Gas tank vent whistles

The NY Dad

Member
Jul 10, 2017
71
Arizona
Boat Info
2010 185 sport
Engines
190hp 4.3l Mercruiser
When we fill the tank on our 185 sport. It always splashes back out of the filler. I am considering a vent line whistle. I found 2 Green Marine Fuel Whistle, and Whisalert. From what i have read the Fuel Whistle works well but the whistle is annoyingly loud and piercing. I cant find much on the Whisalert, the one review I did find said it restricted the vent line so badly they could hardly fill the tank and they removed it. Anyone familiar with these whistles. Is the Whisalert loud and annoying also? Thanks
 
If you listen closely, you can hear a "gurgle" sound coming from the fill. When you hear that, stop - it is full. This is absolutely normal and is common to pretty much all small (and some large) boats.

The previous owner of my Grady installed a whistle - while I don't know what brand it is, it is definitely noticeable - which certainly makes things easier.
 
It's to bad my fuel vent is on the opposite side of the boat.

I can't hear it and when I eventually hear the gurgle from the fill it's to late. :(
 
The gurgle comes from the deck fill plate, not the vent.

I put Ocean Accessories vent whistles on my 390EC. The fill hose was almost horizontal so you got very little warning when the tank was full. The whistles drove the dogs crazy and the fuel dock guys hated them, but if you stop pumping fuel when you got tired of the noise or when the whistle stopped, you don't spill a drop.
 
I did see the Ocean Accessories whistle, it looks to be the same as the Green Marine whistle, and I believe there is another brand with a whistle that looks the same, I figured Green Marine made them all and just allowed the others to put their own name on them. As far as listening at the filler for the gurgle, most of the time I fill at the gas station down the street and the noise of other vehicles going by drowns out hearing anything at the filler.
 
I did see the Ocean Accessories whistle, it looks to be the same as the Green Marine whistle, and I believe there is another brand with a whistle that looks the same, I figured Green Marine made them all and just allowed the others to put their own name on them. As far as listening at the filler for the gurgle, most of the time I fill at the gas station down the street and the noise of other vehicles going by drowns out hearing anything at the filler.

Yeah, you do have to get your ear pretty close to the filler to hear it with ambient noises around. I've never once gotten spit up on, though. Still doable (depending on age of your ears, I suppose!), but there's no doubt the whistler makes things easier.
 
Thanks for the info, I may go a different direction. I have seen alot of good things said about the Racor LG100 fuel air seperator. It costs about 3 times as much, but, no annoying whistle and pump nozzle shuts off automatically just like filling your car from what I have read on line.
 
Third addition, are you saying even with the LG100 separator installed the pumps at the docks won't shut off in time to stop full spitting back. Just asking because I don't want to waste the money if it doesn't work.

Anybody on here with experience with these air fuel separators?

One test I saw from Boat US Foundation said it was the only device in the test that stopped fuel spitting back on each and every test they did. They also said in the test the fuel nozzle they used was a marine fuel nozzle like they use at the docks,purchased from a marine product distributor and it shut the flow off automatically.
 
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Hi NY Dad. I have no experience with LG100 separators. I do have significant experience with pumps at the docks not shutting off when gasoline hits the nozzle. That is why I went with the whistles. No spills anymore.

My assumption has always been that fuel docks may not have top notch fuel nozzles, and that the shut-off mechanism isn't to be trusted. With LG100 separators that may not matter.
 

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