*sigh*.... Ya know Mikey... I really wanted to leave that story out!!! lol
In getting things operational I have been testing all of the workings of my mods... One of which was the fuel transfer pump and venting... A question I had lurking in my head was a "what if I left it on by accident"... I answered that the other night... and it was not a lot of fun.
So the monkey flipped the switch... and left it on (intentionally)... and I went off looking at something or another on eBay and blah blah blah to return about 30 minutes later (I had really forgotten about it by that point). When I walked back out in the shop I was greeted by a lake of diesel on the floor which was pouring from every available orifice on the truck... The crank case, air system, air pack... all full... oh joy... so THIS is what happens when the monkey forgets! I have yet to fully understand how it was able to get into so many places... I think the vent in the breather tube and the duck bill nipple I installed on it might be a culprit... (Some times maybe one should leave well enough alone?) Another mental note... MOVE THE AIR PACK VENT TUBE THAT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO MOVE MONTHS AGO PER THE PS MAGAZINE ARTICLE!!!
Anyways... After shutting the pump off and evaluating the situation, where things were pouring from, etc I went over to pop the cap on the main tank trying to grasp how and why the excess fuel didn't return back to the other tank. (Technically it should have just recycled back to the other tank via the vent tube, or so I thought)... Because of the fuel in the vent lines the tank was not depressurizing as fast as one would have thought... So when I popped the cap I got a fuel gusher high enough to hit the 16 foot ceiling... which covered me head to toe... the cab top to bottom... the remainder of the dry spots on the floor... and of course the passenger door was open so everything on that side of the interior got it too... Mental note to self... TURN CAP SLOWLY NEXT TIME YA IDIOT!
I thought I was going to rip the new carpet right back out but it appears to have cleaned up ok... Most of it hit the inside of the door and window, dash and windshield which was easily washed out, the floor was so covered in tools, wire, rags, etc that the bulk ended up scattered all of that stuff rather than the carpet and there was no real damage to anything other than maybe a loss of time, oil, fuel, 50+ lbs of oil dry, clothes, boots and my pride while taking a cold shower butt naked outside under a emergency wash down shower in full view of the Marriot Hotel next door...
The amazing part... That had to be one of the rarest occasions ever of me not having a cigarette hanging out of my mouth... Gas and diesel don't bother me as being "flammable" but when its atomized under pressure its a little different and likes to go *poof*...
Anyways... What I sorted out is that the resistance on the vent tube going to the crank case vent is less than that of the tank vents side to side... So if the main tank over flows it will not return to the secondary tank but will go up the vent tube to the engine... I have a float switch from a MEP003 that I could install in the main tank but it will proably take a second showering in the buff to get me to do it as I am stubborn enough to think I will always remember to turn the switch off... Some other things learned... A relatively small electric fuel pump will move a hell of a lot of diesel and at a much faster rate than you would think! 12PSI of pressure is not a lot... unless it is being applied to 50 + gallon tank of fuel. TURN CAP SLOWLY (as the cap suggests) and if ya ever do something stupid MV related or not... Don't tell Mikey! LOL