17macae Posted July 17, 2023 Report Share Posted July 17, 2023 Though I'd share my findings..... Finally ran a tank of gas and the tank has about 26 usable gallons out of 29. When the fuel gauge is at the last bar, there are about 8 gallons. When the fuel gauge starts blinking, there are about three gallons. I ran 2 small and 1 long trip with the fuel gauge blinking. When I ran out I added 5 gallons. The command link gauge said I burned 2 gallons of that five finishing the trip. I filled up with 23.3 gallons. The gallons used from the command link was within 2 gallons and I used the CL gauges to estimate the quantities at 1 bar etc... For example, at 1 bar the CL gauges sat on 5 gallons remaining and did not change until it went to zero remaining. Late into the next trip the fuel gauge started blinking and I completed 2 more trips without adding gas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Posted July 18, 2023 Report Share Posted July 18, 2023 It sounds like you have a safety margin near the empty readings. It sounds like you can’t trust that margin on either reading. I have found the same things, so I try not to start any trip without adding the gallons that I think I will need, plus 10 more. It’ll make you crazy cuz of the variables.. MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Seither Posted July 18, 2023 Report Share Posted July 18, 2023 On the 2300 I like 20/25 gal reserve in case of weather or alternate route is needed, gallons used I’ve found has been consistent within 1 to 2 gallons, fuel gauges are all over the map on readings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polliwog Posted July 18, 2023 Report Share Posted July 18, 2023 I never trusted the fuel gauges in boats. I also never go below 1/4 tank because there is a bunch of crap in the bottom of every boat that's been around for a while. I manually use hours run and average gal per hour I have experienced. I have a little 15 HPX,so I carry 2 gals of extra fuel as an emergency supply. That's enough for over an hours run and I'm rarely further than that from home port. I follow the same routine for my cars,fill up at 1/4 tank ,same reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Posted July 19, 2023 Report Share Posted July 19, 2023 I have to reminisce and bring up a past member.. LittleJohn. Littlejohn fished out of a 20 PF and then a 15 Maverick with a small Yamaha sewing machine. At the owner’s Tournament in Islamorada he would run by himself to East Cape and fish all day over there. Each day after dark, his nav lights would appear at the channel into Breezy Palms well after we had all eaten. We would walk over as he tied up to see how he did. He would always comment that when he ran through the cut at little Rabbit he had one bar of fuel left and sweated the rest of the way back to breezy. We asked him why he didn’t bring a gas jug with him, and he said he didn’t have any room. He was a gentle giant of a man and dwarfed the small skiff. His spirit was great but he passed away young from a set of bad ailments. But… he always trusted the gas gauge to be off in his favor. He was a fixture at The OTs and I miss the big lone wolf .. Sorry for the derail.. Gas gauges MM 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Posted July 19, 2023 Report Share Posted July 19, 2023 I remember those day well Marc...I really miss the "family" comradery we had those years at the Breezy Palms...Our kids grew up going there and the photos taken on the leaning palm tree. MOD BB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Seither Posted July 19, 2023 Report Share Posted July 19, 2023 Gentleman, Reminiscing is a wonderful part of memories! I cherish each and every one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Posted July 19, 2023 Report Share Posted July 19, 2023 In reminiscing, I remember that I have never, ever .. trusted a fuel gauge in any boat I have run. Except !! The oval 5 gallon tank with the needle: because I could pick it up and shake it.. feel the gas sloshing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
17macae Posted July 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2023 I ran my MA17 down to one bar frequently and even to blinking a few times. The gauges are sized one inch from the bottom of the tank so the gauge doughnut bottoms out and blinks when you have 1 inch of fuel. I sure did think I was going to run out though but never did. When I trailer down and back from Chokoloskee, I like to be near empty so knowing the limits of the gauge helps. A three way valve with yamaha fittings by the water filter is also handy to have for draining the main tank and connecting up an external tank for sea foaming or to make it home. Is it possible to start these 115 hp 4 strokes with a pull rope? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FooFoo502 Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 let me tell you, you do NOT want to run out from trusting a faulty gauge reading about 7 miles from home, and have to use your tm to skirt the edges of the channel to try and limp back...only to have one of the batteries fail on your 36v TM setup, which causes the auto trip breaker to fail and you see smoke start coming out from under your seat where the batteries are as the wire begins to light up like a crack pipe. Then have to drift to a strangers dock and explain to them what happened while you can actually see the barrel of that Mossburg 590 behind their leg (no issue there...I would too)...then walk the last 3 miles to your house, go fill up your 6 gal tanks, drive them back to the boat, then fill up to get home...while your brother, cousin, uncle, dad and two best buds from high school are right there to see the whole debacle go down. It's been ten years and I hear about this crap every singe *** time I even talk to one of them on the phone...so you can imagine how Thanksgivings go....lol. They are lucky I didn't need to dump for ballast.... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 On 2/20/2024 at 10:37 PM, FooFoo502 said: let me tell you, you do NOT want to run out from trusting a faulty gauge reading about 7 miles from home, and have to use your tm to skirt the edges of the channel to try and limp back...only to have one of the batteries fail on your 36v TM setup, which causes the auto trip breaker to fail and you see smoke start coming out from under your seat where the batteries are as the wire begins to light up like a crack pipe. Then have to drift to a strangers dock and explain to them what happened while you can actually see the barrel of that Mossburg 590 behind their leg (no issue there...I would too)...then walk the last 3 miles to your house, go fill up your 6 gal tanks, drive them back to the boat, then fill up to get home...while your brother, cousin, uncle, dad and two best buds from high school are right there to see the whole debacle go down. It's been ten years and I hear about this crap every singe *** time I even talk to one of them on the phone...so you can imagine how Thanksgivings go....lol. They are lucky I didn't need to dump for ballast.... too funny..... Yep, when the rocks begin to fall....they don't stop dc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 On 7/19/2023 at 6:06 PM, Moderator said: In reminiscing, I remember that I have never, ever .. trusted a fuel gauge in any boat I have run. Except !! The oval 5 gallon tank with the needle: because I could pick it up and shake it.. feel the gas sloshing. yep..... know your tank....it's that simple....gps miles run, fill tank, estimate mpg, end fishing, calculate then add fuel based upon how it's been run...never run down that low as you'll be drawing junk from the bottom.... dc 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.