I’m looking for a vendor who supplies quality fuel sight glass arrangements. These will be used for diesel fuel in a ABS Loadline vessel. Apparently the vendor here has so much work they can’t return a phone call or email.
http://www.gemssensors.com/en/Products/Level/Visual-Indicators/SureSite?no_redirect=true
Best ones on the market!
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;141615]http://www.gemssensors.com/en/Products/Level/Visual-Indicators/SureSite?no_redirect=true
Best ones on the market![/QUOTE]
I concur. It’s a good practice to reset the indicator flags on a regular basis.
I knew you would know Chief. I even started to PM you but thought I would throw it out there for all to see. I’ll have to put you and Chief Rob on the Christmas list for all the times you’ve bailed me out. Thanks again man.
When I started with ABS and used to see some of the fuel tank sight glasses out on oil patch vessels. . . . . It is a wonder that more of those boats didn’t just burst into flames. . . .
According to my local ABS rep. The sight tubes have to be glass and have valves attached at both ends.
[QUOTE=tugboatchief;141646]According to my local ABS rep. The sight tubes have to be glass and have valves attached at both ends.[/QUOTE]
And those valves have to CLOSE Automatically if a Tube Breaks. With that type of valve you have to be very careful when using them while fueling (Not that anyone would ever do that) as sometimes they will close all by themselves.
Is that required on ABS Loadline or ABS Class? Keep in mind this is still a UTV.
[QUOTE=tugboatchief;141655]Is that required on ABS Loadline or ABS Class? Keep in mind this is still a UTV.[/QUOTE]
At least that was what I was told when ABS told us to install them. We were Classed with a Loadline. Either way it is a good idea to have them just in case a glass breaks you do not end up with a bilge of Fuel.
Yes sir. Your correct. I have the sales rep working up a quote for both. Automatic and manual only.
They make sight tubes that are manually operated and fully enclosed. It would take a BFH to break them. Let’s see what they cost.
[QUOTE=Tugs;141667]At least that was what I was told when ABS told us to install them. We were Classed with a Loadline. Either way it is a good idea to have them just in case a glass breaks you do not end up with a bilge of Fuel.[/QUOTE]
My last boat was a ATB. We had Sight glasses on our F.O. Day Tanks and all of our Oil Tanks (Lube {2}, Hydraulic) we ran with ALL of the glasses closed except for the F.O. Day Tank. All of the Sight Glasses had cages around them with quick closing valves. The valves on the Day Tank had a habit of closing themselves when we were in bad weather and bumping around some. I had the same problem years ago when working on wire boats while towing in bad weather. The sloshing of the liquid in the sight glass would trip the safety on the valves.
The best thing to do is if you have any kind of Quick Closing Valve on a Sight Glass is to treat it as closed before trusting it to be showing the true level. I caught one Assistant Engineer leaving the valves half closed (this would stop the valve from closing automatically) when we were in bad weather. He was tired of having to check them when pumping fuel.
Why worry about glass? That is really pretty primitive when these things have been used on ships for ages:
http://koboldusa.com/products/level-measurement/nbk-bypass-level-indicator
I would also have a little talk with your ABS surveyor. There is nothing (at least that I know of) that says you have to have a “guage glass.” The rules only say that if there is one it must be flat glass and have self closing valves.
The only cylindrical sight glasses allowed are on hydraulic oil tanks.
Tanks used to use tank level indicators instead of gauge glasses but I think there was too much hocus pocus for tug engineers to understand.
[QUOTE=Steamer;141688]Why worry about glass? That is really pretty primitive when these things have been used on ships for ages:
http://koboldusa.com/products/level-measurement/nbk-bypass-level-indicator
I would also have a little talk with your ABS surveyor. There is nothing (at least that I know of) that says you have to have a “guage glass.” The rules only say that if there is one it must be flat glass and have self closing valves.
The only cylindrical sight glasses allowed are on hydraulic oil tanks.[/QUOTE]
Have a little talk with the ABS surveyor about where in the LL regs it sets rules for gauge glasses. If it does, I’d sure be happy to know.
LL is not ABS classed.
[QUOTE=87cr250r;141770]Tanks used to use tank level indicators instead of gauge glasses but I think there was too much hocus pocus for tug engineers to understand.[/QUOTE]
Probably not the most polite thing to throw everyone under the bus like that, some tug engineers are very good at there profession. Besides most tug boats have been built and run on a very basic KISS principle for decades, no sense getting involved in fancy hocus pocus when a simple piece of glass tubing and a couple quick closing valves will work just fine.
I’m a tugger, too. There is nothing ideal about a gauge glass when you consider how much heat a pinky sized stream of diesel can make when its on fire. I have seen blow out valves fail to function properly due to algae in the fuel. Mercury manometers used to provide extremely reliable tank level indication without exposing the engine room to fuel. Electronic and pneumatic tank level indications are very accurate and reliable as well. Why restrict yourself to glasses that only work with tanks that share a bulkhead with your engine room? Seriously why guess at your fuel levels because all of your sounding tubes are underwater while offshore when you can know what it is all of the time.