Mechanical Fuel Pump Question

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CuttingEdge
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Mechanical Fuel Pump Question

Post by CuttingEdge » Tue Feb 11, 2020 6:28 am

How far will a mechanical fuel pump pull fuel?

I have looked all over the internet and I cannot figure out the answer.

On my Generator Project, it has a mechanical fuel pump that draws the fuel from a tank and delivers it to the fuel filters on top of the engine. But I do not know where that fuel tank was positioned. On a reefer trailer it typically was under the trailer, but I am not sure what they did in 1979.

In my set up, I will need to pull fuel from the tank about 6 feet away, then up a vertical distance of 3 feet.

It will be fine as long as the fuel tank is half full, but it will probably get below that level a lot, so then the mechanical pump will have to pull the fuel up into the filters.

Is that too far?
Should I just buy an electrical fuel pump and be done with it?
I have no intention of traveling to my grave in a well manicured body; instead I am going to slide into heaven with a big power turn, totally wore out with busted knuckles, jump off my dozer loudly yelling, Woo Hoo, another Shepard has just arrived!

Jim B
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Re: Mechanical Fuel Pump Question

Post by Jim B » Tue Feb 11, 2020 8:41 am

I think the pump on the unit should be fine at those dimensions as long as it doesn't loose fuel. I think you may want to look at having a check valve and a manual primer pump to help with bleeding after filter changes.

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CuttingEdge
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Re: Mechanical Fuel Pump Question

Post by CuttingEdge » Wed Feb 12, 2020 3:45 am

I have had sick children the last few days, so I have not gotten a lot done on this. I know people think that it is easy being a Trophy-Husband, but it can be stressful some days! (LOL)

It is good to hear that the pump would probably work. I did forget, until I was looking at the tank, that it will have 10 inch legs on it, so that will reduce the vertical height the pump has to lift (head) by almost 1/3.

The fuel system on this engine will take quite a bit of work. Fittings and rubber hoses have been ripped off, and some have even dry-rotted. Some lines are even plastic which I might replace. I am going to bolt this down securely to the concrete floor of course, but am thinking maybe copper lines might not last because of the vibration, and just go with rubber lines? They would be prone to dry-rot, but that would be a problem several years down the road.

That is also a good idea on the valves. It is interesting because in my high pressure steam boiler class, you learn really quickly that boilers are pretty simple, they just look complicated because everything has a back up system, with a back up system for the backup system, and then all of that stuff has isolation vales so anything can be swapped out at any time. It just looks confusing looking at all the valves everywhere.
I have no intention of traveling to my grave in a well manicured body; instead I am going to slide into heaven with a big power turn, totally wore out with busted knuckles, jump off my dozer loudly yelling, Woo Hoo, another Shepard has just arrived!

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CuttingEdge
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Re: Mechanical Fuel Pump Question

Post by CuttingEdge » Wed Feb 12, 2020 4:17 am

On the latter point, it has been interesting to see how things really are in 2020 in private industry.

I grew up very old school, and most of my family had their own businesses whether it be farming, logging or carpentry. So I guess I have higher standards, but I always had taken employers at their word when they blamed a lack of good employees for their labor woes. Now that I am looking to get back into private industry I can see where businesses have just painted themselves so far into a corner, that they just cannot make decisions. I do not mean "good" decisions, they just cannot make any decisions.

Like one company that does telecommunications, they tried to find an employee as (5) employees are over 75 years old. That industry is just underserved, so they could not find anyone. So they hired a guy to train, and yet he is not working out. They know I am available, and that the USDA will pay the company, to train me on the job, but while the human resource person said it was "stupid for them not too", it is not her decision. The one who can make the decision does not feel they have time to further train. And I am thinking, 'so what is going to happen when you have 5 guys retire at once? Will it be better timing then?' They have already looked, and could not find anyone so it is not like they have options. No one is coming along.

It was the same thing with another company. They have 2 pages of employees they need to hire and cannot get anyone, and I can see why. Currently they pay minimum wage, expect the new hires to travel at that rate for 3-5 years, at which time they might be certified. These guys blast all over the country for mining companies. So I tell them, since there are no school for blasting certification, they should make one. The woman laughed. She said they are hoping to find a new recruiter. I am thinking, even if you do find a recruiter who is willing to work for what they are paying, willing to travel for that pay, how is that unicorn going to draw in 2 pages of needed employees? That is a job where a person needs to have a clean background, no criminal record, and can pass a drug test. Good luck finding that at minimum wage for 3-5 years. I told them to start a blasting school, get the Federal Training money that is available, and pick the cream of the graduates for the company. Sure, you will be training for your competitors, but good gracious, they have 2 pages of employees they need to hire. If you cannot find them, make them, using government training monies...and they laughed like I was dumb. Do they realize the amount of profit they are losing out on because 2 pages of employees are needed? They would have paid for the blasting school 10 times over in just lost profit!

Another company cannot find a boiler operator for their new boiler. They said in their job ad that they are willing to take someone to train after certification. I said I would be available for that when I get my certification in 2 months, so they said, then talk to them in when I graduate. Again, they have been looking for a year, I am most likely going to find another job in two months; they got a sawmill with 400 employees, you cannot tell me they cannot put me somewhere in that plant for 2 months. Two months salary is less than a sign-on bonus, and they would be guaranteed a boiler operator....that they cannot find!

These are just three examples. It just boggles my mind that companies cannot think today, and make decisions. The employee market has drastically changed, and they just cannot keep up. They think doing the same thing they have since 1985 is going to work. This is Maine, the oldest population in the USA, and our kids have left, the ones that stayed have no intention of working blue collar jobs, so to survive, companies are going to have to make better decisions, and I just do not see that adoption of change that running a business takes today. Add in Maine liberal recreational drug laws, and the pool of qualified employees for certain sensitive jobs is limited. Again, I thought it was the work force of today, but it is actually the employers that are the problem. Until they accept responsibility, it is only going to get worse.
I have no intention of traveling to my grave in a well manicured body; instead I am going to slide into heaven with a big power turn, totally wore out with busted knuckles, jump off my dozer loudly yelling, Woo Hoo, another Shepard has just arrived!

Ray III
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Re: Mechanical Fuel Pump Question

Post by Ray III » Sun Feb 23, 2020 7:32 am

I have been observing the minimum wage foolishness where I work. They cannot recruit employees, and the ones they have are unproductive and wreck stuff almost to the point that they are being paid to be dead weight. Yet the company thinks they are saving money by refusing to pay a little bit more, while we aren't meeting customer demand.

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CuttingEdge
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Re: Mechanical Fuel Pump Question

Post by CuttingEdge » Mon Feb 24, 2020 4:46 am

I have been scammed a few times by companies that I applied to.

The worst scam is that they advertise for a job, in my case as a Boiler Plant Operator, and then after you apply, they send a notification that they are no longer hiring for that position, and then your email suddenly gets flooded by job offers from other companies having NOTHING to do with boilers.

That is pretty vile...

But another variation is, the post for a full-time position, then once you apply, they say that position is no longer available...but they just happen to have a part-time position that you might consider. It is of course, bait and switch to get a part-time position filled that would not draw many applicants...
I have no intention of traveling to my grave in a well manicured body; instead I am going to slide into heaven with a big power turn, totally wore out with busted knuckles, jump off my dozer loudly yelling, Woo Hoo, another Shepard has just arrived!

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