Trojan Boat Forum

FUEL MANIFOLD!!!

Sheesh, don't be creepy!

But really. Whats it look like? Is it a 3 way valve under a deck plate, or is it a serious 500 dollar combination of brass hardware mounted to a bulkhead somewhere??? Maybe something in between? Crossover? No Crossover? Do you use the crossover? Always? Never? Sometimes? It depends????

Just curious.

I have a brass Rubik's Cube and 4 tanks, so I find myself working the levers like "The Wizard" at times. Espescially when I've done something dumb like spread 50 or 60 gallons out over 3 or 4 tanks. (You only do that a couple times before you're cured of it.)

Generally, I guess,I was wondering what everyone else has for tanks, valves, and how they manage their fuel distribution/consumption. What they do for managing fuel level at rest, and how long everyone is comfortable holding todays marine gas blends in their tanks. ( I have to hold min. 40 gallons at all times in case I have to go to a hurricane hole, yes hurricane, think Irene, Lee, Floyd, Andrew, Gloria, I've probably lost more boats than most regulars here have owned to hurricanes, right up here in the mountains of NY.)

So wheres your photo ? You bring up a very good point on todays fuel blends . I wonder how many folks still have pre ethanol fuel hoses ? If you your not sure then its time to up grade .

From the way you descried you valve set up .I am thinking yours is not the stock Trojan set up (I could be wrong on this ). In the Trojan manuals I have (2) the diagrams all the valves are separate not build together , also all the diagrams show a separate fuel pick up for the genset and no cross over valve for the genset ( my books are in the mid to late 70s). However Trojan may have used different set ups though the years , and who know what has been done to our boats in the last 30-40 years . It will be interesting to see the different set ups folks have .

I will try and remember to get a photo of mine today

BTW how many fuel valves are used in a Trojan with 4 tanks and diesel engines ? they use 9 valves .

Mine is an older set up with no double or triple-way "crossover valve" It does however provide for tank selection in the following manner;
each tank has a shut-off valve at the pick-up hence the classic metal deck plates for access. Then there is a line teed into each engine's fuel line. This line has a shut-off valve. When you want one engine to run off the opposite side tank; you shut off it's supply at it's tank and open the valve in the cross-over line. The option is there to allow for equalization of the port tank due to genny consumption. Genny feeds off port tank only.

That exactly how my book shows it for the F-boats . even though I now only have 2 tanks there are the deck plates still there . Not very user friendly set up IMO .

Since I only have a single engine my fuel system is very simple. I have a shut off valve at each tank (2 tanks total) and a shut off valve right after the fuel filter (see below).



The fuel lines from both tanks meet in a T right before the fuel filter. One quirk of the system is the engine will only draw from the port tank if both tanks are open. If the port tank is closed the engine draws from the starboard tank without any issues. The only explanation I have is the starboard fuel line is 4 times longer than the port fuel line, so the resistance to flow is probably greater with the starboard fuel line. It's not a big deal and something that is easy to deal with.

The Dog House wrote:....The only explanation I have is the starboard fuel line is 4 times longer than the port fuel line, so the resistance to flow is probably greater with the starboard fuel line....

You are correct in your assumption. This takes me back to a fellow boater who try as he may, couldn't figure out why his starboard engine was using almost twice the fuel than the port engine. He replaced just about everything thinking the engine simply wasn't tuned properly. He called me over and I quickly came to the conclusion that the engine was running perfectly. His set up had a valve that tied the two tanks together much like mine. It was always in the open position however, and the plumbing runs were such that the port engine would also draw some fuel from the starboard tank as well as its own port tank. Moral of the story is to keep the crossover closed unless it's being used for what it was designed to do.

I had a single diesel with tanks . And like above it wanted to pull out of 1 tank more the the other . What I did was to partly close the valve on the tank it drew more out of. After some playing around I was able to get the fuel use about even from both tanks .

Mine has a quirk too; she was originally outfitted with 318s but the previous owner repowered with 440s. If both engines are switched to one tank which eventually means drawing through one fuel line, the opposite engine will start stumbling at WOT for lack of fuel. The repower should have included retrofitting the fuel lines to larger ones. Wonder if anybody else has this small issue but just doesn't realize it yet? The remedy is a simple one but I haven't bothered because it's rare for me to operate that way and if I ever do upgrade, rubber line is much easier to install than copper but I won't go there until they stop messing with fuel formulations, so I'm thinking never! Until then, I'll just keep my tried and true copper lines thank you very much Trojan!

Located on the FWD bulkhead of the engine compartment, 4 tank setup.

Nice simple set up I assume 2 more valves . Do you have a gen set ? if so how is that tied in on yours

Generator has it's own pickup in the aft port tank.

I normally run off the front tanks leaving the aft tanks full to help with the aft quartering seas issue.

I never open the crossover to avoid contaminating the fuel systems on both engines from a single contaminated tank.

On a long run I will burn the aft tanks off.

I suspected the gen was seperate , I see all 5 valves ( had screen setting off ) I wonder if thats the same as CPs set up ? I don't thing it is as he was saying his is hard to figure out And yours is very simple nice set up .


What year is your f32

This one is a 1990 my last one was a 1985 and it had the same fuel valve set up. Very easy to use and understand which tanks you are pulling from. It gives you lots of options.

prowlersfish wrote:I suspected the gen was seperate , I see all 5 valves ( had screen setting off ) I wonder if thats the same as CPs set up ? I don't thing it is as he was saying his is hard to figure out And yours is very simple nice set up .


What year is your f32

Its not at all hard to figure out if you have been boating for awhile. If the only thing you have ever owned was a single I/O it could be scary.

Mine looks like Andy's and the one Mikeanddianne posted, but my gen is also on a 6th valve on the mani. Just to the right of the crossover in Andy's pic, and I don't have the setup Mikeanddianne posted as far as the genny lines in the right of his pic.

I suspect as I have a Stb'd side exhaust and a 4 MCCK that is not period correct, that some mods were done aftermarket. Its hard to tell if it had a factory 6.5 that blew or the 4.0 was just added later. I have the required period correct switches including the Onan start/stop switch in my panel, and I have an unused thru-hull in the transom like a factory genny exhaust would be in this perios F-32, so like I say, its a friggin' mystery......

Sounds like somebody has changed a few things over the years , not surprising . Mine has had a few changes and I have done a few myself .