Gas for your toys from your cruiser!
Where we cruise (Coeur D' Alene Lake, ID) there's only a few marinas that sell gas anymore, and if they do their hours are sporatic. We often tow our JetSki behind Endless Summer and because it's an old two-stroke it burns gas like crazy. We don't have a (built-in) genny, instead we carry Honda's quiet 2,000 watt unit which of course has it's own gas tank. Sometimes we stay out 4-5 days at a time, and don't want to take the JetSki at the rate IT burns gas (8-10GPH) to go get gas when the generator/inverter runs dry... so I figured out a way to extract gasoline from Endless Summer's 102 gallon tank! I noticed there's four "ports" (zirks) from which gasoline is pulled out of the tank, and since Endless Summer is a single engine, only ONE of them is used for the 6.2L engine. Maxum presumably used the same gas tank for ALL 2900 SCRs, regardless of how they were powered and equipped I figure (smart). Of course I remove gas for BOTH the JetSki and generator, and fellow boaters in need of emergency gas (although I've not had to rescue anyone yet!)
Anyway, I had a local hydraulic hose company (Spokane House of Hose) put together a high-quality three foot hose assembly ($25) that connects and disconnects with a spark-free, brass airhose-type connector to a detachable 15 foot hose and a manual pump ($15). I contemplated doing this project with an electric pump but wanted to have more control over the gas flow, so I chose a simple pump as you can see from the picture. I take great care to avoid fumes, how I store the hoses (in a dedicated bucket for plenty of ventilation) and so on to avoid the kaboom! Notice the high quality ball valve Spokane House of Hose put at the end of the 3' hose to insure no fumes/gas escapes in the bilge area. I don't use it often, but it sure is convenient and paid off a couple times last season.
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Jeff Means
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