Fuel primer bulb question

[JonnyQuest]

They aren't needed??
My Oday 27 came from PO with a fuel primer bulb between tank and mechanical fuel pump, and I never questioned whether it was neccessary. Fuel line comes out of top of fuel tank located under the cockpit sole (controlled by a fuel cutoff valve mounted on tank) and travels down hill (aha!...well, sort of aha) to the engine compartment. Continues to the racor water separator then to the silver inline fuel filter, then to primer bulb and then onto the fuel pump.

I was browsing older threads and found a comment that a fuel primer bulb is not neccessary--truth is I never really need to squeeze much if at all before bulb is full. Thread also stated that primer bulbs are a no-no in engine compartment since they tend to fail!

Aside from relocating the inline filter to between the pump and carb, and installing a fuel pressure gauge there too, should I ditch the primer bulb? Or is this needed to get over the initial hump--since my fuel pickup comes out the top of my fuel tank before heading downstream?

Thanks,

Jonny

[Marian Claire]

I ditched mine. I bypass the OPSS, electric pump, if needed. You can use the mechanical pump to prime the system. Just one less thing to go bad and I chased a fuel issue that ended up being a bad squeeze bulb. Dan S/V Marian Claire

[joe_db]

I am on squeeze bulb number 4 or 5 in 10 years for my dinghy. They DO fail and they DO leak. With a mechanical pump it already has a primer anyway.

[Burton]

I'm a bit puzzled about this business of locating the silver filter between the fuel pump and the carb - on my boat, which has a mechanical pump mounted right by the carb (with a short U shaped copper tube acting as the fuel line from pump to carb), I can't see how you could possibly install such a filter betwixt the two devices. Aren't all Atomic four installations similar (at least for boats with a mechanical fuel pump)?

[joe_db]

Like so, with allowances for the mechanical pump. Should be pretty close.

[JonnyQuest]

Thanks Dan and Joe. I was just planning to add the fuel pressure gauge so I'll get some extra hose and do away with the squeeze bulb while I'm at it. Happy sailing (and Afouring) to you!

[JonnyQuest]

I'm a bit puzzled about this business of locating the silver filter between the fuel pump and the carb - on my boat, which has a mechanical pump mounted right by the carb (with a short U shaped copper tube acting as the fuel line from pump to carb), I can't see how you could possibly install such a filter betwixt the two devices. Aren't all Atomic four installations similar (at least for boats with a mechanical fuel pump)?

Here's a picture that may help, Burton. Looks like fuel line replacing the copper tube makes a larger loop and curls back to the carb intake, with inline fuel filter right before the carb:

[Skywalker]

When I was re plumbing my fuel system this spring, I installed new fuel line, water separator, and polishing filter. My tank is a handful of inches higher than my electric pump. It would not draw and I thought I needed a new pump. I called Ken to order a pump, and he refused to sell me one. He told me that "many" people put a primer bulb in although it probably does not meet safety standards. I had the right size bulb in my box of stuff, so I installed it. A few squeezes later, my pump was pumping away.

I'm not sure how comfortable I am with it, but or now I'll leave it alone.

Chris

[JonnyQuest]

Hey Skywalker,
The dilemma of mucking around with a system that works--luck would have it that after removing the squeeze bulb I'll find out why the PO installed it in the first place!

I'll hold on to the length of hose with the squeeze bulb in case I need to add it back on.

Thanks for sharing you experience.
JQ

[msmith10]

I have needed the bulb a couple of times when a Racor clogged up and I had to change it while underway. (This was a frequent occurrence before I pulled the tank and cleaned it out). The electric pump wouldn't draw enough to fill the new Racor. However, I don't think the rubber bulb is safe or legal to leave permanently installed inline. What I do now is to carry the bulb with a short length of hose on one end. I store it in a baggie.
When I need it, I install it inline, pump it to fill the filter, then drain and disconnect it, put it back in the baggie.
Works fine and no safety issue. Of course, gasoline will eat the baggie so you want it drained well before storing it.

[Skywalker]

JQ

Once I know everything is working well. I'll probably remove it for peace of mind.

Ya never know

Chris

[marthur]

Those of you who feel as attached to the mechanical fuel pump as I do know what I am thinking about this primer bulb business

But seriously, is there a reason not to mount your electric fuel pump near the gas tank ahead of the rancor? That would take care of priming issues.

[sastanley]

Johnny Quest..I recognize that pic..

And yes, you remove the hard line and go to soft lines between the mech pump & carb to add the in-line filter and/or pressure gauge.

I ditched my primer bulb too..The very first year I had my boat I put one in, but I've removed it since. I've been able to prime thru the Racor after the engine shut down with the mech. primer lever (I forgot to open the petcock once)

The one time the squeezy bulb was useful was when my tank sprung a leak, and it allowed me (slowly) to pump out the fuel from the tank into jerry cans.

[JonnyQuest]

Hi Shawn,
Your photo is going to help me out this weekend with this project, thanks for posting it in the previous thread. To you and all the guys who have the forethought to snap photos and post them here, I offer a big thanks!

By the way, after looking at your setup, I wish I had painted my new mech fuel pump and new carb prior to installing them -- yours all matching look nice. I'll do that the next time I have components off.

By the way, I never figured out how to post an inline link to other threads on the forum, which would have been more helpful than pirating someone else's photos (gave you no credit either! )

[sastanley]

JQ,
What I do is simply open the thread I want to link to in another tab in my Firefox browser..then I copy the URL out of the address bar, and then paste it into my current reply.

You can also do this with pictures already uploaded..you can wrap the URL of the picture location inside {img} {/img} tags (use square brackets instead of squiggly), similar to how the italic, bold, etc. works.

That is an old engine pic...that cool orange paint was expensive and didn't hold up real well..I've sinced switched over to Rustoleum "Hammered Copper", which is more gold, and cheaper, and more readily available. I had to start special ordering the orange paint, so I decided that was enough of that, copied Neil's engine, and went to the hammered copper.

No fuel pump detail here, but this is what the engine looks like now. The rest of the engine compartment is a little cleaner, and I have FWC-ing now too.

If you hit the "quote" button, you can see how I did the attachment..this pic is from another thread too.