Does your diesel tank look like this?

[Christian Williams]

Good point. The dock person doesn't fuel the boat, he just hands me the nozzle. Theoretically I know how many gallons she'll take, and I;m not distracted by other customers.

I still tip well. Not that anybody will remember in six months....

 

[Grizz]

Some do, most don't

Oh, only if it were that simple...

WI, IL, IN and MI constitute the sailing grounds, with rules that differ from state-to-state and facility to facility. Those facilities which don't permit 'self serve' are the ones at risk of a blow-back gusher, usually kids not listening and in a hurry, "yeah, yeah" followed quickly by "sorry, get the Dawn!".

 

[supersailor]

Herb,

I have kept careful records since I bought the boat in 2013. My 34 uses .42 gal/hr. Maybe I am in a little more of a hurry than your previous owner. I normally run at 6 1/2 knots when under power. On the issue of filling, the problem with filling is that the vent is lower than the fill on the 34 and the vent will spill before the pump will automatically cut off. The secret is to listen to the sound of the filling. You can tell when the tank fills to the fill pipe. I stop then although you can get close to another gallon if you fill the pipe. A better solution would be to move the vent to the vicinity of the fill so it is higher. Lots of work. Christen is right in that you need to fill slowly. A fast fill guarantees a spill out the vent.

 

[JSM]

Just fueled my bone dry E34-200 with 15 gallons. First 10 took the gauge to 1/4. Last 5 brought it to 1/2. Tanks is placarded for 27 gal.

 

[Loren Beach]

More capacity information in a prior thread:
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?1606-Fuel-capacity-of-E34-(1987)/page3

 

[supersailor]

Pull your vent off the tank to check for a blockage. If the vent is blocked, there is no way to even come close to filling it. The last 14.5 gallons is in the top 3" of that tank. An air bubble stops the filling dead. The 1987 model is a 34-2. The 200 came along when Pacific Seacraft started building them. Specs might be different on them.

 

[Loren Beach]

Pull your vent off the tank to check for a blockage. If the vent is blocked, there is no way to even come close to filling it. The last 14.5 gallons is in the top 3" of that tank. An air bubble stops the filling dead. The 1987 model is a 34-2. The 200 came along when Pacific Seacraft started building them. Specs might be different on them.

Good Advice.
Also, I replaced our vent fitting when the new tank and hoses went in. One other way to look at the problem is that IF your boat commonly spits out any diesel when refueling, then there is fuel 'oil' residue in that fitting and its little metal screen... and that attracts dirt... which will gum up and partly block the vent.
This might be one of those 'neglected areas' of maintenance that can cause increasing problems.

And, like the factory stock vent hose routing in our model, if your vent hose run has any sags that hold diesel, these will restrict the venting ability of the system when fueling up, and misleadingly indicate a "full" tank when it's not.

 

[JSM]

Pull your vent off the tank to check for a blockage. If the vent is blocked, there is no way to even come close to filling it. The last 14.5 gallons is in the top 3" of that tank. An air bubble stops the filling dead. The 1987 model is a 34-2. The 200 came along when Pacific Seacraft started building them. Specs might be different on them.

I stand corrected 34-2, thanks ! Had no problems fueling. Siphoned three 5 gallon jerry cans into a freshly cleaned and repaired tank checking the gauge at 10 gals. and again at 15. Tank is half full , gauge read 1/2.