Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Kinda stripping the boat down more than I originally intended right now, but since the weather is cooperating....

Nav lights. I'm looking at my Nav light up front and thinking... "that wouldn't pass a coast guard inspection"...
Why? I'll post a pic in a sec, but look at it. It's smack in the middle at the very front of the deck. The light is supposed to be visible in an arc that extends aft a bit. Those side "wings" from the fence are blocking the lights even at 90 degrees from their location.

I'm certainly not going to chop off the fence. Should I be looking at side mount lights?

Fuel system:
Got new 4-stroke to replace the 2-stroke... and SOMEWHERE in reading the manual it said something about not using a portable metal fuel tank? I think it said something about leaks... and I'll have to read like... the entire manual again to find it, I'm sure. Anyone heard of this? Nissan 30hp 2-stroke is leaving... 40hp 4-stroke replacing it. The tank fitting is the same for both. This just sounded odd.

Fuel lines and separator - I got a new fuel line with bulb that came with the motor. Has motor fitting on one end and tank fitting on the other. They also include a fuel separator, but then don't include extra line or fittings other than 2 plugs for unused separator in/out.
Should I pull the tank fitting from the old metal tank and install it in the "out" port of the fuel separator or just buy new ones (I'd get 3 because I'm eventually adding a second tank). Or do I lop the end off this brand new fuel line and push it over a barbed fitting on the separator?
The tank fittings are only about $6.50 each. The female fitting that CONNECTS to that tank fitting is closer to $20 or $25 each.

My current think is...
male fitting (tank fitting) on the "out" from fuel separator
barbed fitting on the "in" of fuel separator
buy some new fuel line and the female (tank end) fitting

So...
TANK female - fuel line - barb (separator in) - (separator out) male - new fuel line and bulb with quick connects

And... the pic showing the nav lights...

That's definitely a violation. Just mount a pair of the standard teardrop R & G lights on the cast corner pieces.

It looks like there's enough room beside your docking lights. There are much smaller LED docking lights available & they don't need to be 50W driving lights that project a mile.

[quote="guy48065"]That's definitely a violation. Just mount a pair of the standard teardrop R & G lights on the cast corner pieces.

It looks like there's enough room beside your docking lights. There are much smaller LED docking lights available & they don't need to be 50W driving lights that project a mile.[/quote]

The docking lights came with the boat. I'm not married to them. I'm TRYING to do stuff slowly so I don't sticker shock the wife, but you know how it is when you get into stuff and go.... "that shouldn't be like that"

You can find LED Red/Green Running Lights that are about the size of half a golf ball that are depending on model designed to fit either vertical or horizontal, mine are the vertical type and mount directly to the side fencing...

What you might have read concerning fuel tanks is that plastic is now the prefered material as partially filled metal containers can condense and collect water from the air space in the fuel tank, this can cause tanks to rust and leak as well as engine running problems.

As to a water separating filter your big concern is location for serviceability. The filter is all but hidden on my speedboat and replacing it requires the sacrifice of a live chicken. Before or after the primer bulb does not seem to matter, the Mercury has none and my Yamaha the bulb is closest to the motor; myself I would have thought primer close to the tank and filter after so you can force fuel through the filter when changing it...

[quote="teecro"]You can find LED Red/Green Running Lights that are about the size of half a golf ball that are depending on model designed to fit either vertical or horizontal, mine are the vertical type and mount directly to the side fencing...

What you might have read concerning fuel tanks is that plastic is now the prefered material as partially filled metal containers can condense and collect water from the air space in the fuel tank, this can cause tanks to rust and leak as well as engine running problems.

As to a water separating filter your big concern is location for serviceability. The filter is all but hidden on my speedboat and replacing it requires the sacrifice of a live chicken. Before or after the primer bulb does not seem to matter, the Mercury has none and my Yamaha the bulb is closest to the motor; myself I would have thought primer close to the tank and filter after so you can force fuel through the filter when changing it...[/quote]

If you have a pic of your nav lights, I'd be interested. I'm looking. The corner braces at the front of the deck are not very big. I'm also thinking about things like dock rash. Don't wanna have them acting like bumpers after I tie up and leave.

Bulb before... bulb after... I think there's always been 2 schools of thought on that. Easier to prime if your separator is empty when you have bulb before separator, but... bulb after gets cleaner gas so the valves in the bulb are happier. Both work. My dad always had his bulb after the separator so I sorta follow that.

How about something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I6L4J1A?psc=1

You said the fuel/water separator came with the motor??? Look and see if it's a spare for the one already on the motor...

[quote="Retired OG"]You said the fuel/water separator came with the motor??? Look and see if it's a spare for the one already on the motor...[/quote]

No, I know what you mean. The motor has a little one under the cowl. The separator I'm talking about is the bigger one with a canister almost the size of a small oil filter.

I used these....


https://www.pontoonstuff.com/collection ... ion-lights

Your nav lights need to be visible from clear ahead to 120 degrees toward the stern. If you are going to replace them think about led lights. Sometimes the fixtures that come with led can be pricey, but companies like Mr LED have replacement less that can go into traditional housings at a reasonable cost. Look for the Coast Guard approves label as they also need to be visible for a certain distance.

Got my Racor 120 installed. Pretty easy and straight forward, we'll see how it goes. Should be WAY better than stock.