[Alberg30] Re: Atomic 4 carburetor

[Bob Johns]

John,

I think that George is right. When we got our A30 in 1976 we had the same
type of problem. The float valve would stick and  the bottom of the
carburetor air intake would be wet with gasoline. The first time I took off
the carburetor and found some tiny particles in the float chamber which I
cleaned out. It worked fine for a while and then started to leak again.
This time I took off the both carburetor and fuel pump (mechanical) . Both
were loaded up with these tiny particles. This time I cleaned everything
including all fuel lines all the way back to the existing fuel filter. I
changed the filter element and checked that the output of the fuel filter
was clean. (I drained a glass of gas from the output of the filter and let
it settle for a while to see if any particles appeared.) After this it
worked without a drip for months.

The only time we leaked gas again was when we had a wild, rolling,
spinnaker run from Block Island to Cuttyhunk. We dropped the spinnaker near
the outer harbor of Cuttyhunk and turned on the blower. After 5 minutes I
sniffed the outlet of the blower and got a heavy smell of gas fumes. We
anchored under sail in the outer harbor and I tore the carburetor apart. It
was clean so I figured that this was a new problem. The float setting was
per specs so I reset it to reduce the float setting to lower the level  of
gas  in the float chamber. They specify the float setting to 1/64th of an
inch so it seemed that I was making a big adjustment. I think that it
actually was about 5/64th, but I may be remembering it wrong. The engine
has run fine on this float setting for over 20 years and the carburetor
has never leaked again. Engine performance does not appeared to have
suffered.

Hope that this helps.

Bob Johns, Wind Call #397

>John,
>
>My Atomic 4 uses the standard updraft carburetor without any flooding
>problems.  I think that reengineering your carburetion, while probably
>invalidating your insurance, is not the solution to your problem.
>
>Do you have a good fuel filter?  I think most flooding problems are
>caused by small bits of dirt in the fuel.  A little bit of grit can
>keep the float from shutting off the gas flow.  Old fuel hoses can
>also shed bits of rubber, so they're suspect if after the fuel
>filter.  Replacement is cheaper and easier than determining if
>they're worn out.
>
> - George
>
>
>John Allen wrote:
>>
>> More problems again.  I'm using an electric fuel pump with a separate
>> regulator set at 2 lbs.  The carburetor is still flooding at the most
>> embarrassing times.  Needle and seating seem OK, as does the float and
>> level.
>>


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