Re-fueling your boat?? Beware

[dunmears]

A workmate was refueling his fibreglass boat at the local service station, at the same time as the station's underground tanks were being filled by a tanker. The tanker driver walked over to the workmate and gave him a dressing down as to the legalities of fueling his boat. He informed my friend in no uncertain terms that by law he was required to have an earth lead connected to the bowser and to the tank of his boat. I cannot see how you could connect a lead to an underfloor tank. Most fuel tanks would also have a rubber hose to the tank. I believe it is very dangerous to use a mobile phone whilst refueling and you are supposed to place a portable fuel tank on the ground when refueling but I have never heard about the earth lead?????????????

[marco]

A workmate was refueling his fibreglass boat at the local service station, at the same time as the station's underground tanks were being filled by a tanker. The tanker driver walked over to the workmate and gave him a dressing down as to the legalities of fueling his boat. He informed my friend in no uncertain terms that by law he was required to have an earth lead connected to the bowser and to the tank of his boat. I cannot see how you could connect a lead to an underfloor tank. Most fuel tanks would also have a rubber hose to the tank. I believe it is very dangerous to use a mobile phone whilst refueling and you are supposed to place a portable fuel tank on the ground when refueling but I have never heard about the earth lead?????????????

in a nutshell that is bullshit , tell your mate to tell that tanker driver to go jump .

there is a reason why they get called tanker ###### , unfortunately i'm one of them

where was it and what company ?

[bayfisher]

This is a new one! You would think that their would be something written on a fuel bowser if this was the case. Sounds like rubbish.

Cheers Chris

[bastard]

When you fuel your boat up on the water there is an earth strap supplied and this is supposed to be earthed to your tank,ive never done this though.

[KAGEY1]

It Is Rubbish. Planes Have Grounding Wires When They Refuel Because They Build Up A Lot Of Static When They Fly. How You Would Get A Ground Wire To The Fuel Tank Underfloor Would Be Painful At Best. I Do Know That At My Local Fuel Station They Have Asked Motorists To Wait Whilr The Tanker Unloads, But It Seems To Be At The Disgression Of The Driver.

[Ausfish]

Where you at a BP?

This has been discussed a while ago and from memory there is a policy that covers this by one of the fuel companies and I think it was BP.

Nothing wrong with using a mobile phone near a bowser, it will not cause an explosion. I think that the problem was that years ago the phones would interfere with the electronics and you could get charged the wrong amount for the fuel. It was usually in the customers favour so they banned the use of them near bowsers.

[bushonion]

Why do they require you to put the tank on the ground? I'm 50+ and female so can't lift a 25l tank back up and into the boat once I fill it... what the heck am I supposed to do?

When I did my Skippers ticket I asked and the instructor was stumped... would love to know the reasons and the solutions.

[Hamish73]

This video may answer a few questions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ53qiOnWeU



This wonans mistake was to get back in the car (with both feet off the ground) whilst refueling. The static electricity discharged via the pump nozzle.

I either remove the tank from the ute (normally fuel up the night before) and put it on the ground, or touch the pump and the ute at the same time to earth any static charge beore I remove the nozzle.

[wags on the water]

Maybe the tanker driver was upset that your mate was going fishing and he had to work.

[Greg P]

On the same topic about fueling your boat, my local BP has just changed over all the std unleaded bowsers to 10% ethanol ulp with very little fanfare or actual signage on the bowser stack.

I dont know if it has happened elsewhere but it looks like some aren't going to put in seperate nozzles so if you do normally use unleaded take a quick look before pumping some in as I only just caught it before I started as I did use this servo to fill the boat all the time.

[cormorant]

Why do they require you to put the tank on the ground? I'm 50+ and female so can't lift a 25l tank back up and into the boat once I fill it... what the heck am I supposed to do?

When I did my Skippers ticket I asked and the instructor was stumped... would love to know the reasons and the solutions.

The reason with boat tanks or fuel cans is that there is no breather on them. All the fuel vapour forced out by the fuel going in can form an explosive gas mix in your boat bilge or in your car boot. A spark from an interior light or boat electronics could ignite it.

As for earth straps they are not required on cars as the nozzle is earthed against the metal fuel pipe.

Static electricity can form by movement of a liquid through a pipe. That static can be sparked against the lip on even a plastic tank which if the right vapour mix exists can explode.

Wind passing over a planes wings can create static charge.

Some rubber hoses are rated as fuel transfer hoses as they are conductive and prevent a static charge being created as fuel travels through them and air travels past them. Most plane refuelling hoses are such but they still double up with earth strp to ensure charge is dissapated before fuel pipi goes near plane

C

[hondaguy]

Was your mate in the boat or standing beside the boat when refilling? Would the fibreglass boat be more likely to hold static electricity compared to an alloy boat? Alloy boat would earth through the winch post to vechicle or when you touch it to discharge the static electricity. Does a fibreglass boat earth out the tank to the engine? hence the earth strap when refuelling suggestion

[cqfreshie]

Check the video again guys. I think you will find the young lady building up a bit of a charge as she adjusts her jumper, after geting out of the car. Her foot wear could be of interest as well.

I used to zap myself getting out of my car, and found it was from a pair of joggers I wore. Whether the car built up a charge and conducted to ground through the joggers or it was just the joggers, I don't know. But it was always the same scenario ... open door, step out, hand to door to close it .... zap ..... with a loud cracking noise also.

Cheers
Graham

[Pirate_Pete_Tas]

I have a Poly boat with an inbuilt poly tank. How the @$#% does the tanker driver think I can earth that !!!!

[marco]

This video may answer a few questions.





This wonans mistake was to get back in the car (with both feet off the ground) whilst refueling. The static electricity discharged via the pump nozzle.

I either remove the tank from the ute (normally fuel up the night before) and put it on the ground, or touch the pump and the ute at the same time to earth any static charge beore I remove the nozzle.

her main mistake was adjusting her jumper , that created the charge , the second mistake is locking the trigger on with motorspirit and walking away , static built up and then stuck her hand in where the fumes are rushing out.

as far as the tanker driver is concerned there are rules covered in the dangerous goods code which the driver should go by but there is nothing regarding what happened with the boat as explained above .

as far as the mobile phones go , mobil has documented two cases in victoria where people have been burnt and they blame the phones for it but who knows whether it is that or not , as far as tanker drivers and servo staff are concerned the phones are considered sources of ignition and the dangerous goods code is very strict about it with heavy fines for the staff concerned for allowing anyone to use them , i personally dont want to find out if it is true or not .

ive never heard of mobile phones effecting the read out of the bowsers .