i have a merc alpha one on a 1999 bayliner 1850ss capri. Anyways, my
wife came to me the other night telling me that the basement smelt like
gas. (the previous night i filled up the i/o and put it in the garage.)
when i filled it i did spill some on the back of the boat. however i
did wipe it up. well now it is 2 days later. i have not done anything
with the boat, it is still sitting in my garage. i came home from work
tonite and opened the garage door and smelt gas. so i opened up the
bottom cover between the 2 front seats of the boat. (where you may put
like skis or something) and WOOO did i smell gas fumes .. i looked all
around and did not see any leaks. is this normal and do i just need to
make sure not to fill up the boat until i am going out in it. is this
why i am smelling gas, do i have anything to be worried about? let me
know if you have any ideas with this. thanks brian

On 27 Jul 2006 00:39:46 -0700, "brian" wrote:

i have a merc alpha one on a 1999 bayliner 1850ss capri. Anyways, my
wife came to me the other night telling me that the basement smelt like
gas. (the previous night i filled up the i/o and put it in the garage.)
when i filled it i did spill some on the back of the boat. however i
did wipe it up. well now it is 2 days later. i have not done anything
with the boat, it is still sitting in my garage. i came home from work
tonite and opened the garage door and smelt gas. so i opened up the
bottom cover between the 2 front seats of the boat. (where you may put
like skis or something) and WOOO did i smell gas fumes .. i looked all
around and did not see any leaks. is this normal and do i just need to
make sure not to fill up the boat until i am going out in it. is this
why i am smelling gas, do i have anything to be worried about? let me
know if you have any ideas with this. thanks brian

Brian, you have a *VERY* serious problem.

Get the boat out of the garage immediately.

It sounds like you've gotten gasoline in the bilge somehow, and that
is an extremely dangerous situation. Do not take it lightly.

After getting the boat outdoors I would start by pulling the transom
plug and running water into the bilge. Do not operate any electrical
equipment in or near the boat until the gasoline odor has gone away.

After that, you need to figure out how the gasoline got there. I'd
recommend having your tank fill and vent line checked by an expert.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
news
On 27 Jul 2006 00:39:46 -0700, "brian" wrote:

i have a merc alpha one on a 1999 bayliner 1850ss capri. Anyways, my
wife came to me the other night telling me that the basement smelt like
gas. (the previous night i filled up the i/o and put it in the garage.)
when i filled it i did spill some on the back of the boat. however i
did wipe it up. well now it is 2 days later. i have not done anything
with the boat, it is still sitting in my garage. i came home from work
tonite and opened the garage door and smelt gas. so i opened up the
bottom cover between the 2 front seats of the boat. (where you may put
like skis or something) and WOOO did i smell gas fumes .. i looked all
around and did not see any leaks. is this normal and do i just need to
make sure not to fill up the boat until i am going out in it. is this
why i am smelling gas, do i have anything to be worried about? let me
know if you have any ideas with this. thanks brian

Brian, you have a *VERY* serious problem.

Get the boat out of the garage immediately.

It sounds like you've gotten gasoline in the bilge somehow, and that
is an extremely dangerous situation. Do not take it lightly.

After getting the boat outdoors I would start by pulling the transom
plug and running water into the bilge. Do not operate any electrical
equipment in or near the boat until the gasoline odor has gone away.

After that, you need to figure out how the gasoline got there. I'd
recommend having your tank fill and vent line checked by an expert.



What he said. And do it now.

Eisboch

brian wrote:
i have a merc alpha one on a 1999 bayliner 1850ss capri. Anyways, my
wife came to me the other night telling me that the basement smelt like
gas. (the previous night i filled up the i/o and put it in the garage.)
when i filled it i did spill some on the back of the boat. however i
did wipe it up. well now it is 2 days later. i have not done anything
with the boat, it is still sitting in my garage. i came home from work
tonite and opened the garage door and smelt gas. so i opened up the
bottom cover between the 2 front seats of the boat. (where you may put
like skis or something) and WOOO did i smell gas fumes .. i looked all
around and did not see any leaks. is this normal and do i just need to
make sure not to fill up the boat until i am going out in it. is this
why i am smelling gas, do i have anything to be worried about? let me
know if you have any ideas with this. thanks brian


ok, i have taken a better look at my boat and have noticed something
differant. where the incoming hose connects to the fuel tank it is sort
of wet. not realy, kind of like a sweat.. we have had realy hot and
humid temperatures the last few days so maybe that is what has done it.
where would the fuel be coming out from though? there is a rubber seal
that is connected to the tube that the gas goes into. do you think that
the vapors caused this to happen? would it be safe if i were to just
wipe it off and run the boat for awhile so that the gas level goes down
so the tank has breathing room.? would this solve my problem or is
there something i am missing ?brian

Check your tank vent. It may be blocked, and as the tank warms up, the
fuel is expanding and leaking out wherever it can. I had to dig a
couple of dirt dauber nests out of my air horns the other day... little
*******s!
brian wrote:
brian wrote:

ok, i have taken a better look at my boat and have noticed something
differant. where the incoming hose connects to the fuel tank it is sort
of wet. not realy, kind of like a sweat.. we have had realy hot and
humid temperatures the last few days so maybe that is what has done it.
where would the fuel be coming out from though?

My tank will force some fuel out the overflow if the air temp swings
around a lot and I have filled it very full. Gas expands and contracts
a lot with temperature changes. Spilled gas turns into gas fumes
pretty quickly and doesn't leave much trace of the original spill.

You should check any signs of liquid on the gas lines, in the bilge,
the fuel gauge sending unit, and anywhere nearby to see if it is gas or
condensation. Just get some on you fingers and smell it. If you have
liquid gas somewhere it's not supposed to be you need to figure out
what is leaking. I suspect you just had an overflow though.

I have learned to listen at the fill tube for the signs it is getting
full. Mine starts to gurgle differently when the gas going in reaches
the top of the tank. I quit then. Normally I only fill before storing
at the end of the year so it is not much of a problem for me. During
the summer I fill on the way to the ramp.

Keith wrote:
Check your tank vent. It may be blocked, and as the tank warms up, the
fuel is expanding and leaking out wherever it can. I had to dig a
couple of dirt dauber nests out of my air horns the other day... little
*******s!
brian wrote:
brian wrote:

ok, i have taken a better look at my boat and have noticed something
differant. where the incoming hose connects to the fuel tank it is sort
of wet. not realy, kind of like a sweat.. we have had realy hot and
humid temperatures the last few days so maybe that is what has done it.
where would the fuel be coming out from though?

"Joey916" wrote in message
ups.com...


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...Fire/boat1.jpg


That's not good.

brian wrote:
i have a merc alpha one on a 1999 bayliner 1850ss capri. Anyways, my
wife came to me the other night telling me that the basement smelt like
gas. (the previous night i filled up the i/o and put it in the garage.)
when i filled it i did spill some on the back of the boat. however i
did wipe it up. well now it is 2 days later. i have not done anything
with the boat, it is still sitting in my garage. i came home from work
tonite and opened the garage door and smelt gas. so i opened up the
bottom cover between the 2 front seats of the boat. (where you may put
like skis or something) and WOOO did i smell gas fumes .. i looked all
around and did not see any leaks. is this normal and do i just need to
make sure not to fill up the boat until i am going out in it. is this
why i am smelling gas, do i have anything to be worried about? let me
know if you have any ideas with this. thanks brian


The good news is probably that you didn't see any liquid gasoline in
the bilge. A ruptured tank is unlikely

The bad news is that it is the vapors, not the liquid, that is
explosive in a confined area.

Sounds like you filled up on the way home from an outing, overfilled
the tank ("spilled some on the back of the boat") and that this could
have contributed to your problem.

After you get the boat out of your house, open it up and air it out
thoroughly, inspect it very carefully for any evidence of fuel leaking
from the tank (and find none), here's something specific for you to
check. You should have a flexible vent line running from a fitting on
your fuel tank to a fitting on the hull. Based on what you have
described, and if the smell is the result of the overfilling you
report, I would check the outboard end of that vent line to see if it
is cracked or otherwise not properly seated on the through hull ven
fitting.

While your vent hose cold be loose at the tank, if it were loose at the
tank you would have a constant smell of gasoline in your boat. However,
if the same hose is loose at the through hull, the venturi effect of
the air passing over the vent fitting will "scour" the fumes from the
end of the vent line before they find a way out of the loose or
fractured connection. If you overfilled the tank so badly that you
forced gasoline up the vent line, the same breach that is of less
consequence when vapors are being sucked from the line while the boat
is in motion could have resulted in the leaking of some fuel into your
bilge. If you were driving home with a cover on the boat, that would
tend to slow down the evaporation of the gasoline- and also,
unfortunately, help the smell permeate all of your cushions, etc. Long
after you get the gasoline smell out of the bilge you may be dealing
with some pretty stinky canvas and cushions. :-(

It may also and could easily turn out to be something else entirely,
but whatever it is you want to be darn sure it's comnpletely cured
before you use the boat again and before you put it back inside any
structure you'd rather not see burn down.

"Keith" wrote in message
ups.com...

I had to dig a couple of dirt dauber nests

What the heck is a dirt dauber ?

On Sat, 29 Jul 2006 22:07:34 -0700, "Mr Wizzard"
wrote:


"Keith" wrote in message
oups.com...

I had to dig a couple of dirt dauber nests

What the heck is a dirt dauber ?

http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/m/m0464000.html
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John