I am turning to y'all cause I am at wit's end with my fuel line setup. I am praying y'all can help me out otherwise I just might burn my build down.
Setup:
Since my build is diesel I am set on running everything off of my van's fuel tank. To accomplish this I have purchased a Webasto Cooker stove top and a JP Combi heater (Chinese furnace and water heater combo unit).
At this point I have tapped into my fuel tank with a stand pipe. There was spare port on top of my fuel tank that I was able to insert the standpipe into. After the standpipe I have place a "Y" with one end running to my Webasto Stove and the other to my JP Combi. The JP Combi's fuel pump is inside my van and the Webasto's fuel pump is integrated in the stove top.
Problem:
I fully connected my JP combi heater and left my Webasto line open to (not connected to the integrated system). With this setup I turned on my JP Combi and set the system to prime, the fuel pump ran and it was sucking up tons of air and only a sprinkling of fuel.
To start trouble shooting the system I tried pulling fuel directly from stand pipe. When I did this I was able to pull out straight fuel with out any air.
I figured that the air was coming from the open Webasto fuel line so I have put a one-way valve at the end of this fuel line. This time I used a hand pump to pull the fuel through my JP Combi fuel line. I was able to pull fuel through the line with minimal air however after a pump or two the hand pump balloon wouldn't reinflate but the line was filled with fuel.
To trouble shoot this I put a fuel syringe (a big old honking thing) on the JP Combi fuel line to prevent the line from sucking in air. I then put the hand pump onto the Webasto line and again after two pumps the hand balloon wouldn't inflate.
I have tested the hand pump and it works smoothly when pumping fuel out of a cup
I have no clue where to go from here so any suggestions are appreciated.
I figured that the air was coming from the open Webasto fuel line so I have put a one-way valve at the end of this fuel line. This time I used a hand pump to pull the fuel through my JP Combi fuel line. I was able to pull fuel through the line with minimal air however after a pump or two the hand pump balloon wouldn't reinflate but the line was filled with fuel.
To trouble shoot this I put a fuel syringe (a big old honking thing) on the JP Combi fuel line to prevent the line from sucking in air. I then put the hand pump onto the Webasto line and again after two pumps the hand balloon wouldn't inflate.
Repeat the above tests with the van gas (diesel!) cap removed.
I tried opening the fuel cap to see if that got things flowing. Sadly it didn't help.
I guess at this point I am going to have to lower my fuel tank again to sort things out so my new question is should the Y be working or will I need 2 stand pipes?
A separate supply line at the tank for the heater is preferred so that the heater won't drain the tank dry. Auxiliary supply lines usually sit above the bottom of the tank so they can only draw it down to around 1/4 full.
That leaves enough fuel to get you to a gas station.
__________________
"Talk is cheap. Whiskey costs money."
Two stand pipes is the way to go. A few years ago when I installed mine I did it in a new Spectra tank ($175) to make it easy. When I dropped my old tank did find the common delamination flakes inside so the new tank was for sure worth it.
Definitely want two stand pipes. You maybe could make it work with a check valve depending on where you place it but the two stand pipes is the simpler and easier option.
I would be worried with a check valve that a rubber one would eventually degrade from the diesel but would have low enough cracking pressure to work and a steel ball/spring style would last but would not seal 100% and would need a higher cracking pressure.
Linear Mode
