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Fueling Your Bennie

kaydano said:
I now have this same problem (I didn't before, which is strange), according to the dock guy that tried to fill my boat this morning. He said gas wouldn't go in, and he was only able to add about 1/4th of a tank to get it to 3/4th full.

I read above about the angle of the boat being critical to getting gas to go in since the filler tube is connected to the front of the tank, but I have the express package with a 115, so it already sits in the water nose up at a pretty good angle...

Anyone figure this out?

I have an S model, and the tank is located in the motor pod.
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You jinxed yourself in your earlier post!

Mine didn't start right away either. If filling from the marina fuel pier, I can only get 3/4ths full as well. I'm pulling the boat before the 4th to have the tubes cleaned again and will post how Fyr's recommendation for trailer fill ups worked.
 
Stopped at Beaver Creek Marina yesterday to put so gas in the pontoon. The wife and her sister were sitting sitting in the rear loungers with the dogs standing by them. I stood on the swim platform as the dock assistant filled the boat. He had no problem filling, gas went in fine. He shut off nozzle at the first sound of gurgling. Lifted lounge seat when done and tank was full....

I have no ideas on other boats as I have no experience with them.
 
I think I may have found the problem. I have the same issue with my 2012 22ssl with the underdeck tank in the pod. I cant fill this thing for anything. I resorted to using gas cans and the magic siphon. It has a 5/8'' hose and the flow from that is to much. I had to put a 5/8''x3/8'' barb reducer on the hose and let it squirt into the filler, if the hose was in the filler neck it the fuel would spray back out. I had my dealer call bennington and they sent me 2 pics of the assembly. After really going over the setup I realized that there is a ton of slack in all the cables and hoses. I than realized the vent hose must have a low spot. I disconnected the vent hose from the tank and lightly blew into it and found it had fuel in it thus blocking the vent. It must get into the hose from the internal vent in the filler neck. I pulled up the slack in the vent hose below the filler neck and zip tied it all back up. When I fueled the boat it took every drop not a problem from the full 5/8'' hose, I can drain the 5 gal gas can in just a couple minutes with that siphon setup. I hope this helps and I also hope someone from bennington looks into this issue. It seams a shame that such a high quality brand would not really have a good excuse or remedy for this problem. It`s not like just a few owners have this issue, what about the owners that are not on this forum and run into this every time they fuel up...HAPEHOUR

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Hapehour - Thanks for the post! This is great info! If you blew into the vent hose, and it had gas in it, I'd certainly say you found the problem! No doubt. Also explains why this didn't happen to me (and others) at first, but eventually did...

Thanks again for posting this Hapehour. Big help. Let me know what that silver barb is, if you know.
 
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Could this be happening from not inserting the fuel handle all the way into the filler neck, and as a result, some gas is able to flow down the vent hose inadvertently? If people are listening for gurgling while filling, I could see not putting the fuel nozzle all the way in in order to hear better. This has not happened to me personally, so I don't know. In my case, the dock guy tried filling it before I got there and told me about it later.

Maybe it's just being filled wrong? Maybe we need to just jam the fuel nozzle in there all the way, and simply trust that "the system" will shut the gas off at the right moment. I know no one wants gas all over the side of their boat, or on the carpet etc, so this may be hard to do. May be why its happening in the first place though?
 
I filled the tank for the first time today in my 2012 RCW 2275 with ESP and a 55 gallons center tube fuel tank. It took 40 gallons and did not spil out or turn off until full.
 
I fixed mine by running a separate vent that could handle the volume of the 5/8 hose.

It looked like the stock fuel fill had a very small vent hole and could not handle the volume of air.
 
Where did you vent it to? Or did you just replace the hose with a bigger one?

I thought about doing this, but am not sure the best way to do this. I dont want the space under my lounger to fill with gas fumes if i were to simply unhook the vent hose and tie it off under the lounger... I'm also not crazy about drilling a new hole in the side of the boat for a new vent.
 
Hapehour mentioned gas cans and a magic siphon. To avoid ethanol, I also bring in real gas in cans and use a product called a 'Super Siphon' - it has become my preferred method for all my boats, although I have not tried it yet with the Bennington. (My new to me Benny came with a 15HP motor, which doesn't drink much gas. The 70HP Suzuki that's replacing it as I type will do better.) I did take the Bennington to a local Marina to mix in some fresh gas with the unknown type last season left-overs, and the gas attendent did have issues with spill back. Strangely, he said he has this with all pontoons that use a filler neck rather than direct fill fuel tank. He ended up inverting the pump handle and filling as slow as possible, which worked ok. Although seldom, I have filled my bowrider up at the same Marina with no issues in the past, and my bowrider has a Perko filler neck.

I'm one that always enjoys exploring theories. I have to put my money on obstructions or fuel in the vent line, rather than a 'vent line not sized correctly' theory. I'm thinking liquids can not be compressed, but air can so the vent line does not have to be same sized as the fuel line. What does have me thinking is the vent line return being in the filler neck. With the rubber skirt on today's pump handles, it seems to me it would be easy to defeat the venting by forcing said skirt against the filler neck and forming a seal. Gas may be forced up the vent line in these situations. Gotta love conjecture! :p
 
Jim_R said:
Hapehour mentioned gas cans and a magic siphon. To avoid ethanol, I also bring in real gas in cans and use a product called a 'Super Siphon' - it has become my preferred method for all my boats, although I have not tried it yet with the Bennington. (My new to me Benny came with a 15HP motor, which doesn't drink much gas. The 70HP Suzuki that's replacing it as I type will do better.) I did take the Bennington to a local Marina to mix in some fresh gas with the unknown type last season left-overs, and the gas attendent did have issues with spill back. Strangely, he said he has this with all pontoons that use a filler neck rather than direct fill fuel tank. He ended up inverting the pump handle and filling as slow as possible, which worked ok. Although seldom, I have filled my bowrider up at the same Marina with no issues in the past, and my bowrider has a Perko filler neck.

I'm one that always enjoys exploring theories. I have to put my money on obstructions or fuel in the vent line, rather than a 'vent line not sized correctly' theory. I'm thinking liquids can not be compressed, but air can so the vent line does not have to be same sized as the fuel line. What does have me thinking is the vent line return being in the filler neck. With the rubber skirt on today's pump handles, it seems to me it would be easy to defeat the venting by forcing said skirt against the filler neck and forming a seal. Gas may be forced up the vent line in these situations. Gotta love conjecture! :p
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Thanks for the post. I agree with you on gas being in the vent line. I am running down to the marina tonight to check it out. The first thing I will try is removing the vent hose from the filler neck and blowing into it to see if it has gas in it. If so, I will try to remove the "low spot" as someone else mentioned. If I can't do that, I will probably have to plug the vent nipple on the filler neck, and run the vent hose out the side of the boat somehow.

The schematic posted above is very helpful, although I don't understand 2 things:

1) What the transfer line is for

2) Why the canister line doesn't provide venting when the vent line is blocked. Is that canister that restrictive?

Conjecture is the mother of solution!

I'll post what I find out. Unless I explode. I may be the first to live up to Eric's signature line...
 
Ken H said:
I fixed mine by running a separate vent that could handle the volume of the 5/8 hose.

It looked like the stock fuel fill had a very small vent hole and could not handle the volume of air.
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You may have fixed this by the simple fact that you ran a separate vent (and not so much the size of the hose).

What did you do to terminate your new vent? Just let the vent hose lay loose (or tied up) inside the boat? Or did you drill a hole in the side of your boat and run it through a plastic tube/grommet/flange thingy? Maybe you just stuffed it down the hole where the canister hose goes? Curious what you did...
 
OK, and now for another long winded reply, You will have to excuse me its 91 degrees out and way to windy to go in the river. We were hoping to go out after work but its not going to happen.

I believe that it`s a bit of everything that contributes to the fueling problem.I don`t think that the new filler neck assembly flows a lot of fuel in the first place. Add to that a blocked vent and there you have it. I know that bennington has the environmental aspect to deal with and I`m sure they would not be using that new filler neck and carbon canister if they didn`t have to due to epa requirements. The fact remains that there is an issue and I hope the guys from bennington see this thread and address the issue. I would think that they would, im sure its not an accident that bennington is one of the best boats made in the industry.That type of proactive action is what makes most companies stand out from the rest.

Next-Fuel,I have been getting fuel from my local gas station and using the magic siphon or super siphon or what ever you call it, hopefully everyone knows what it is, its a wonderful thing. The reason for this is simple, I do not want bad fuel. When I had my bennington delivered it had a 1/4 tank of fuel. We ran it for 1 day and decided to get a fill up. I did not want gas with ethanol so we went to the marina and topped her off with corn free gas at 5.02 a gal. 2 days later as we were anchored in the river with a non running boat due to water in the fuel{and I mean water}I kicked myself in the butt. The marina had a load from last season and we paid the price.Its a hell of a feeling to be anchored in a boat thats dead as a door nail 2 miles upstream from Niagara Falls. I have now started to use gas from the same station that I use for my vehicle and pay way less than the marina. I use an additive called k100, look it up on google and youtube. Its made 15 miles from me in Youngstown New York and works like a charm against water and fuel separation.I know the yamaha will handle it just fine, I will have to keep an eye on the fuel/water separator a little closer is all, A small price to pay for good fuel.

Replies==Thanks to all that have replied, the participation on these boards is what makes them such a valuable tool.If you do have a reply that says I don`t have a problem at all good for you.You may not have that one little thing wrong that gives you fits fueling your boat.My goal is not to bash bennington, far from it. I have had the opportunity to see lots of other pontoon brands and that`s the reason I got a bennington. Head and shoulders above the rest as far as im concerned.I do believe that I have got my problems sorted out on my boat as of now.By the way, its not just a guess on my part as to what I feel the issue to be. I have been a Plumber for the last 25 years and I am a Master Plumber, currently I am the Chief Plumbing Inspector for my city and im am well versed in these type of systems.

Again, thanks to everyone that has replied, you are the ones that really make the difference to those who are seeking answers. HAPEHOUR
 
hapehour said:
... Again, thanks to everyone that has replied, you are the ones that really make the difference to those who are seeking answers. HAPEHOUR
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Hapehour - You da MAN!!!

I also had a low spot in my vent hose. Since all the hoses were tied together loosely with cable ties, all I had to do was simply adjust the hose by sliding it around until the low spot was gone. Piece of cake. No tools required.

I brought my 2 gallon mower can full of gas with me, and it went in just fine. No problems. The gas can doesn't flow as fast as a gas pump, but fast enough.

So, YOU DA MAN! It was YOUR reply that made the difference for me. I owe you one!
 
By the way, I do have some pics of this before and after to post when I get around to it.

One beef though: The vent hoses all come off the side of the filler neck ("side" as in the 3 or 9 o'clock position). In my mind, this makes it easy for gas to get into them from the gas pump nozzle. They should come off the neck on the top at 12 o'clock. It would be MUCH harder for gas to get into them. This is not Bennington's fault, it's the design.

But, the Bennington factory could be a little more careful on the install to make sure the vent hoses have a nice gradual downward slope to the tank (with no low spots) so gas doesn't get stuck like a pee trap and seal off the vent. A nice slope would make any gas that accidentally got into the vent flow back and into the tank.

I will post photos later so it is clear what a "low spot" is.
 
kaydano said:
...

The schematic posted above is very helpful, although I don't understand 2 things:

1) What the transfer line is for

2) Why the canister line doesn't provide venting when the vent line is blocked. Is that canister that restrictive?

Conjecture is the mother of solution!

I'll post what I find out. Unless I explode. I may be the first to live up to Eric's signature line...
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The transfer line supplies fuel to the fuel float, bet you didn't know that you had a gas powered fuel float! Kidding aside I have no idea why the fuel float requires it's own supply line. On the canister line, I believe this is an EPA attempt to reduce fuel vapors from escaping to the atmosphere. My 2002 doesn't have the canister line.

Looking forward to applying the "Hapehour Fix".

Oh, and for those who are interested, here's the Super Siphon - I started using one because I dislike spilling gas on the boat, and couldn't bear spilling gas into the water. Now I don't spill a drop. http://www.expeditionexchange.com/supersiphon/

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hapehour said:
I use an additive called k100,
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Thanks for the advice on the additive. I am picking some up today and will try it. Had never heard of it.

I need to create a port in the fuel line to add additives. I don't like drippy funnels in the boat and hate spilling stuff down the side of the boat. The little paper funnels don't work sideways. While floating Saturday, I will see what I can engineer.
 
Jim_R said:
The transfer line supplies fuel to the fuel float, bet you didn't know that you had a gas powered fuel float! Kidding aside I have no idea why the fuel float requires it's own supply line. On the canister line, I believe this is an EPA attempt to reduce fuel vapors from escaping to the atmosphere. My 2002 doesn't have the canister line.

Looking forward to applying the "Hapehour Fix".

Oh, and for those who are interested, here's the Super Siphon - I started using one because I dislike spilling gas on the boat, and couldn't bear spilling gas into the water. Now I don't spill a drop. http://www.expeditio...om/supersiphon/
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Thanks for the post. Now I know what you are talking about. This totally bypasses the vent tube. The main gas tube becomes the vent tube!

So far, I've just let the marina pump the gas, but if I "canned it" (gas cans) this would be the way to go. And no holding 10 gallon cans over your head to fill it (on trailer).
 
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