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I pulled the fuel tank peep hole fitting to replace the old lens. I noticed that there appears to be an inner ring with two slots that would serve as “ears” to unscrew this inner ring. Is this correct? Will the inner ring unscrew so I can remove the old lens? I want to check before I begin banging away. Any tips from those who have boldly gone before?
Dan Kalinowski
Jolly Lama #135
Ko Olina, O’ahu -
Dan, I found a nice brass fixed port at a marine flea market and replaced the entire assembly. As I recall, the original was aluminum and the inner ring was badly corroded. Perhaps another member was successful in changing the lens. Mine looked like it would be more trouble than it was worth. While you have it out, epoxy around the hole to preserve the balsa core.
Hank S.
Shay #80 Ketch
Ft. Lauderdale________________________________
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My inner ring crumbled when removed. I just cut a circle of lexan and screwed and caulked it in place. It has been there for ten years and shows no sign of wear
Linus
On a good day I can see the other side of the river!
On Mar 13, 2012, at 9:01 PM, hs wrote:
Quote:Dan, I found a nice brass fixed port at a marine flea market and replaced the entire assembly. As I recall, the original was aluminum and the inner ring was badly corroded. Perhaps another member was successful in changing the lens. Mine looked like it would be more trouble than it was worth. While you have it out, epoxy around the hole to preserve the balsa core.Hank S.
Shay #80 Ketch
Ft. Lauderdale________________________________
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Dan,
I can’t think of a stupider way to measure fuel level. I used to get down on my hands and knees to observe the gauge. I think there is a drop-in transducer that will drive most remote gauges. You might need one that slides up-and-down rather than one that is hinged. When I replaced my tank and engine, I had a remote gauge added to the instrument panel.About the old peep hole, I thought the glass was held in with a snap-ring. These would help.
http://www.harborfreight.com/snap-ring-pliers-with-interchangeable-heads-3316.htmlRich
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The inside ring that holds the glass in the peep port appears to be brass. I’m letting it soak in PB Blaster to see if I can break it loose.
This is indeed a silly way to check the fuel level. However, installing a new fuel sender unit without pulling the engine and tank looks like it would require a boneless 2 foot midget. Not many of these running O’ahu. Of course, the deck peep hole is only large enough for one arm at a time.
Dan Kalinowski
Jolly Lama #135
Ko Olina, O’ahu -
The inside ring that holds the glass in the peep port appears to be brass. I’m letting it soak in PB Blaster to see if I can break it loose.
This is indeed a silly way to check the fuel level. However, installing a new fuel sender unit without pulling the engine and tank looks like it would require a boneless 2 foot midget. Not many of these running O’ahu. Of course, the deck peep hole is only large enough for one arm at a time.
Dan Kalinowski
Jolly Lama #135
Ko Olina, O’ahu -
Not true – you can do it one-armed. Also, you can remove the plywood
between the port lazarette and work that way. But the six screws remove
the measuring unit and a new one will have the same pattern. There is only
one wire to the unit (the tank should be grounded already).Easy peasy. Although I haven’t done mine yet. I just polished and
rebedded my sight glass and called it good.Bob
On Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 2:50 PM, kalinowski wrote:
The inside ring that holds the glass in the peep port appears to be brass.
I’m letting it soak in PB Blaster to see if I can break it loose.This is indeed a silly way to check the fuel level. However, installing a
new fuel sender unit without pulling the engine and tank looks like it
would require a boneless 2 foot midget. Not many of these running O’ahu.
Of course, the deck peep hole is only large enough for one arm at a time.Dan Kalinowski
Jolly Lama #135
Ko Olina, O’ahu_______________________________________________
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Bob Fine
s/v Pelican
Pearson 424 Hull #8
http://thesailinglife.blogspot.com
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Looks like there are many variations on the fuel gauge sight glass. I
inherited a round Beckson port with a screw in clear cover. I had to
replace it a few years ago with another Beckson. When I replaced the fuel
tank in 2008 I went with another mechanical gauge. They’re pretty much
fool proof. The only thing more reliable would be an access port on the
tank and wooden stick. When on a passage I only need to check the fuel
once every other day or so. It’s not like this is something I monitor on a
real time basis so getting down on my 70-year old knees is not a big deal.Regards,
John Stevenson
http://www.svsarah.comOn Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 5:04 PM, kalinowski wrote:
Aloha Bob: when you said that you just polished it and rebedded it, did
you mean that you polished the glass? If this is possible, what did you
use and how did you do it?Dan Kalinowski
Jolly Lama #135
Ko Olina, O’ahu_______________________________________________
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My glass isn’t glass, it’s acrylic so that I just used plastic polish.
Hey, presto! Clear again.Bob
On Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 5:04 PM, kalinowski wrote:
Aloha Bob: when you said that you just polished it and rebedded it, did
you mean that you polished the glass? If this is possible, what did you
use and how did you do it?Dan Kalinowski
Jolly Lama #135
Ko Olina, O’ahu_______________________________________________
maillist mailing listhttps://pearson424.org/mailman/listinfo/maillist_pearson424.org
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Bob Fine
s/v Pelican
Pearson 424 Hull #8
http://thesailinglife.blogspot.com
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You could train a small octopus to do the job…
On 3/14/2012 12:50 PM, kalinowski wrote:
The inside ring that holds the glass in the peep port appears to be brass. I’m letting it soak in PB Blaster to see if I can break it loose.
This is indeed a silly way to check the fuel level. However, installing a new fuel sender unit without pulling the engine and tank looks like it would require a boneless 2 foot midget. Not many of these running O’ahu. Of course, the deck peep hole is only large enough for one arm at a time.
Dan Kalinowski
Jolly Lama #135
Ko Olina, O’ahu_______________________________________________
maillist mailing listhttps://pearson424.org/mailman/listinfo/maillist_pearson424.org
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Assume the engine uses 1 gallon an hour. Keep track of the engine hours when you fill the tank and with engine usage. Refill tank as needed….
My w58 uses about .8 gallons an hour at normal cruising speeds. This gives me about 20% safety factor.
Works well and uses no technology to fail.
I have not looked at the fuel gauge in several years.
Alan
Still in Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas— On Wed, 3/14/12, Pete Dubler wrote:
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I installed a sender 4 years ago (bought at West Marine – has arm that
floats) 1 handed, not hard to do.Rick
EclipseOn Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 4:31 PM, Robert Fine wrote:
Not true – you can do it one-armed. Also, you can remove the plywood
between the port lazarette and work that way. But the six screws remove
the measuring unit and a new one will have the same pattern. There is only
one wire to the unit (the tank should be grounded already).Easy peasy. Although I haven’t done mine yet. I just polished and
rebedded my sight glass and called it good.Bob
On Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 2:50 PM, kalinowski <
wrote:
The inside ring that holds the glass in the peep port appears to be
brass.
I’m letting it soak in PB Blaster to see if I can break it loose.
This is indeed a silly way to check the fuel level. However, installing
a
new fuel sender unit without pulling the engine and tank looks like it
would require a boneless 2 foot midget. Not many of these running O’ahu.
Of course, the deck peep hole is only large enough for one arm at atime.
Dan Kalinowski
Jolly Lama #135
Ko Olina, O’ahu_______________________________________________
maillist mailing listhttps://pearson424.org/mailman/listinfo/maillist_pearson424.org
—
Bob Fine
s/v Pelican
Pearson 424 Hull #8
http://thesailinglife.blogspot.com
_______________________________________________
maillist mailing listhttps://pearson424.org/mailman/listinfo/maillist_pearson424.org
_______________________________________________
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Wow! My boat must have had a special owner option;)
The peep is all brass and real glass. Wire brushed the exposed inner ring threads and moved up to Aero Croil penetrant. We’ll see what happens. I did find some core rot around the hole. One thing leads to another.Dan Kalinowski
Jolly Lama #135
Ko Olina, O’ahu -
We are a few hull numbers before you, Dan. Also have the metal (bronze?) and glass port. Installed an electric sender and guage which is somewhat erratic probably because of a bad connection somewhere. Put the port back in, makes a good skylight.
Plan to take the port back out soon to remove the rotted balsa in the cockpit sole with a coat hanger. Vintage boats are such fun!Quent
S/V Clairebuoyant, #132 -
As I recall, the fuel sender is accessible by climbing into the starboard locker and reaching across the top of the tank. Access is also available by removing the sight glass. Between the two access places, its not a big deal to service or replace the fuel-gauge.
As long as the tank baffles don’t interfere with the swing-arm on the sender, replacement of the mechanical gauge should be straightforward. Of course, you need a convenient place to mount the gauge. I was repowering at the the time so I build the replacement instrument panel with an integral fuel gauge.
When I replaced my tank, the fabricator installed the baffles such that the swing-arm wouldn’t work. We ended up replacing the swing-arm sender with a vertical type sender. A custom length had to be made since the replacement tank was an inch or so shorter than the original. All works now.
http://www.richardcarter.net/boat/pix/instruments.JPGRich
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Well, I couldn’t free up the brass ring holding the glass in the peep hole. I did, however, manage to polish up the glass enough to improve the clarity. I’ve decided to stay low tech and keep the old gauge (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it). My problem was visual as it was very hard to read the gauge with crazed glass. I will install a light above the tank (underneath the cockpit floor) to illuminate the gauge and wire it into the steaming lights. This will solve the problem for me.
Dan Kalinowski
Jolly Lama #135
Ko Olina, O’ahu -
A flashlight works very well…
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I have a small light that is on when the running lights are on. It works
pretty well. During the day, I actually have to shield my eyes to see
inside.Bob
On Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 1:28 PM, Joseph Steiner wrote:
Quote:A flashlight works very well…________________________________
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I have a small light that is on when the running lights are on. It works
pretty well. During the day, I actually have to shield my eyes to see
inside.Bob
On Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 1:28 PM, Joseph Steiner wrote:
Quote:A flashlight works very well…________________________________
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Dan
Before I replaced mine it was scratched badly. I would dribble a little water on the face and it became transparent again. Just if it gets scratched again in the futureLinus
On a good day I can see the other side of the river!
On Mar 16, 2012, at 1:17 PM, “kalinowski” wrote:
Well, I couldn’t free up the brass ring holding the glass in the peep hole. I did, however, manage to polish up the glass enough to improve the clarity. I’ve decided to stay low tech and keep the old gauge (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it). My problem was visual as it was very hard to read the gauge with crazed glass. I will install a light above the tank (underneath the cockpit floor) to illuminate the gauge and wire it into the steaming lights. This will solve the problem for me.
Dan Kalinowski
Jolly Lama #135
Ko Olina, O’ahu_______________________________________________
maillist mailing listhttps://pearson424.org/mailman/listinfo/maillist_pearson424.org
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