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Descant · 05-14-2016, 12:12 PM

Part of the accuracy may depend on the shape of the tank. Old round tanks would stay at 1/2 full forever and as you got to the round bottom, the gauge dropped quickly. Also depends on "usable" fuel i.e. how far off the bottom is your pick up? Varies from mfg to mfg.

I used to ad fuel at 1/4 and fill to 3/4 depending on cruising plans. That kept the weight down and leveled the spending pattern. A few years ago, the marina manager said that's what most people did. Then people started filling all the way to get as much fuel on board as possible before the next price increase, and they cruised less, anchored more.

I also had a time frame where the gauge didn't work, so as Slickcraft suggests, I watched the hour meter.

My father used to own a 1950 CC 30' Cruiser. No gauges, no hour meter, but the tank fill was a straight pipe and we had a measuring dipstick. Marine gas was $0.35/gallon, I think, and the friend who said "Let me pay for the gas" wandered off as the pump went above $15.00.

05-14-2016, 12:12 PM	#6
Descant Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Merrimack and Welch Island Posts: 4,597 Thanks: 1,418 Thanked 1,705 Times in 1,109 Posts	Fill up? Part of the accuracy may depend on the shape of the tank. Old round tanks would stay at 1/2 full forever and as you got to the round bottom, the gauge dropped quickly. Also depends on "usable" fuel i.e. how far off the bottom is your pick up? Varies from mfg to mfg. I used to ad fuel at 1/4 and fill to 3/4 depending on cruising plans. That kept the weight down and leveled the spending pattern. A few years ago, the marina manager said that's what most people did. Then people started filling all the way to get as much fuel on board as possible before the next price increase, and they cruised less, anchored more. I also had a time frame where the gauge didn't work, so as Slickcraft suggests, I watched the hour meter. My father used to own a 1950 CC 30' Cruiser. No gauges, no hour meter, but the tank fill was a straight pipe and we had a measuring dipstick. Marine gas was $0.35/gallon, I think, and the friend who said "Let me pay for the gas" wandered off as the pump went above $15.00.