ALMOST BLEW UP MY GAS TANK...READ THIS!

Okay. We will be here waiting.
 
Two thoughts. I just did mine on my 88.

My tanks are hooked to the bonding system. Could grounding it your new sender have caused a short?

The other, could the new sending unit have a fault?
 
Gasoline boils at 200 deg F.... I don't know how many gallons was in the tank.... The op thinks he put in 12 gallons ..so that we know..... With 12v how long would it take to boil 12 gl?....
I tried to boil 2 cups of water the other day on the stove at home... Now this is a fancy ass gas stove.... All be it I did watch and wait.... It took for frickn forever :)..... I am guessing.... but for sure two glasses of wine :)
 
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FredM said:
Friend,
The vent was whistling for no reason. I put my fingers at the vent hole where it was whistling, and hot gas (not liquid), was coming out the vent with so much force that I could not stop it. That's when I raced to cut off all electrical and abandon the boat.
I am an industrial engineer and an x- ham operator. I have experience with electricity traveling backwards thru grounds. I have a close friend who owned a Sea Ray Sundancer and is a certified Master Electrician. I will be contacting him today to discuss the incident.
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Lazy Daze said:
The vent is below the fill. Where exactly where you sticking your hand?
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dwna1a said:
Two thoughts. I just did mine on my 88.

My tanks are hooked to the bonding system. Could grounding it your new sender have caused a short?

The other, could the new sending unit have a fault?
Click to expand...
Part of my research is the TOUBLESHOOTING section of the instruction manual. When turned the key the first time, the gauge pinned to FULL with only 12 gal in the tank.. Troubleshooting said that was a dead short. So I stopped trying to crank the engine.
 
dwna1a said:
Two thoughts. I just did mine on my 88.

My tanks are hooked to the bonding system. Could grounding it your new sender have caused a short?

The other, could the new sending unit have a fault?
Click to expand...
Don't you mean the ground system? Bonding is to connect metals that are under the waterline but that system does connect to the boats ground at a single point. The bonding system is not supposed to be used for electrical circuits.
 
FredM said:
Part of my research is the TOUBLESHOOTING section of the instruction manual. When turned the key the first time, the gauge pinned to FULL with only 12 gal in the tank.. Troubleshooting said that was a dead short. So I stopped trying to crank the engine.
Click to expand...
In a "normal" system (I have to say that since something seems abnormal here), the fact that the sender is shorted to ground (pink wire to ground, for example) has absolutely no effect on the safety of starting the engine.
 
Thornton69 said:
Don't you mean the ground system? Bonding is to connect metals that are under the waterline but that system does connect to the boats ground at a single point. The bonding system is not supposed to be used for electrical circuits.
Click to expand...

most likely I do. Sorry
 
Blueone said:
Gasoline boils at 200 deg F.... I don't know how many gallons was in the tank.... The op thinks he put in 12 gallons ..so that we know..... With 12v how long would it take to boil 12 gl?....
I tried to boil 2 cups of water the other day on the stove at home... Now this is a fancy ass gas stove.... All be it I did watch and wait.... It took for frickn forever :)..... I am guessing.... but for sure two glasses of wine :)
Click to expand...
Drop Dead Georgous Boat.
 
A couple of things -
If the fuel tank is metallic then it must be bonded to the boat's bonding/ground system.
A separate ground/bonding wire (black) is connected to the fuel sender flange.
If the fuel tank is plastic (non-conductive) then the sender flange must be bonded to the boat's bonding/ground system.
These are ABYC / NEC requirements.
Should one connect battery positive to the fuel sender it will simply fry the tiny resistance wire in the sender. It is unlikely a spark inside of a fuel tank will cause a fire or "explode"; there is no oxygen. Also, even if that tiny resistance wire heated up it wouldn't "boil" any fuel; actually if that wire was submerged the fuel would only cool it.
All SR boats use a Pink wire for the sender gauge wire.
The only +12V wire in a fuel level analog system is to one of the posts on the back of the gauge.
The fuel level sender simply establishes a variable ground bias at milliampere current levels; below the ignition point of any fuel.
It seems to me if you are getting substantial venting from the vent port that is continuous then some external source is pressurizing the tank......
 
ttmott said:
A couple of things -
If the fuel tank is metallic then it must be bonded to the boat's bonding/ground system.
A separate ground/bonding wire (black) is connected to the fuel sender flange.
If the fuel tank is plastic (non-conductive) then the sender flange must be bonded to the boat's bonding/ground system.
These are ABYC / NEC requirements.
Should one connect battery positive to the fuel sender it will simply fry the tiny resistance wire in the sender. It is unlikely a spark inside of a fuel tank will cause a fire or "explode"; there is no oxygen. Also, even if that tiny resistance wire heated up it wouldn't "boil" any fuel; actually if that wire was submerged the fuel would only cool it.
All SR boats use a Pink wire for the sender gauge wire.
The only +12V wire in a fuel level analog system is to one of the posts on the back of the gauge.
The fuel level sender simply establishes a variable ground bias at milliampere current levels; below the ignition point of any fuel.
It seems to me if you are getting substantial venting from the vent port that is continuous then some external source is pressurizing the tank......
Click to expand...

I believe bonding wires are supposed to be green.
 
ttmott said:
A couple of things -
If the fuel tank is metallic then it must be bonded to the boat's bonding/ground system.
A separate ground/bonding wire (black) is connected to the fuel sender flange.
If the fuel tank is plastic (non-conductive) then the sender flange must be bonded to the boat's bonding/ground system.
These are ABYC / NEC requirements.
Should one connect battery positive to the fuel sender it will simply fry the tiny resistance wire in the sender. It is unlikely a spark inside of a fuel tank will cause a fire or "explode"; there is no oxygen. Also, even if that tiny resistance wire heated up it wouldn't "boil" any fuel; actually if that wire was submerged the fuel would only cool it.
All SR boats use a Pink wire for the sender gauge wire.
The only +12V wire in a fuel level analog system is to one of the posts on the back of the gauge.
The fuel level sender simply establishes a variable ground bias at milliampere current levels; below the ignition point of any fuel.
It seems to me if you are getting substantial venting from the vent port that is continuous then some external source is pressurizing the tank......
Click to expand...
Thank you
 
If I understand him....he cranks the engine a little while, hears his fuel tank boiling, sees hot gases erupting from his tank vent and shuts everything down. In that time he has boiled away 12 gallons of gas and even melted his aluminum tank as evidenced by aluminum residue everywhere.

No comment on the above but I wonder about his ground. He run a wire from the sender to a ground stud on the tank that's a few inches away. That shouldn't be a problem...but is the tank grounded to anything? Maybe that stud used to have a ground wire on it and has rotted off in 30 years. Without it his fuel gauge wouldn't work, wouldn't it peg to full?
 
Woody said:
If I understand him....he cranks the engine a little while, hears his fuel tank boiling, sees hot gases erupting from his tank vent and shuts everything down. In that time he has boiled away 12 gallons of gas and even melted his aluminum tank as evidenced by aluminum residue everywhere.

No comment on the above but I wonder about his ground. He run a wire from the sender to a ground stud on the tank that's a few inches away. That shouldn't be a problem...but is the tank grounded to anything? Maybe that stud used to have a ground wire on it and has rotted off in 30 years. Without it his fuel gauge wouldn't work, wouldn't it peg to full?
Click to expand...
Why are you over thinking this.... you cleaned up your leaves ?
 
To the folks responding to the OP. Quit being so gullible. 12 gallons of fuel boiling away? BS... Think about what that would take in reality.
 
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