A Burp Free Fueling

Well it finally happened today. In preparing for my departure this Thursday, it was time to bite the bullet and fill the coach up. I generally store it full, but didn't get it done the other day when I parked it in the hanger.

But with diesel at the Flying J running $4.62, I opted for the Kroger grocery store just down the street. Fuel there was $4.48 and with my Kroger card, I got it for $4.38 but the downside is the small nozzle and negotiating the parking lot full of snapperhead cars.

And as I was there listening to my third old timer asking me about the camper, the nozzle clicked and I performed the required "jump back" to avoid the inevitable fuel burp. But none came. Was it the smaller nozzle and slower delivery? Must have been. I then pulled a trick from the Krakman and produced a flashlight to look down the filler neck. I proceeded to see how much fuel I could cram in the tank sans burp. It started filling up in the neck at 149.89 gallons, so I stopped.

I am going to try this one more time but when time is not of the essence, maybe the big honking truck nozzle and its sure fire diesel bath is a thing of the past.

Jerry, I am sure it was the small nozzle. I always use a small nozzle if possible, and I have never had the burping problem. When I have to use the large nozzle, I set it on the lowest setting.

We fueld twice along the way to Pahrump and then in Knoxville on our return.

My batting average of no drip fueling was .666. At the Flying J west of ABQ I stuck both big boy truck nozzles in and let it rip. At 210 gallons I heard the click (I was cleaning off the bugs from the windshield) and expected to hear and see the splash. It never came.

On the return I stopped at the same Flying J and after 166 gallons I heard the click and then the whoosh, and then the splash. Same two nozzles, and this time it puked.

The final fueling was when we got home, at a Pilot, and this time I used both nozzles again. I heard the click at 187 gallons and not a drop came out.

Except for the fuel running down from the little fill door and getting behind the reflector just beneath the little door (and getting black crud under there) the puking is now just one of life's little annoyances. It is going to do it any time I use a big boy nozzle at random so I accept that fact and move on.

I will not use the dinky nozzles because it takes forever to fill.

Daryl at Marathon in Texas showed me a trick...

Use the big nozzle, but stuff about a dozen of those tri-fold paper towels available at the gas station in and around the fill door space. They do get diesel soaked, but then it doesn't spray all over the place. Then using your gloved hand, remove the paper towel and throw it away. Or, squeeze it out of the paper towel into your tank. (That's about $3 worth, right? :) )

I know I go overboard, but I also wear rubber boots and big chemical gloves when I fill up. Then, my first stop when I go to pay is the bathroom where I wash my gloves. They truckers laugh at first, and then they say "ya know, that's not such a bad idea." Duh! Diesel stinks and it will give you cancer if you expose yourself enough to it. The boots are so I don't track it back into the coach. Takes an extra 30 seconds. Totally worth it I think.

One question.... if you fill from both sides, as was said in a previous post, why no big splash? Might it be that the pressure is relieved? Could one just open the other door and still fill from one? Could be worth some trial. This diesel spillage thing isn't good for anybody. Makes a mess, wastes fuel, bad for the environment....

~Adam

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Originally Posted by adamdegraff

Daryl at Marathon in Texas showed me a trick...

Use the big nozzle, but stuff about a dozen of those tri-fold paper towels available at the gas station in and around the fill door space. They do get diesel soaked, but then it doesn't spray all over the place. Then using your gloved hand, remove the paper towel and throw it away. Or, squeeze it out of the paper towel into your tank. (That's about $3 worth, right? :) )

I know I go overboard, but I also wear rubber boots and big chemical gloves when I fill up. Then, my first stop when I go to pay is the bathroom where I wash my gloves. They truckers laugh at first, and then they say "ya know, that's not such a bad idea." Duh! Diesel stinks and it will give you cancer if you expose yourself enough to it. The boots are so I don't track it back into the coach. Takes an extra 30 seconds. Totally worth it I think.

One question.... if you fill from both sides, as was said in a previous post, why no big splash? Might it be that the pressure is relieved? Could one just open the other door and still fill from one? Could be worth some trial. This diesel spillage thing isn't good for anybody. Makes a mess, wastes fuel, bad for the environment....

~Adam

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I finally had my first experience with the burp back syndrome at Flying J. The one thing I did differently was that I did not slow down the fill when I thought I was nearing what I expected I would need, in other words If I expect that i will need 125 I slow down the fill at 120 and feel my way to the actual top, and never have had a problem even using the big nozzle, but when I left it unattended to the end, I got a big burp back. I think the key is to know how much fuel you will need and run the nozzle manually at the end.

Just so nobody gets a surprise diesel bath, you can go painfully slow and if the fuel is going to puke on you it will still happen. I cannot find a combination of things that makes mine puke or not puke. I am still experimenting, such as single hose fill, slowing the nozzle, tilting the bus, etc.

I don't know what Prevost changed but my 05 XLII has never puked out diesel even with the big boy running full bore.JDUB'S 2001 would make a mess of the fuel island if I left the nozzle on high,I quickly learned to slow it down when within 10 gallons or so.I also think that it helps to take off both fuel caps and only use one nozzle.

I have been told to stay away from small stations because of the chance of water in the deisel tanks as well as the slow speed of fill.
Fortunately, I have not had a back flow issue.

Sweet Victory

First trip to fuel the new bus and the nozzle kicked off with not a drop of fuel out the filler neck. I must be dreaming.

From time to time I have to change out a fuel nozzle at my convenience store because it won't cut off when the tank is full. I THINK that this is what MAY be causing the intermittent problems some of you are having. Also, some Prevosts will burp because of a design flaw in the neck of the tank. I remember reading on previous posts that Prevost has a "fix" for burping. If memory serves me correctly "the King of Bling" called Prevost and raised hell about it and they sent him a kit that fixed the puking problem.

I am no engineer but it seems to me if Prevost made the filler tube 3" in diameter instead of 1" the fuel and air in the tank could equalize and the problem would be solved.

I think Jim Shoen had the opportunity to refit his coach with a newer design fill tube and he posted pictures here. I haven't heard from him about his success.

I continue to pollute by having fuel puke at least 50% of the time. I do know it never pukes when I use the diesel from the car size nozzles, but that takes forever. I can clean a lot of fuel off the side of my coach in the time it takes to fill from a small nozzle. Some of the timeit takes for me to fill can be attributed to the long range fuel with fills in the 200 gallon range being typical.

I must be blest or lucky or maybe my turn is coming. So far in 5 years never a burp using the truck nozzle.

I never had fuel puke when I filled my 87 coach which was a passenger side fill only. When it was getting full you could hear the flow of fuel change sound and as soon as the fill pipe started getting full of foam or fuel the nozzle would cut off and not a drop would emerge. Ever. That bus also had an auxiliary fuel tank.

On my bus, it's kind of a toss up as to whether it will puke fuel or not. I have found that if I place the flow control on the lowest gpm setting, and go have breakfast while the bus is fueling, I stand the best chance of keeping all the diesel in the bus.

Unfortunately, the trucker behind me doesn't often find this amusing......

Jerry, is that fuel price you posted correct? You must not be in TX as Fuel Boss web site lists the price about a buck less. Just wondering???

Larry,

When they see Jerry coming, they jack up the price!

Loc pays $5.42/gallon!

Jerry's original Post regarding the fuel price was in 2008 when we were having $150.00 a barrel oil. I remember the Pahrump rally as being the most expensive fuel price I have ever paid.
I'v read about the burp but I have never had it happen. It must be specific to only certain coaches.

I know that my 2001 burped but my 2005 did not-apparently they fixed it by 2003 from what Gary has said.

I guess the upside was the fuel was $3.16 and I only had 4 guys come ask "Is that your bus?" and " How much fuel does it hold?"

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Originally Posted by jack14r

I know that my 2001 burped but my 2005 did not-apparently they fixed it by 2003 from what Gary has said.

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That's at least ONE good reason to buy a newer bus. I'll have to remember that for Jon!

'Splain to me how puking a little fuel justifies hundreds of thousands additional investment. Talk slow, I don't learn so fast.

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Originally Posted by Jon Wehrenberg

'Splain to me how puking a little fuel justifies hundreds of thousands additional investment. Talk slow, I don't learn so fast.

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I _TOTALLY_ expected that! ;)

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Originally Posted by Jon Wehrenberg

'Splain to me how puking a little fuel justifies hundreds of thousands additional investment. Talk slow, I don't learn so fast.

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Its the little things in life Jon.

Last Spring, we were bombing home from a visit to our son at San Luis Obispo CA. Spent the night in a Walmartinez parking lot in Ft Stockton, and I slept very little as my Webasto malfunctioned and the temp dipped into the 20's. Up much of the night trying to get it working so my 2 gals wouldn't be cold.

Anyway, stopped for fuel in Junction TX the next morning and I was really tired. My normal fueling procedure is to fill about 10 gal short of the Pro Driver fuel burn level, and then ease the rest in very slowly. While trying to clean the windshields, I totally lost track of time in my fatigue. I was snapped out of my funk by the pump clicking off, and ran around to witness a superfund site in the making. I offered to clean i up, but the poor guy behind the counter just dumped a large bag of cedar mulch on it and raked it around and picked it up.

I told Jennifer they should go over to Cooper's and have some BBQ brunch, and I was going to take a nap...

Ouch! Bad enough to have to pay the high price of Fuel that you will use, but..... It twas awful nice of you to offer to clean it up, and even nicer that the attendant did so without a lot of grief, (TX for ya!) but, I believe that the station itself, even though you should stand by the pump, is responsible to have a correctly working and inspected delivery system (nozzle) tested to release without fail, if this happens. Good lessen for all of us, I know, I tend to walk off and do something while fueling (sometimes) but it is probably not a good habit. And I grew up in a family run Gas Station. Glad that nothing really bad did not happen to you.

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Originally Posted by GDeen

... ran around to witness a superfund site in the making...

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That there's funny!

I fuel, Carole does the hard stuff like cleaning the windshields and walking the dog. My hand almost never leaves the trigger. I don't put any trust in any fueling operation anywhere, anytime. I've got the oldie single fill curbside and have never experienced an automated fuel puke. However, I did hold the trigger open just a second too long and did get some diesel down on the ground. My bad, not the bus.

I guess my coach is wierd, I've never had the burp effect.

I know that this thread is almost dead. But as read through this post and it seemed to me that the air in the fuel tank was being trapped and pushing the fuel out when filled.

So on the first time fueling the "new" coach I removed the starboard side fuel cap to let the air escape. Filled the tank at full nozzle and presto no burp. I am not sure if it will work for others but it is worth a try.

Lee,

I think we have had fuel running out the other side by someone in the past. Probably all comes down to the operator, or lack there of!

Having followed this post as some have and have not splashed back fuel.
Here is my FWIW story......years ago when an 8300 gal tanker dumping fuel spashed out/over where the hose meets the fitting installed on the underground tank. Fuel shot back which looked like a fire hydrant opened according to a witness...we are now talking mega fuel spill. It was our lucky day with no explosion or fire. And that is a understatement.
As it turned out some critters over a long period of time had restricted the above ground pipe venting from a 15,000 gallon underground fuel tank. As the tanker is unloading fuel using a 5 or 6 inch hose the venting was unable to handle the displacement. I claimed the spill happened due to a overfill of product from the tanker as the amount should of fit. We always stick the tanks, read the chart a compare gals on tanker to space in storage tank. Pretty high tech math.
To make a long story short your fueling splash backs might be caused by some restriction in your fuel tank vent system. This might be in someway related to some do/ some don't. Another idea would be to just "slightly" crack open the oppisite side filler cap to allow air to escape while fueling.

The puking is related to two side fill buses that came into being around when the 45's were introduced.

I don't know what model year, but because of complaints of puking Prevost came up with a fix, which can be retrofitted. To the best of my knowledge Jim Shoen is the only one in POG who has installed the retrofit. He would have to be the one to say what the difference was and how the change fixed the problem.