How Far Off the Tank Bottom Is a Fuel Pickup Tube ?

[sdowney717]

just curious
also do any tanks use a floating pickup?

[CSY Man]

My pick-up tube is a few inches above the bottom of the tank and gives me 10 gallons of un-usable fuel so as to avoid picking up sludge and dirt settling in the bottom.
Works great, last a long time.

[James S]

Mines about an inch.
As far as a floating pick-up goes, I've not heard of this...seems like the possibility of picking up air may be greater, also since the return fuel is quite warm and I suppose stays nearer the top, the fuel going to the engine may be warmer, I'm not sure how much effect it would have on the engines performance.
Also there is the flexible bit to be concerned with.

[Matt sachs]

I'm building the fuel polisher to draw out of the very bottom of the tanks, the engine pick up about an inch above that.

[Eleven]

I'm all for a separate recirc system with it's own filter and de-watering set. Hand or electric pump for use at the start of the new season. There are lots of stories here about duff fuel, contamination from long storage and so on. Much nicer to know things are all well with your fuel.
For most sail boats the motor is the back up for the wind failing, it's not good for the back up to fail too.
Nothing wrong with having two pickups, use the upper one normally, the lower one as a reserve tank, knowing it may not be clean fuel.

[Chief Engineer]

On Tugs and Large Yachts I have had High and Low Pickups.

Would not be too difficult to engineer one for a small boat.

[barnakiel]

About 1/2' in our 10 gallon tank. The pick-up line has a mesh filter over it.

It has a reverse mushroom design.

b.

[ATC]

Pick ups vary, some metal some plastic, some with screens some without, some have square ends some have scarfed cut ends, some go to a fraction of an inch some inches away from the bottom.

[mbianka]

Got two pictures of the fuel pickup tube inside the former diesel tank on board my boat in this blog post:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: IN THE TANK: Part One, Scene of the grime!

Looks to be about a half inch off the bottom. Tip is cut at an angle too.

[cat man do]

I've done mine 1/4 inch off bottom of the main storage tanks, but that gets pumped up and run through a scrubber on its way to the day tanks before gravity feeding back to the engines.

[chala]

Now should the pick up come from the top or the bottom of the tank?

[James S]

Absolutely from the top.
I dont think I've ever seen any original fuel tank on any quality boat with any fittings from the bottom....none.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by James S

Absolutely from the top.
I dont think I've ever seen any original fuel tank on any quality boat with any fittings from the bottom....none.

Agreed, although I have a sight gauge which runs externally from the bottom of the tank to the top. I have seen a boat which had a diesel tank leak over a winter, what a mess, to be avoided at all costs.

Pete

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by James S

Absolutely from the top.
I dont think I've ever seen any original fuel tank on any quality boat with any fittings from the bottom....none.

Don't know what you consider a quality boat but there are many out there ..both commercial and pleasure.

My Albin trawler and the Azimut motoryachts I used to captain have bottom feeds or sight guage fittings. MANY of thr commercial boats I have run also have bottom feeds.

ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with that setup. The bottom feed isn't EXACTLY on the bottom of mine and the tanks are 25 years old and no problems...the tank is going to rust out before the bottom feeds are an issue.

WHY is a bottom feed on a DEISEL tank and issue??? There's a lot of fittings between the tank and the engine injector pump. Not legal for gas...but diesel it seems to be just fine with an built in sight guage that is the only ACCURATE fuel gauge that I know of other than a stick.

[James S]

Originally Posted by psneeld

Don't know what you consider a quality boat but there are many out there ..both commercial and pleasure.

My Albin trawler and the Azimut motoryachts I used to captain have bottom feeds or sight guage fittings. MANY of thr commercial boats I have run also have bottom feeds.

ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with that setup. The bottom feed isn't EXACTLY on the bottom of mine and the tanks are 25 years old and no problems...the tank is going to rust out before the bottom feeds are an issue.

WHY is a bottom feed on a DEISEL tank and issue??? There's a lot of fittings between the tank and the engine injector pump. Not legal for gas...but diesel it seems to be just fine with an built in sight guage that is the only ACCURATE fuel gauge that I know of other than a stick.

I'm not saying they don't exist...just that I've not seen em.