I've been brewing my own wine which i have up on the worktop in the kitchen. I have a bit of 1/2" tube that i've been decanting it with.
I've had 3 decanting sessions so far (its a 5 gallon drum so a few left yet too ;-) ) and i still havent got the hang of doing it without ending up having to drink a lot of wine!. Now i can cope with that (as long as i'm not driving anywhere!), but i dont ever fancy doing it with petrol!
A smaller I.D pipe is much more controllable (though you can shift about 2 litres in 5-10secs with 1/2 inch)
No wonder you can't get the hang of it if you keep getting p***ed doing it, you won't remember how you did it last time :-)
I remember swallowing some petrol while trying to siphon it a very long time ago, didn't seem to do me any harm but it shifted my dose of 'flu almost immediately. Must try some more if this bird 'flu comes round. Now, let's see, was it 100 octane?
Hmmm.....the easiest way to avoid sucking petrol too far is not to suck it at all!
If you have access to enable you to get your siphoning tube well into the fuel, just insert a second tube alongside the first through the same opening but not entering the fuel. Then plug the remainder of the gap around the 2 tubes with a bit of rag. Now, providing you can create a small increase in pressure in the tank by blowing through the second tube, the fuel will start to siphon as per the old suck & spit method. Simple really!
Hmm, I thought of that idea myself (using a bicycle pump to remove the problem of sealing the tube while you take a breath), the technique of using an air pump to pressurise the tanks to get fuel out is used in the vintage racing cars that I go and ogle at on a regular basis so it's a familiar technique.
The practicalities and risks to weak piping meant that I dismissed it in favour of just getting a long pipe, dipping it all the way into the tank, sucking until the fuel was near the end then plugging it with my finger. Then I'll take the other end of the pipe out of the garage door, down the steps to the jerry cans as that's the only way I'll be able to get the jerry cans low enough to siphon with any real speed and reliability. I can't raise the car up much but have a handy
2-foot drop from the garage to the patio that I think I'll use to ease the siphoning process!
If that doesn't work then I'll try using the fuel vapour vent hoses attached to the filler necks that run to the charcoal cannister to pressurise the tanks then see if I can get fuel to come out of the fuel pump return connection. From the parts diagrams, this appears to be an open pipe that terminates just above the fuel pump inlet filter, so is in an ideal place for siphoning, being actually in the recess at the bottom of the tank that contains the pump inlet.
I only just got access to the tanks themselves this weekend, sorting this out is scheduled for a few week's time. I'll let yer all know if I get incinerated or not!!
On or around Mon, 2 Jan 2006 22:53:57 +0000, Ian Rawlings enlightened us thusly:
thing is, it only takes quite a low pressure to make the petrol climb up the pipe. If you get enough pressure to rupture things, you've probably gone OTT.
besides, doing the thing with the rag in the filler inlet won't make much of a seal anyway, and any serious pressure will blow it out again. If you go with the "by mouth" technique, you'll not archived more than a few psi anyway, unless you have abnormal chest muscle development.
I now have the following procedure to get this job done. It's of only mild interest to landy owners probably.
Once the fuel system is depressurised (e.g. if you have no engine) you can bung a clear hose to a jerry can on the return line (the one with the long pipe with the twirl in), and a bicycle pump on the fuel inlet filler vent hose that normally runs to the charcoal cannister.
Then pump like mad, keeping an eye on the clear hose for signs of petrol coming out, of which you will see none. Notice the hissing sound as air escapes from the many leaks in the fuel system, and dash around like mad trying to patch them.
Give up on the bicycle pump and start blowing like fury into the filler vent hose until you go light-headed and stumble around in the engine bay, while trying in vain to spot signs of fuel beginning to travel down the clear plastic hose. Curse and swear at Lotus for using cheap plastic clips on the fuel vapour cross-over pipe which is where the leaks are coming from, and try in vain to find some suitable jubilee clips to replace them.
Fail to find any and start blowing into the vent hose again even harder, this time mostly for entertainment, and resolve to buy some proper sized jubilee clips on Monday.
Notice that the 20-litre jerry can is now overflowing with fuel, and remember that fuel is transparent, and once it's flowing you won't spot it in a clear plastic hose. Realise that you got it right on the first go, swap cans, and console yourself with more blowing into the vent hose and stumbling around in the engine bay.
Try to figure out the best way to tell how full a solid jerry can is of transparent liquid, and after many failed attempts at an accurate means, figure out that blowing into another hose while lowering it into the can until it makes farting sounds is the best method.
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