Leaking Fuel Line to Onan Generator

[steve zannella]

FYI, I just had a leaking fuel line to my generator repaired. The mechanic told me the fuel line had a 1993 date of manufacture printed on the hoses. Beaver was using 11 year old fuel hoses on a 2004 motorhome

Fuel line hoses have a shelf life as well as usage life.

I should have had the mechanic check my engine fuel lines. Next service I'll have them checked.

[Joel Weiss]

I'm about to go to BCS to have the fuel line to my Hurricane replaced.   There isn't any obvious leakage but there is air getting to the burner which results in flame-outs.  

[Gerald Farris]

Joel,
Air leakage into the fuel line on a Hurricane system usually occurs at the fuel filter.

Gerald

[Joel Weiss]

Joel,
Air leakage into the fuel line on a Hurricane system usually occurs at the fuel filter.

Gerald

We have a screw-on filter that ITR installed last year to replace the inline filter that Beaver installed.  I think it is unlikely that air is entering through it.  It is a far better unit than the original and is mounted to the wall of the Hurricane bay.

Our air leak is worse in very cold weather (as we had in Jasper this summer) and Kevin Lambert at ITR is convinced that the culprit is the line itself.  At this point there's nothing else left to replace.

Joel

[Gerald Farris]

Joel,
Have you installed a return line to automatically return any air bubbles back to the fuel tank? A return line (with a small orifice) has corrected the air problems in all of the Hurricane units that I know of.

Gerald

[Joel Weiss]

Joel
Have you installed a return line to automatically return any air bubbles back to the fuel tank? A return line (with a small orifice) has corrected the air problems in all of the Hurricane units that I know of.

Gerald

I had discussed that with Ken C at BCS and he thought that it would be better to simply replace the fuel line if that was the source of the problem rather than install a return line which seemed like putting a bandaid on a problem.  

I'll talk with him Monday when we are there.  The air leak is bad enough that we have to do something.  While we're there I might have them do both; the cost of the return line couldn't be all that much.  

[Joel Weiss]

Gerald:

I thought you might want to know that the boys at BCS implemented a simple solution to my air bubble problems that should be applicable to any coach with similar issues.  I hadn't known that the generator has both supply and return fuel lines; the fix that was done was to "splice" the Hurricane into those lines.  So the Hurricane has both a new fuel line and a return for the air bubbles to bleed into.  Hopefully, that will solve the problem; all I know is that the burner sounds quieter than I ever recall it being.

Joel