Wanaflatsfish Posted November 26, 2016 Report Share Posted November 26, 2016 Last trip in da skinny mini with Capt DonH, was a trip from H3LL.... We caught some bad fuel at the MARATHON in Everglades City...(confirmed by a Capt we met at the Circle K when we were filling) - nasty brown residue filled the RACOR. Long story short....I found some brown residual in the bottom of the RACOR on the previous trip...I drained it out, drained the tank, and thought it was good to go.......the boat ran "ok" for the morning; however, we were 26 miles from Choko down near the Wood Key....we start back and the ball kept going flat...Don was able to pump it but it kept getting worse and work until we got to the point where we only able to make way at about 8 mph and it was getting dark....no good.. We didn't see anything in the filter bulb...but, it wouldn't come up on plane. I should have thought about it on the water...but, I didn't...got back to home and called my dealer (BOAT CENTER) - spoke with Mike in parts....he suggested to check from the tank forward. 1.) Took off the anti-siphon ball and found this crap !!!! Uggh....I should have known 2.) Took off all the lines and blew them out...nothing, but changed out the RACOR..... 3.) Per Mike's suggestion, blew out the intake line as well on the tank..so, it should be good to go 4.) changed out all the lines to the ball and the engine with new hoses....bought an extra ball as backup... Hopefully this will be the fix....pumped the ball for a few seconds and it filled the RACOR - good suction...cranked it up...ball went hard...running her in the a.m. in the lakes to see how she runs.... Just a reminder to all....check the Anti-Siphon after you see anything in the fuel bulb, other than a bit of water.... IMG_2350 by Dino Cardelli, on Flickr Popeye - aka Capt DonH is ready for the next adventure dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCFD rtrd. Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 Man, you got some poo-poo in your fuel. Those anti-siphon valves have very slight tolerances to particulate matter. Good information. Glad you are back on the water. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conocean Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 Ugh, sorry to hear that Dino! It's not a good feeling to be all the way down at Wood Key with fuel problems. I always try to avoid filling up at Marathon but the homemade ice cream there is awesome! The Rec90 fuel at Circle K has never done me wrong but I always try to fill-up before I leave Pompano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted November 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 8 hours ago, conocean said: Ugh, sorry to hear that Dino! It's not a good feeling to be all the way down at Wood Key with fuel problems. I always try to avoid filling up at Marathon but the homemade ice cream there is awesome! The Rec90 fuel at Circle K has never done me wrong but I always try to fill-up before I leave Pompano. I hear ya....I'm now going to insure that I use a "pre-filter" as I pour the gas into the tank....my problem is no Rec 90 in route to Choko for me....I might have to just use my jugs for hurricane prep during the off months...I have 6-5 gallon jugs....we usually run about 12 gallons per trip when we run south.......see the pic below.... Shurhold SIF8C Fuel Filter Funnel I have one...but, never used it except when I was filling at Marina's in the keys...looks like now, it's a must have for Everglades City. Capt Thompsen was filling his jugs at the Circle K and was the one who confirmed he had the same problem....so bad, he actually had to remove the filters.....and change them out twice....ugggh.....he was at the Rogers...not good DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conocean Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 I've checked with a few regulars and none of them have ever had issues with the Rec90 fuel at the Circle K in Everglades City. I've filled-up at the Circle K dozens of times over the past 10 years with no issues. Have you heard anything different about the fuel from that Circle K? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Nelson Posted December 2, 2016 Report Share Posted December 2, 2016 Does it really slow down the fill time using one of the filter funnels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted December 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2016 8 hours ago, Dale Nelson said: Does it really slow down the fill time using one of the filter funnels? YES, but, rather be slow at the fill than take 3 hours to get home probably 2x's as much time...but, I"m only filling mostly 10-12 gallons at a time...so, it's not a big deal. dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted December 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2016 On November 29, 2016 at 1:56 PM, conocean said: I've checked with a few regulars and none of them have ever had issues with the Rec90 fuel at the Circle K in Everglades City. I've filled-up at the Circle K dozens of times over the past 10 years with no issues. Have you heard anything different about the fuel from that Circle K? DonH and I used to fill at Marathon as they have the ice-cream bars he likes and the Subway is a nice treat late in the day sometimes....it's on the way home and easy in / out. We tried to fill on the way out, as you can get some longer lines in the a.m. when the larger boats are filling....we only needed 10-12 gallons most days... that being said, I've never really filled up at the CK...so, I'll go on your advice.....you can always have a problem in the little towns when it come to fuel, especially at the Marina who don't have above ground tanks....with the "pre-filter" I should be good to go....fingers and toes crossed...the last adventure was not a good one. The problem is there is nothing near where I live for REC fuel in route to fishing...the other option I'm considering is using my Hurricane jugs and filling up 2-3 when I'm out on the road...it's a lot of work and PIA.... dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubble Posted December 10, 2016 Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 Do you guys take extra fuel with you in the glades? I may do an overnight down to shark or rogers and stay in the chickee with a buddy boat. He wants to run past pdleon or whtwater but he says we'll need plenty of extra fuel. He is taking a MA-18 with a smaller fuel tank and 2-banger. I'll be in the Pathy with 50 gal. How much more fuell would I need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted December 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2016 On 12/9/2016 at 11:00 PM, rubble said: Do you guys take extra fuel with you in the glades? I may do an overnight down to shark or rogers and stay in the chickee with a buddy boat. He wants to run past pdleon or whtwater but he says we'll need plenty of extra fuel. He is taking a MA-18 with a smaller fuel tank and 2-banger. I'll be in the Pathy with 50 gal. How much more fuell would I need? I would take 15-20 to be sure you can always make it back....depends on your mileage...but, again, rule of thumb....1/3 out, 1/3 back, 1/3 safety... The run from Everglades City to Rodgers area is gone be about 40-50 miles if I recall..so, with your Pathy at 50 gallons, you probably have about 150-180 range? but, you can't go wrong with extra fuel...you just place it down when you get your camping site...I've not heard of people stealing gas in ENP from camp sites. dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted December 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2016 Out yesterday to run the skinny mini.... I needed fuel from my last trip to be refilled.... I decided to fill at the Circle K and used my Shurhold filter....I was surprised to see some flakes of gunk in the basket after I finished...... I ran the Pathy T a total of 47 miles....the fuel ball was hard as a rock all day....the boat never missed a beat.... I did put on a new RACOR Filter and changed the plugs and checked the on-engine filter...all new....seems problem was the gunk in the line.. While the amount of "flakes" were not excessive, i'm just amazed to see how much "gunk" was in it after only 10 gallons.... The filter is a bit of a PIA, and takes about 5 min to fill 12 gallons as you have to go slow..but, for me, 5 min more on land, is worth several hours of problem on the water Tight lines..... dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonV Posted December 18, 2016 Report Share Posted December 18, 2016 Good move Dino! I'm a big fan of carrying a 5510 Racor spin on filter as a spare (in a gallon size heavy duty zip-lock). The Racor's with the see through bottom can be a pain in the rear to swap out if you have a filter issue. Oh yeah, and a rubber strap wrench. Only had to do a change one time on the water, but it was quick and easy. Take care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conocean Posted December 19, 2016 Report Share Posted December 19, 2016 Dino- I'm willing to bet that you will find particles in that filter regardless of what gas station you go to. I put 28 gallons in my boat at Circle K in Glades City on Thursday then fished Friday and Saturday with no problems. My fuel filters are clean. I'd rather be lucky than good any day!! Nice to see you on the water in Choko.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue dolphin Posted December 19, 2016 Report Share Posted December 19, 2016 I had a leaking fuel tank in a 34 SeaVee, had water in fuel repeatedly but no gas odor in bilge. Used that funnel with an electric fuel pump to polish the tank, ran the pump continuously with the funnel in the fuel fill until all water and junk was cleared from tank. Worked well and was reasonably fast. Keep in mind if your tank ever gets contaminated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted December 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 22 hours ago, conocean said: Dino- I'm willing to bet that you will find particles in that filter regardless of what gas station you go to. I put 28 gallons in my boat at Circle K in Glades City on Thursday then fished Friday and Saturday with no problems. My fuel filters are clean. I'd rather be lucky than good any day!! Nice to see you on the water in Choko.... You are probably right...that why we all have RACOR's on our boats...May be over kill..but, I guess I'm gun shy from my last severe problem. DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted December 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 13 hours ago, blue dolphin said: I had a leaking fuel tank in a 34 SeaVee, had water in fuel repeatedly but no gas odor in bilge. Used that funnel with an electric fuel pump to polish the tank, ran the pump continuously with the funnel in the fuel fill until all water and junk was cleared from tank. Worked well and was reasonably fast. Keep in mind if your tank ever gets contaminated. good point...didn't think of that one... dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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