Help Gasoline fumes in my cabin

[mattu]

Hello everybody. 2 weeks ago I bought a 1988 26D. I'm in the process of tuning her up and making her a good place for the wife and kids to sleep in. I noticed the cabin seems to gather a lot of gas vapors. Has anybody here experienced this? Solved it? What should I do? I think we would all wake up with headaches unless I somehow figure out what to do. I removed the gas tank and noticed the previous owner had rags stuff in the opening that is the drain for the cockpit. No visual gas leaks just a strong vapor smell.

[40Toes]

I am not familiar with your boat but I did have a similar problem when I ended up with a small amount gas in my bilge (don't ask!). You need to find the source and it doesn't take much to give you the smell. I first opened the boat up and tried to let the fuel evaporate - once the fuel is gone so should the smell - i had no luck with natural ventilation. I used fans to blow air into the bilge for days to try to evaporate the fuel I couldn't reach with rags. Even after I was confident I had all the fuel the smell was still there. The previous owner had put some expandable foam in a section of the bilge and I finally figured out that was where the smell was coming from. I removed that and vented for another couple of days before I got rid of the fumes. If it is into the foam it is going to be a real PITA, good luck.

Rod

[Catigale]

Canyou be more specific??

If you remove the engine and fuel tank, do you still have gas fumes after a day of having the boat open?

A gasoline leak on a boat is DANGEROUS, and can kill you. Because boats are clorox bottles, gasoline fumes accumulate until they go BANG and your boat burns up.

[Québec 1]

Check to see if any part of your gas delivery system passes through your cabin. I had this problem with my boat the first year and realize the last owner had the gas line going from the exterior gas tank through the aft berth to the motor. The gas line sprang a leak at the motor connection and followed the gas line into the aft berth. I now simply have the gas line going from motor to tank in the cockpit.
Q1

[Russ]

the previous owner had rags stuff in the opening that is the drain for the cockpit. No visual gas leaks just a strong vapor smell.

I wonder what these rags were for. Does the drain terminate above the water line? If so, they might also drain fumes that accumulate in the cockpit. There needs to be a path for fumes to escape by dropping (heavier than air) over the side of the boat from where the fuel tanks are stored. Vapors on my M can "pour" over the transom and normally cannot lift up and into the cabin.

You don't have to see a leak to have explosive fumes. They can come from almost anywhere including the vent caps of your tanks.

Your nose is your best tool in keeping your family safe. If you smell fumes in the cabin, it's a dangerous thing since they are heavier than air and will find the lowest part of your boat where there is no escape. Explosions on boats are common from trapped fumes in bilges.

Also, where is the wind. Could it be blowing vapors down into your cabin? Is the smell constant or is it at certain times. We often smell gas fumes from the vents when the fuel in the tanks slosh around during sailing. Also, when temps heat up and the vapors expand out of the vents.



--Russ

[DaveB]

The 26S is much like your boat were you put the fuel tank in the stearn lazerate and if this is not sealed for vapors and have proper air ventilation in that locker you will get vapors in the cabin. A portable fuel tank will expand as temps increase, why you always have tank air vent cracked a little .
The fuel tank locker has to be completely enclosed with a overboard drain for water and vapors at bottom, much like propane locker.
Gas vapors will settle to lowest point in your bildge and any spark can cause a explosion. Get a Gas (Carbon Monoxide) detector with alarm .
Dave

Hello everybody. 2 weeks ago I bought a 1988 26D. I'm in the process of tuning her up and making her a good place for the wife and kids to sleep in. I noticed the cabin seems to gather a lot of gas vapors. Has anybody here experienced this? Solved it? What should I do? I think we would all wake up with headaches unless I somehow figure out what to do. I removed the gas tank and noticed the previous owner had rags stuff in the opening that is the drain for the cockpit. No visual gas leaks just a strong vapor smell.

[kelseydo]

Mattu,
If your D is like my X the fuel lockers are sealed around the base where the deck and cabin/cockpit liner join. I had the same problem that was remedied by removing the original caulk and replacing with new silicon.

Dan

[Craig LaForce]

What does a CO detector have to do with gasoline fumes?

Can you leave the boat open for a day in the sun with maybe a fan blowing at the companionway? Better yet, can you install a bilge blower somewhere to get a positive removal of gases from the bilge? I put one one my X and use it for a couple minutes each time I use the boat.

[Catigale]

The hard part on an is that there are multiple bilges so its hard to flush them all without multiple blowers...same on the

I dont know about the 'fast boats'

[technicalman]

I was getting fuel vapors in the cabin from fuel stored in the lazerette compartment in the back of the boat. I have a 26S, which is basically the same as your 26D. in my case, i just tightened the cap on the fuel tank when the tank was not in use. The vapors seem to go to the low part of the boat. I've been thinking about putting an exhaust fan in there in the lazerette compartment. Maybe one of those solar powered ones. The vents I have on the lazerette don't seem to help too much.

[Catigale]

A solar one is ok, but any blower that has a DC connection would need to be 'explosion proof' as well as good attention to the wiring - appropriate for a gas fume containing area..

for example http://legacy.shurflo.com/pdf/Marine/91 ... -723-C.pdf

[LOUIS B HOLUB]

The 26S is much like your boat were you put the fuel tank in the stearn lazerate and if this is not sealed for vapors and have proper air ventilation in that locker you will get vapors in the cabin.

Dave

Dave is correct.
We discovered the same problem with our previous boat, a 26-S (same boat as the 26-D with only the difference in the swing keel, and a dagger board). When the Laz. lid is closed, any fuel fumes will enter the cabin. You'll notice that the Laz. isn't sealed separate from the cabin, so anything with fumes, odors, etc. stored in the LAZ. will enter the cabin easily. There are "openings" between the Laz. and boat cabin.

When we overnighted on our 26-S, the fuel tank was removed from the Laz., and placed onto the cockpit.

[argonaut]

I highly recommend taking a look at this article about a marina fire.
Once the powerboat burned free of it's moorings it was driven across the channel by wind into some sailboats, damaging them as well.

Gasoline doesn't burn, gasoline mixed with air (vapor) combusts... and THAT is the stuff you're smelling.

FIND IT / FIX IT !!

Video is about 15 minutes long.
Fire destroys boat at Port Canaveral, damages others

We had an entire marina burn near Sanford a few years back.

[Doug91mac26s]

All the 26C's, both D's and S's are not meant to have the gas tank stored in the Laz. Fuel vapors will enter into the cabin, and there is also a possibility of an explosion.

Having said that many owner's do keep their fuel tanks in the laz, but they make sure they have a proper installation with respect to ventilation, and they seal all around the edges to help prevent the vapors from getting into the cabin. If you really want to keep the fuel tank in the laz, search the archives to see how others provided ventilation.

I prefer to keep my fuel tank in the cockpit on my 26S. Many have built nice tank covers with storage compartments and cup holders etc., I like the design of the one below, but I've seen many different designs.

[dennisneal]

mattu,

I hope that while you're investigating the gasoline fumes inside your 1988 26D that you use a British "torch", i.e., "flashlight", rather than an American "torch" , i.e., "flame". The first is OK. The second is trouble.