I had been running the boat low on fuel as the marina that I am staying at has arranged a fuel truck for next week and I wanted to take as many gallons from that as possible. Unfortunately what I was not aware of is the fact that the genset fuel pickup is higher than the mains and that once I get below 1/4 tank the generator runs out of fuel. Thankfully I only had to remove the racor, fill that with diesel then press the "off" button on the onan genset to prime it and all is well. However it would have been good to know that little fact prior to running the generator out of fuel.
Hope this helps someone else avoid what I went through...
I'd consider that a feature rather than a flaw. Helps to make sure that you still have fuel for the engine(s), and can't leave yourself dead in the water when running the generator.
Robert
Remember, if you are going boating -- take your boat. Don't ask me how I know this.
I think that is pretty much par for the course and most boats are built with that feature so your genset will never run your tank empty. You're lucky that yours stops at 1/4 of a tank. My last boat stopped at around 1/3 of a tank.
RVs are done the same way. Genset'll "run out" before the main Really Runs Out, so you can get propulsion running on the last few gallons in the tank. On RVs they try to leave 1/4 tank.
God Bless, jd 1996 Sea Ray 215EC Alpha One GEN II 5.7L/350CID/EFI/220HP 14-1/2*19 Stainless RWC
I'd consider that a feature rather than a flaw. Helps to make sure that you still have fuel for the engine(s), and can't leave yourself dead in the water when running the generator.
I do agree that it is a feature. Unfortunately it never crossed my mind until it was too late. At least it was an easy fix. You learn something new every day I suppose...
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Generator Fuel Pick-up
Posted - Jul 16 2012 : 14:56:56
