Birchwood 22 petrol smell

[Sal7373]

Hi there,
We have purchased a Birchwood 22. When it was filled with petrol to the top fuel fumes filled the cabin. We checked beneath where the tank is and there was a small amount of fuel. This has been cleaned up. There are no leaks anywhere in the engine or tank. We can only assume that somewhere between the overflow pipe and/or the breather there is a split or the breather pipe is disconnected as fumes still fill the cabin over time. The problem is accessing it to check. The only way it seems is to remove the throttle leaver and panel(but it doesnt seem to come off) or cut a hole in the inside wall. Any ideas? Or has anyone had this issue before? Thank you, Sal

 

[kumala]

Hi, apologies for the late reply.
I had and fixed a similar problem on my 22. The tank when full allows fuel to lay in the filler pipe, which at the tank end consists of a number of threaded hard metal joints, before it connects to the flexible. On my boat, the fuel lying in this pipe would seep from these joints, causing the smell. This would happen between 3/4 and full, as the motion of the boat causes fuel to enter the filler pipe even when not completely full. The solution is to only fill to 3/4 in future, clean and dry the joints and use a good quality fuel resistant gasket sealer around the junctions. You can access these beneath the cockpit floor. Hope this helps

 

[Seastoke]

Remember petrol fumes are deadly , don’t do any cutting etc. VENTILATION

 

[jrudge]

+1. Petrol burns. Vapour explodes