Wow this thing takes forever to fill up.

[Jeff F]

You guys should check yourself. This could happen to any one of you. And if you don't think so, then you must be perfect. If you are around a fuel dock, it happens quite often. Not just rod holders, but gas into diesel tanks and diesel into gas tanks. THe only way you can learn from something like this is to realize it could happen to you!!!

Yup. I put gas in my sailboat's diesel tank last summer after the dock attendant passed me the wrong hose by mistake. I noticed the smell after starting to pump. Turns out the attendant normally worked at a sister marina and their color coding was backwards. It happens.

 

[OldDan1943]

Many, many years ago before I met and fell in love with GW I had a girlfriend who was helping me get the boat ready for a weekend trip. She was filling the water tank, or so she thought. She filled one of my two gas tanks with water. She wasn't a girlfriend of mine for long after that.

A. I didn't know
B. I forgot
C. You didn't tell me.

 

[Group9]

He should have used a shop vac to clean it up.


Every 5 or 10 years you read about that in the news.

I'm sure, if he had only had one around, we would be reading about that, too!

But, I've seen this happen a couple of times. And, a friend of mine made a pretty bad mistake at the gas pump.

He filled his Whaler and his truck up from the diesel pump, through not paying attention. Then on the way to the ramp, his truck quit. No problem, he calls his wife to bring their Suburban over, pushes his truck out of the way, hooks to his boat, and goes to the ramp anyway.

He then puts the Whaler in, and ten minutes from the dock, it quits. He still thought he was having an incredible run of bad luck, until he gets the call the next day, from the boat mechanic and car mechanic, at almost the same time!

 

[Capitaine R]

We made a fuel stop at New River NC and the fuel attendant ask us several times if we were sure the boat took diesel fuel, which of course it does. I Thought that was very smart of him and I appreciated him being so careful.

 

[High Wire]

This happens quite frequently at fuel docks and trailered boats at gas stations.

 

[rslifkin]

We made a fuel stop at New River NC and the fuel attendant ask us several times if we were sure the boat took diesel fuel, which of course it does. I Thought that was very smart of him and I appreciated him being so careful.

I get the opposite reaction occasionally with the attendant not believing me at first that yes, it really does need gas, not diesel.

 

[kchace]

I'm totally paranoid that an attendant will hand me the wrong nozzle. I always ask multiple times "This is diesel, right?" THEN I physically look at the fuel as it starts to come out to make sure. So far, so good....

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Hmm...All this makes me ask myself if sewage pumps can be run in reverse???

 

[Baker]

I'm totally paranoid that an attendant will hand me the wrong nozzle. I always ask multiple times "This is diesel, right?" THEN I physically look at the fuel as it starts to come out to make sure. So far, so good....

Yep...there is a dock down here that has a gas pump with a green hose and black nozzle cover. Of course he hands you the pump when you ask for diesel....green hose...right??? I had a friend get tricked into this. He was 200 gallons of gas into his diesel boat before he figured it out. Luckily, the vendor absorbed the cost of the gasoline and the sucker truck....the sucker truck provided by the local Cummins dealer. So that helped having some advice as well since it was Cummins engines. Got the gas out, diesel back in. And they were on their way. Just a little 3 hour hiccup in their day...

Because of this I do the same thing as you....I always ask...confirm...and then look to make sure I see red liquid going in.

 

[HiDHo]

Old or elderly is someone ten years older than you.

 

[OldDan1943]

Old or elderly is someone ten years older than you.

Daymn, I missed his funeral SIGH

 

[rgano]

The OP's post begins with, "Florida man . . ."

That explains everything.

Is that a self indictment?

 

[Capitaine R]

Greetings,
Hmm...All this makes me ask myself if sewage pumps can be run in reverse???

Yes, of course they can if they are using 3 ph power, you just switch two of the legs and watch the pump vibrate, we do that sometimes to temporarily unclog a pump.

And yes I know the question was rhetorical, but I finally had an answer and couldn't stop myself.

 

[slowgoesit]

Greetings,
Hmm...All this makes me ask myself if sewage pumps can be run in reverse???QUOTE]


Actually, that reminds me of a stay we had in Knight's Key RV park (sorry, it's an RV story, but relates to RT's comment above.) Anyway, Knight's Key RV Park didn't have sewers at each campsite, rather a dump station, or in this case, a guy who drove around in a Honey Buckey wagon to pump out your RV black and grey tanks so you didn't have to relocate to the dump station. It was a paid service, but reasonable. Anyway, I happened to be wandering by and was interested in how the wagon worked. Actually a trailer pulled by a tractor. Trailer had a large poly tank, probably 500 gallons, with a sump, a pump, and associated hoses. The operator was explaining to the couple who owned the Integra Class A Coach that in order to prevent the RV tanks from collapsing, when the effluent was sucked out of the black tank, it was best to hold open the valve that flushes the toilet in order to provide a 4" or so "vent" to provide make-up air when the tank was emptied. So the wife dutifully went inside, into the toilet and yelled "Okay, it's open" You guessed it . . . the operator mistakenly placed the control lever in the position that was used to empty the large tank into the sanitary sewer, instead of to pump OUT of the RV and INTO the trailer tank . . . In order to hold the toilet valve open, the wife had to place her foot on the flush pedal of the toilet, . . . placing her head about 4' directly above the opening in the bottom of the toilet . . . The operator engaged the pump and after about 15 seconds or so, there was this absolutely hideous shriek of panic, combined with a healthy dose of despair as the contents of the trailer tank was pumped INTO the RV, filling the tank, and fountaining all the way to the ceiling, at least that that wasn't diverted from striking the woman's body and face . . .. The operator realized what had happened, reversed the lever and pumped the tank out. The woman came tearing out of the RV, covered head to toe in . . . . let's say effluent, and crying/swearing. I figured that was a good time to leave. I heard later that about 3 to 5 gallons of "stuff" was pumped into the RV toilet space. Not sure exactly what the outcome of the whole deal was, but it was maybe 5 years ago. Heck, maybe in another 15 or 20 years she may be able to laugh about it! . . . Or maybe she's still in in counseling, and never stepped foot in that or any other RV since. . . . .
So, long story, but short answer for you, RT, is, in this particular case, THIS sewage pump CAN be run in reverse!

 

[BruceK]

Greetings,
Hmm...All this makes me ask myself if sewage pumps can be run in reverse???QUOTE]


Actually, that reminds me of a stay we had in Knight's Key RV park (sorry, it's an RV story, but relates to RT's comment above.) Anyway, Knight's Key RV Park didn't have sewers at each campsite, rather a dump station, or in this case, a guy who drove around in a Honey Buckey wagon to pump out your RV black and grey tanks so you didn't have to relocate to the dump station. It was a paid service, but reasonable. Anyway, I happened to be wandering by and was interested in how the wagon worked. Actually a trailer pulled by a tractor. Trailer had a large poly tank, probably 500 gallons, with a sump, a pump, and associated hoses. The operator was explaining to the couple who owned the Integra Class A Coach that in order to prevent the RV tanks from collapsing, when the effluent was sucked out of the black tank, it was best to hold open the valve that flushes the toilet in order to provide a 4" or so "vent" to provide make-up air when the tank was emptied. So the wife dutifully went inside, into the toilet and yelled "Okay, it's open" You guessed it . . . the operator mistakenly placed the control lever in the position that was used to empty the large tank into the sanitary sewer, instead of to pump OUT of the RV and INTO the trailer tank . . . In order to hold the toilet valve open, the wife had to place her foot on the flush pedal of the toilet, . . . placing her head about 4' directly above the opening in the bottom of the toilet . . . The operator engaged the pump and after about 15 seconds or so, there was this absolutely hideous shriek of panic, combined with a healthy dose of despair as the contents of the trailer tank was pumped INTO the RV, filling the tank, and fountaining all the way to the ceiling, at least that that wasn't diverted from striking the woman's body and face . . .. The operator realized what had happened, reversed the lever and pumped the tank out. The woman came tearing out of the RV, covered head to toe in . . . . let's say effluent, and crying/swearing. I figured that was a good time to leave. I heard later that about 3 to 5 gallons of "stuff" was pumped into the RV toilet space. Not sure exactly what the outcome of the whole deal was, but it was maybe 5 years ago. Heck, maybe in another 15 or 20 years she may be able to laugh about it! . . . Or maybe she's still in in counseling, and never stepped foot in that or any other RV since. . . . .
So, long story, but short answer for you, RT, is, in this particular case, THIS sewage pump CAN be run in reverse!

Reminds me of an insurance story, new house, new housing estate, plumbers intending to connect to stormwater line to receive rain water etc from house gutters,as yet not in use sewer line near stormwater line.......leading later to very nasty stuff getting pumped up the downpipes and overflowing the house gutters.
I have a diesel car, now check twice before depressing the flow lever on the service station ("servo") pump....ever since the day I accidentally put a liter of gas in before realising the error....did no harm but could have been nasty.

 

[Dougcole]

Many, many years ago before I met and fell in love with GW I had a girlfriend who was helping me get the boat ready for a weekend trip. She was filling the water tank, or so she thought. She filled one of my two gas tanks with water. She wasn't a girlfriend of mine for long after that.

Yeah, my son did that once when he was about 12. It was not his first time filling the water tanks, and I had warned him about that exact thing in the past. Luckily, he caught it after only a few gallons of water went into the diesel tank. It was still a pain though.

He is studying software engineering now at a very prestigious University, he had an internship last year writing code for the guidance systems on Blackhawk helicopters. He's a very smart person. People just make mistakes sometimes.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. s. Thanks so much for that anecdote but allow me to assure you in the strongest terms, a simple yes would have readily sufficed...

 

[menzies]

Yeah, my son did that once when he was about 12. It was not his first time filling the water tanks, and I had warned him about that exact thing in the past. Luckily, he caught it after only a few gallons of water went into the diesel tank. It was still a pain though.

He is studying software engineering now at a very prestigious University, he had an internship last year writing code for the guidance systems on Blackhawk helicopters. He's a very smart person. People just make mistakes sometimes.

Yeah, but you still smacked him upside the head, right?

 

[slowgoesit]

Greetings,
Mr. s. Thanks so much for that anecdote but allow me to assure you in the strongest terms, a simple yes would have readily sufficed...

Yes, but you would have missed the fine nuances of the explanation of the yes answer!

 

[OldDan1943]

Yes, but you would have missed the fine nuances of the explanation of the yes answer!

Words will paint a picture.
Now the question is, do you want a complete picture or a sketch?

 

[ABfish]

Gas in the rod holder happens so often that you've got to put some blame on the design and location of the fuel fills.

I came close to doing so myself. Standing on the ground, with boat on trailer I reached up and removed the fuel cap. I then turned and grabbed the fuel nozzle and inserted it in the fuel fill (or so I thought). The gunwale of the boat was slightly above my eye level.

I had actually put the fuel nozzle in the rod holder, which was located about 8 inches from the fuel fill. Only the feel of the vinyl liner in the rod holder made me hesitate and take a closer look.

 

[Datenight]

Gas in the rod holder happens so often that you've got to put some blame on the design and location of the fuel fills.

I came close to doing so myself. Standing on the ground, with boat on trailer I reached up and removed the fuel cap. I then turned and grabbed the fuel nozzle and inserted it in the fuel fill (or so I thought). The gunwale of the boat was slightly above my eye level.

I had actually put the fuel nozzle in the rod holder, which was located about 8 inches from the fuel fill. Only the feel of the vinyl liner in the rod holder made me hesitate and take a closer look.

I have to admit I did the same thing on the 23' Pen Yann. Opened the cap and put the nozzel in the adjacent rod holder. I pumped nearly 2 gallons before realizing it sounded different.

Sponged the gas into a 5 gallon bucket and washed the bilge with soap several times. Learne a lesson about checking twice then looking again. Did get a nice clean bilge though.

Rob

 

[jimisbell]

I had two similar occurrences. Thefirst was filling the gas tank on my motorhome. It was an antique UltraVan with a 6 cyl Corvair air cooled engine. I stopped in West texas to get gasoline. Th color on the hoses was backwards and I filled the tank with diesel. It ran well enough to barely make it to the next town where the tank was drained and then refilled with gasoline. 10 miles our of town it stopped and couldnt be restarted. I pulled all the spark plugs (should have done that earlier) and cleaned them. Ran better from then on than it had ever run. Previous to the incident, I was getting 13 mpg. after the incident I was getting 19 mpg. Never figured that one out.
The second incident was when I filled the two 100 gallon tanks with Diesel on my way to Cuba. Before we got to the jetties on departure my wife came up from below and said she could smell gasoline. I assured her there was none aboard. I went below and discovered the bilge full of diesel. To my wife, all hydrocarbons smell "like gasoline". Turns out there was a hole in the bottom of the starboard tank and luckily the bilge pump failed to go off. I had 100 gallons of diesel in the bilge. Had the bilge pump worked I would have left a 6 mile trail for the EPA to follow.

 

[Pcpete]

Darwin must be fulfilled!

Gas plus unshielded shopvac equals kaboom.

It would be consistent with using a pole holder to put gas in the boat.

 

[OCEANA]

Oops, missed that part.

No problem, it is just your age related cognitive decline popping up! Get assistance when you fill up!

 

[Capitaine R]

I have never made this particular mistake, but I have slipped our little boat off the trailer and into the water at the local ramp without the bilge plug in once. Okay, may be more than once.

 

[Adopo]

Went to a call once where a woman had decided that gasoline would work well as a floor wax stripper!

She didn't think about the pilot lights on her natural gas furnace or hot water tank or else thought she could "get away with it".

A very sad, but mostly predictable result! She wasn't elderly.

Same happens in Clinton SC about 30 years ago. Two poor women died a dreadful death after being burned over 100% of their bodies.

 

[PirateDan]

Another view...

Once I got a steal of a deal on a sportfisher. After closing, I took delivery and went to the fuel dock to take my new pride and joy home. After awhile, I realized that gas was leaking. Turns out, the PO was pissed about the sale price and deliberately loosened the connections between tanks.

 

[BlimpDriver]

To err is human. Thankfully! I will not cast a judge mental eye upon this young man of 31. At all times in my life I have had to be aware that my actions might kill me. These type of events surely happen less to woman. Woman have that intuition thing going as well as a healthy respect for all things mechanical . If us Testosterone types would just slow down and live in the moment we would have the same life expectancies of Woman. Colors help identify and group all things. Seeing I am a new by to this group and boats with complex systems. Is there an excepted color coding system that a Mariner may follow? For myself a yellow cap does not have the same meaning as a red cap, I pay much more attention to red.

I truly love being part of this group and enjoy the education these forums provide, thank you for your participation.

 

[psneeld]

Never believe the color of fuel hoses or handles...I have seen plenty examples that were not correct.