Where do you store your fuel dip stick

[a64pilot]

Only two things I’ll add, if you have a sight gauge, that is a clear tube, best to have a shut off valve on both ends, that way with the valves off, it can’t leak, just remember to open them to take a reading. It has happened before.
If you use a dip stick, make darn sure it’s long enough so that it cannot be dropped into the tank, that last mostly for airplanes as their fuel filler hole is large and the tanks shallow, but it could happen to a boat too I guess.

[Althebass]

Our dip stick is a bronze rod with notches. It lives in the tank, attached in a threaded hole with flange in the top of the stainless tank. The top of the dip stick has a corresponding male thread and a wing nut to remove it.

[waterman46]

Wipe dipstick off with a rag or paper towel and put it under the deck on top of the tank. No it doesn't stink up the cabin, but the rag or towel will, so put those out on deck in a bucket or basket where they won't fly away, until you can take trash ashore.
I think this works because my wife, who is a relative newcomer to boating, has not complained of diesel smell on our boat.

I do not find a gentle whiff of diesel to be objectionable. Funny how some smells which others may find objectionable, just bring back pleasant memories.

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by Althebass

Our dip stick is a bronze rod with notches. It lives in the tank, attached in a threaded hole with flange in the top of the stainless tank. The top of the dip stick has a corresponding male thread and a wing nut to remove it.

Same here, the dipstick lives in the tank permanently, just like the motor oil dip stick. If it's hard to read the diesel level, I wipe the stick and run a piece of chalk along the area I expect the fuel level to sit, then dip it again, easy.

[parkstone bay]

I've always found metal dipsticks a PITA to read with clean product (either diesel or fresh oil after changing the sump oil). A plain wooden dipstick tends to be much easier to read - the wet line shows well against the relatively matt wood. My current one, I painted with matt black car paint from the discount store, the level shows up really well, and the paint doesn't seem to be affected by relatively infrequent use in diesel. If you are worried about the smell because you have to store the stick in the accommodation, a a baby/antiseptic wipe is good. . You'll notice that most guys suggest cheap pine dowel, or similar, that's because it works! For a quite good degree of accuracy, graduate your dipstick as follows: dip the tank when it's around 1/3 - 1/2 full. Measure as accurately as possible the wet length (if possible to within 2mm/1/16 inch or better). Add a suitable measured amount of fuel (say 10 litres/2 gallons) - Re-dip, and re-measure the wet bit, you've now got a conversion of length versus volume (on mine, 10 litres = 116 millimetres.) If your tank is an odd shape, you would need to do three lots of measurements, one each near the bottom, near the middle, and near the top of the tank, and interpolate.

[waterman46]

Our boat came with a teak dipstick about 1/4" thick x 1" wide - the diesel is easy to see on them. We calibrated the dipstick as the tank shape is very irregular (it is built into the hull, actually part of the hull).

Starting with an empty tank at the fuel dock (don't ask me, that was another story) we had one crewmember stop the diesel pump every 20 gallons, while I measured distance from bottom of dipstick to each fuel level. After tank was full at 140 gallons, I carved a nice line into the dipstick at each of the calibration points.

[parkstone bay]

Originally Posted by waterman46

Our boat came with a teak dipstick about 1/4" thick x 1" wide - the diesel is easy to see on them. We calibrated the dipstick as the tank shape is very irregular (it is built into the hull, actually part of the hull).

Starting with an empty tank at the fuel dock (don't ask me, that was another story) we had one crewmember stop the diesel pump every 20 gallons, while I measured distance from bottom of dipstick to each fuel level. After tank was full at 140 gallons, I carved a nice line into the dipstick at each of the calibration points.

And, of course, it doesn't matter that the 7 markings are at irregular intervals: it's sufficiently accurate to tell you if you have enough fuel for your next intended passage, and probably more accurate than the fuel gauge on your car. Teak sounds a bit up-market, though!