hey guys,
if you don't have an actual fisher, but a wooden trawler yacht that looks similar to a fisher 37 can you still sail with the club?

In the FOA Handbook of Technical Tips 'Your Fisher' there is an article by Robert Chave (F30 'Tulip') which includes reference to his fuel cleaing system.

He had installed a small (25 litre) day tank to supply the engine, which was continuously fed from the main tank through a filter - the overflow returning to the main tank.

This appealled to me very much as any filter blockage left you with 25 litres of cleaned fuel to continue running, and must in addition have kept the main tank cleaner than on a normal installation.

I would very much like to contact Robert Chave about this system, or anyone else who has tried this arrangement. Can anyone help?

Geoff Butt

Hi Geof,
I dont think Robert Chave is still a member, but Brian Maxwell, now unfortunately deceased, submitted an article in the Winter 2006 edition of the Newsletter on the fuel polishing system he had fitted to his F34. I dont think I can attach documents to this response, but if you can give me your email address I would be very pleased to email to you the article as an attachment. The article does include a very useful diagram of the plumbing and valves needed. Tony Gurney

As the new owner of Brians boat, I'll be happy to answer questions if I can (still learning). Brian's setup consists of a daytank in the weelhouse, two racor filters, a facet continuous pump (40105), a daytank bypass (just in case) and (fire proof) copper piping.
Regards Herman.

Many thanks for the reference, Tony; I don't know how I could have overlloked the article in Winter 2006. The line diagram is very clear and corresponds with the system I had sketched out.

Herman: thank you for the offer. I presume the daytank is a Vetus 25 litre plastic tank (Robert Chave's was). I am guessing that the fuel overflow back to the main tank has been fitted by drilling the wall of the day tank a few centimetres below the top. Is that so and what diameter of hose/tubing is used?

I had thought that the best arrangement for the daytank vent would be to tee it into the main tank vent in a way which provided for an emergency escape route for fuel back to the main tank in the event of the overflow becoming blocked/air-locked. Does the day tank on Brian's system have a separate vent? I am proposing to site a day tank immediately above the main tank so the common vent would be easy to arrange - it may not be so convenient on your installation.

After much thought about the material for the main fuel tank (inevitable corrosion, inside and out, of mild steel versus weld corrosion in stainless) I have opted to install a 220 litre Vetus plastic tank in place of the starboard pilot berth on my Catfisher. The decision was helped by reading Nigel Calder's (Boatowners' Mechanical and Electrical Manual) opinion that plastic was ' .. the material of choice'.

This tank has no connections through the tank wall (all via the top cover plate) and I'm a bit reluctant to cut one to feed the circulating pump. Is the Facet fuel pump low enough to remain flooded with fuel when it is stopped, or does the system rely on the pump developing a self-priming suction on start-up? I have tried to get information on these pumps' ability to self prime when dry but with no response from the manufacturers. As these are automotive fuel pumps I should perhaps go to a petrolheads chat room!

If I mount the pump below the base of the tank, feed it via the top cover and discharge to the vented space of the day tank, the fuel shouldn't syphon out and the pump should remain flooded when stopped - once primed in the first instance. The level in the discharge pipe leg should settle at the level in the main tank. But I would really like to know if the pumps have a self-priming capacity when dry; for those embarrassing moments when what shouldn't happen - does happen.

Thanks if you can help

Geoff Butt

Geoff, I will have to come back to most of your questions in May after I have picked the boat up again in Scotland to bring it home to Norway.

Only the following I know for sure now:

- The daytank is indeed a Vetus tank. Plastic (polypropylene) is also the material of choice of Pat Manley (Author of "Diesels afloat") .

- All pipes enter or leave both the main and the day tank through the top cover, including the return pipe to the main tank. (So I think that it is gravity, helped with the (low) pressure in the fuel system which makes the clean excess fuel flow back to the main tank).

- The day tank has a vent without a 'swan neck' but with a valve. (I have not opened that valve yet. I believe that it is to be opened only when the day tank has to be topped up after installation or after having run out of fuel. Obviously there should be as little air as possible trapped in the daytank.)

Regarding self priming: This should be easy to test before installing the pump. Connect a pipe and a battery and see if it can suck fuel out of a bucket.

The setup on my boat has one issue, which is that the facet pump is noisy. I believe that this is because of the copper piping which is directly attached to the pump. The good thing of this is that I can hear that the pump works. I am planning to insert a bit of rubber pipe on both sides of the pump. That will probably bring down the noise level. If anybody knows where I can find fire-proof rubber pipes, I would be interested to hear. Herman.