What a twat I am

hairbox

hairbox

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Hi all what a twat I filled up my boat Bavaria 40 with diesel yesterday , after a cracking sail today got back to the marina and noticed that I had left the filler cap off since filling up. We had torrential rain yesterday in the Solent rained on and of all day at times it was almost zero visibility due to the rain anyway has anyone got a special formulae or guesstamate on how much water is now in my tanks, also what would be the best way to remove it ?
 
hairbox said:
Hi all what a twat I filled up my boat Bavaria 40 with diesel yesterday , after a cracking sail today got back to the marina and noticed that I had left the filler cap off since filling up. We had torrential rain yesterday in the Solent rained on and of all day at times it was almost zero visibility due to the rain anyway has anyone got a special formulae or guesstamate on how much water is now in my tanks, also what would be the best way to remove it ?
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I guess that there isnt anything that would funnel the rain in (that would be a really daft idea...) So calculate the open area that might catch rain, multiply by rainfall for that time and you come up with something around 1/4 litre for a pretty serious downpour, not quite biblical flood level but still notably heavy rain.

What to do with it? trade it with a farmer or builder that has water separators on their tractor/digger.
Syphon out the bottom of the tank and for good measure get some diesel bug treatment in soon.
 
You cant estimate how much went in your tank with any degree of accuracy. The water will sink quickly through the diesel and coalesce together on the bottom. Let the boat sit for as long as you can and don't start engine.

If it was me, I would buy a small pump, easily available and low cost, a length of hose, a stiff pipe for the end. I would devise a way of getting the stiff pipe tot he lowest point in the tank, through the filler hose spigot, or any other point on top of the tank, and vacuum out the water from the deepest point. Stop wait and repeat. Use a clear hose and you can see when water / neat diesel changes over. Buy a few filters and check your water trap frequently.
 
Dougal Tolan said:
I guess that there isnt anything that would funnel the rain ....
Click to expand...

It depends on the toe rail and location of the filler to the scuppers. On some boats rain runs down the deck and our through a gap in the toe rail.
 
hairbox said:
Hi all what a twat I filled up my boat Bavaria 40 with diesel yesterday , after a cracking sail today got back to the marina and noticed that I had left the filler cap off since filling up. We had torrential rain yesterday in the Solent rained on and of all day at times it was almost zero visibility due to the rain anyway has anyone got a special formulae or guesstamate on how much water is now in my tanks, also what would be the best way to remove it ?
Click to expand...

Had worse. +1 for the advice of just pumping out from the bottom of the tank.

Warning though: very carefully check where the deepest part of your tank is. I diligently pumped out half a litre every six months for three or four years from what I thought was the bottom of the tank, only to find a litre of water in the actual deepest part of the tank when I drained it completely.
 
How big is the tank, if smallish ide be tempted to drain,clean and add fresh fuel....... last thing you need is water in your fuel system

if its a big tank and you can let it settle you could drain it from the bottom, you'll be able to tell when you hit the fuel
 
If it got lots of rain in the tank and you had spent some time motoring I think you would have noticed it already.

Yes you will have a bit in there but not much. Have you got any water in the separator?
 
lpdsn said:
+1 for the advice of just pumping out from the bottom of the tank.
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+2.
I regularly use the outer of a bowden cable (bought from the local bike shop) to reach the bottom of the tank. I use either a hand suction pump or 12V diesel pump from Lidl/Aldi to suck from the bottom of the fuel tank to check for water. The bowden cable's metal allows better sensing of hitting the bottom.
Cheers
Bob
 
At a guess even with an inch of rain you'd have about 50ml nothing to worry about. You might even have more than that in your tank already. Don't you have a water separator filter?
 
Use your Pela vacuum pump ( the one you use to drain the engine oil ) to suck out the water and muck from the bottom of the fuel tank. You should be able to get access by removing the tank level sender.

I found a piece of copper fuel / gas / brake pipe fitted into the Pela vacuum tube and made it easier to direct my vacuum.

Only proviso - make sure the fuel level is low enough that it won't flood out when you remove the sender
 
KevinT1 said:
Use your Pela vacuum pump ( the one you use to drain the engine oil ) to suck out the water and muck from the bottom of the fuel tank. You should be able to get access by removing the tank level sender.

I found a piece of copper fuel / gas / brake pipe fitted into the Pela vacuum tube and made it easier to direct my vacuum.

Only proviso - make sure the fuel level is low enough that it won't flood out when you remove the sender
Click to expand...
Nail on head!
Stu
 
Hi this is what I came up with

Rainfall 11.9mm
Area of filler pipe diameter 38mm / 2 = 19mm x pi r2 = 1134.11
11.9mm x 1134.11mm = 13495.909 / 1000 = 13.5 ml
Does this look about right ?
 
I am assuming your Bav has a typical AWB plastic tank with no bottom access for a drain tap. If you have not done it previously with a Pela type pump tube through a top hole you will probably find more than a little water in the tank, possibly black and mucky. After about six years from new got about half a pint of black mucky water out of the bottom of my Jeanneau tank. Was not causing any problems, but it was there, and that was without leaving the filler cap off in rain.

As others have said, you'll have to part-use the tank contents first so you're confident opening a top fitting won't cause a spill.
 
If your tank is a "proper" fuel tank, it will have a water/dirt sump with a drain. Just use the drain to run off the water. Simple.
 
What about those water absorbers that collect water but not diesel. I think ASAP sell them if you can get it in and out of the tank. Or, if you've no inspection hatch, drill a hole on the top of the tank and insert a pump hose to the bottom of the tank and pump out that way. Screw a bolt into the hole sealed with Sikaflex to complete.
 
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