accuracy when I'm below 1/2 tank. But I rarely let it get that low because I don't trust my gauge

 

[flashback]

Having faith in a fuel gage is futile.

 

[redneck joe]

Having faith in a fuel gage is futile.

i like my portable tanks. never understood why some have a gauge on them...


when i did have boats with them, always started out full and (when possible) refueled at half to quarter and always made sure to read while on then off plane. Kinda lets you know the 'slosh factor'

 

[alldodge]

Hey Ollie, wonder how ya get the slosh factor with a 50 and 100+ gallon tank?

 

[tpenfield]

The tank has several internal bulkheads, but I look at the tank readings while the boat is at rest.

 

[Pmt133]

The gauges on the 330 are pretty dampened. Only time you see "slosh" on the needle is when theres about 50 gallons or less left. The needle step is about 10 gallons give or take.

I treat the gauges the same way I treat my air supply on a call... 1/3 to get down range, 1/3 to f*** around 1/3 to get out and decon.

 

[tpenfield]

So, aside from the mid range discrepancies (which agreed shouldn't be there), is the attitude of the boat on the trailer the same as when it's sitting on the water?

The driveway is slightly sloped downward towards the stern. So, it is probably a little bit more bow-raised than how it sits in the water. It's a good position for winter storage, as any water readily drains. the tank is wider that it is front-to-back, and the sender is in the middle, so it measures fairly accurate, and pumps out well.

 

[Lou C]

the what?

28 year old Toro 5 hp Suzuki 2 stroke. "Ole Smokey"
the 2 blizzard like storms we had last year gave it a real work out. Next I might get a plow for my old '98 Jeep lol. Unless we get the heck out of NY!

 

[tpenfield]

I have a 1984 Toro 521, which was a workhorse last winter . . . it will be getting some of the gas that I pumped out of the boat.

This afternoon, I mixed up some 'winterization cocktail' for the engines and added it back to the now empty fuel tank . . . about 8 gallons. I ran each of the engines about 40 minutes to run the 'cocktail' through the In-line filters, the engine filters, and on into the fuel rails. The gph at idle was 0.6, which would have taken a long time . . . I ran the engine up to 900 RPM to get 0.8 gph so it didn't take as long.
.

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In my next lesson from the NMEA2000 'Academy', I attempted to add the GPS (Garmin) to the network . . . I think I chose the wrong connector, as the system got really mad when I turned it all on. Back to reading my homework to figure out what's going on . . .