sea trials

markg · 30 August 2010, 23:36

took the rib down to barmouth for the weekend after all the work fitting the tubes and the fit of seats and consoles etc. i was keen to get her afloat, we got down to barmouth on saturday and after putting the tent up and all the other stuff the day had gone, so she spent the night on the trailer on the harbour masters hard standing by the slip,
sunday, sea was not good so launched and went up the river, the opti did not like 4 knots in the harbour, i did have to give it some throttle to get some water through the engine but once up to about 2k revs it dropped temp to about 41-46 ish, all went well no problems, i have no sounder or gps fitted yet so we didnt push our luck and stayed in the main river channel at quite sedate speeds
monday, sea flat calm at 6am, looks good for a little pootle outside the harbour and up the coast a mile or so, so launch, over the bar and head north to hug the shoreline, after maybe 5-600yds we stopped turned off the engine and had a drink of water, after ten mins or so we start up and off we go a bit further except this time we dont, the engine stopped after about 10 seconds, not fuel we have 80 litres in tank and 10 spare in seat pod, tried to restart, same again ran a bit and stopped bugger.
i had put a primer bulb in the fuel line in the transom well and this had sucked flat, so fuel not getting through from filter in console, all new filters, so goes to get screwdriver from seat pod, no screwdriver, i had put it in but had used it again and not put it back, bugger again, dropped the anchor in and got the handheld vhf out to ask for assistance, vhf not working, would recieve but not transmit , battery low but was on fully charged 2 hours previous, call harbour masters office on mobile they get on vhf and a couple of mins later a very nice couple turned up in a menai rib and gave us a tow back in to harbour, thanks simon i really appreciated your help today, the ilb crew also came over to keep an eye on us , fuel tank is new, filters are new,fuel lines new, the only thing i can think of is that when i fitted the tank, the breather outlet is 19mm and the breather fitting 13mm, i had to get some 19mm id pipe and left the breather open for a few days, i am thinking maybe a slug or flies or beetles has got in and blocked either the water seperator filter or poss the fuel line, will have a look tomorrow,

Northern Tim · 31 August 2010, 09:54

Boooo, sounds a bit like my day yesterday!
Glad you got back safely though, and I hope you find the problem.

Downhilldai · 31 August 2010, 11:04

Did you try removing the fuel fill cap to check whether there was a vacuum inside the tank?

markg · 31 August 2010, 14:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

Did you try removing the fuel fill cap to check whether there was a vacuum inside the tank?

yes did that, no vacuum, if the screwdriver had been where it should have been i could have blown down the fuel pipe but it would only have cleared a blocked pickup pipe, i think i will add a spare filter and fuel line to the bits box
i did intend to swill the tank out with diesel before i fitted it but i didnt for some reason

walruz · 31 August 2010, 18:34

silly question perhaps but is the primer bulb on the wrong way round???

Ian

Erin · 31 August 2010, 19:39

I had something very similar once. I thought my tank pickup had blocked but after some looking, I found some crud had wedged itself against the barbed inlet on the fuel filter. Unless I'd taken that particular connection apart, I'd have never known. I'd therefore suggest you pull the fuel lines off the filter first and have a look.

Hightower · 31 August 2010, 22:39

What make is your Primer Bulb?

tony t · 31 August 2010, 22:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by markg

took the rib down to barmouth for the weekend after all the work fitting the tubes and the fit of seats and consoles etc. i was keen to get her afloat, we got down to barmouth on saturday and after putting the tent up and all the other stuff the day had gone, so she spent the night on the trailer on the harbour masters hard standing by the slip,
sunday, sea was not good so launched and went up the river, the opti did not like 4 knots in the harbour, i did have to give it some throttle to get some water through the engine but once up to about 2k revs it dropped temp to about 41-46 ish, all went well no problems, i have no sounder or gps fitted yet so we didnt push our luck and stayed in the main river channel at quite sedate speeds
monday, sea flat calm at 6am, looks good for a little pootle outside the harbour and up the coast a mile or so, so launch, over the bar and head north to hug the shoreline, after maybe 5-600yds we stopped turned off the engine and had a drink of water, after ten mins or so we start up and off we go a bit further except this time we dont, the engine stopped after about 10 seconds, not fuel we have 80 litres in tank and 10 spare in seat pod, tried to restart, same again ran a bit and stopped bugger.
i had put a primer bulb in the fuel line in the transom well and this had sucked flat, so fuel not getting through from filter in console, all new filters, so goes to get screwdriver from seat pod, no screwdriver, i had put it in but had used it again and not put it back, bugger again, dropped the anchor in and got the handheld vhf out to ask for assistance, vhf not working, would recieve but not transmit , battery low but was on fully charged 2 hours previous, call harbour masters office on mobile they get on vhf and a couple of mins later a very nice couple turned up in a menai rib and gave us a tow back in to harbour, thanks simon i really appreciated your help today, the ilb crew also came over to keep an eye on us , fuel tank is new, filters are new,fuel lines new, the only thing i can think of is that when i fitted the tank, the breather outlet is 19mm and the breather fitting 13mm, i had to get some 19mm id pipe and left the breather open for a few days, i am thinking maybe a slug or flies or beetles has got in and blocked either the water seperator filter or poss the fuel line, will have a look tomorrow,

we were around barmouth the weekend we had a trip to shell island on Monday, we would have nipped in to barmouth on the way if we had known you was out
next time your around and want to give her a run let me know
tony t

markg · 31 August 2010, 23:48

primer bulb is in the right way, i dont know the make of it but it didnt go back to bulb shape from flat ie. suck fuel until this morning, the opti seems to pull enough fuel itself so i think i will remove the bulb, check the filter connections and change the filter and blow the fuel line through,
tony were you about by caerdaniel where they launch off the beach about 10.30 ish , there was a black rib there and it didnt look like an osprey, i will get in touch next time we are out but it will most probably be march next year, i am tied up with work for the next few months, this weekend was just a quick trip to try and find any gremlins really, so i can sort them through the winter, still have to fit a vhf and plotter and a couple of grab rails etc. cheers, mark

Downhilldai · 01 September 2010, 00:21

Check whether the 'blockage' is before, after, or in the filter, by removing the hose connections, in turn, starting at the fuel tank, then the inlet of the filter, next the outlet of the filter, then the inlet of the primer bulb, etc. When you hear the vacuum release, the blockage will be one stage upline (towards the tank) of that point.

tony t · 01 September 2010, 20:58

tony were you about by caerdaniel where they launch off the beach about 10.30 ish , there was a black rib there and it didnt look like an osprey, i will get in touch next time we are out but it will most probably be march next year, i am tied up with work for the next few months, this weekend was just a quick trip to try and find any gremlins really, so i can sort them through the winter, still have to fit a vhf and plotter and a couple of grab rails etc. cheers, mark [/QUOTE]

yes that was us mark we stopped at caerdaniel for a few minutes on the way to shell island, (look like a osprey)

there where plenty of jet ski,s about didn't see any ribs is that where you stayed looks a nice place wouldn't like to launch from there though looked a bit like hard work with that incoming swell

tony

markg · 01 September 2010, 23:54

yes we stayed at caerdaniel, the reason i said it didnt look like an osprey is that all of the ribs in the pound at caerdaniel are ospreys and none of them are black, so i knew the boat was not from there, suspected it may be you, we may have seen you later if the fuel problem had not happened, we launched from the beach inside the harbour as the slip was pretty busy, at caerdaniel they apparently tip the boats off the trailer onto the beach and wait for the tide, we will be looking to store ours down that way for the summer months next year so if you can reccomend anywhere i would be grateful,
we are between shifnal and albrighton if you are in our area anytime, you are welcome to drop in for a brew and a chinwag