Fuel fill problem solved

[JJaworski]

I am new to my 1998 Albin 28TE. When moving it up to Maine from Connecticut last fall, I had a serious problem when refueling with back flow through both the fuel line and fuel vents. In Sandwich, the fuel attendant told me he had seen this problem with many Albin 28s. Here is how I solved the problem. Over the winter, I diagnosed the problem to be the vent lines that lay in the bilge providing a place for fuel to accumulate and effectively 'plug' the vent. To solve this problem, I pulled up the aft cockpit deck to expose the vent lines and the starboard pole holder to access the the vent connections. After disconnecting, both vent hoses were 'plugged', but lifting them up vertically so they were out of the bilge, the fuel drained back into the tank and they were cleared. To be sure that they would not refill, I rerouted both lines. The starboard line was raised up and fastened using plastic pipe strapping to the cowling just below the insert for the pole holder. The port vent line was pulled out of the aft bilge and then laid across the top of the fuel tank over to the starboard side, aft and up to the vent. Laying it across the tank guarantees that it will not sag and will always be above the port tank vent. Both vent lines had to be shortened to accommodate the new shorter routes. Yesterday I refueled for the first time since the fix and I am happy to report that it took 80 gal at full fill rate and not a drop of fuel was lost. This was an inexpensive fix that took only a few hours to accomplish. I am sorry that I did not take the requisite pictures when the system was opened up, but once the deck and pole holder are removed, the fix is pretty obvious.
Jan J

[Jeremyvmd]

I had the same problem with mine, but mine had the added fun of the fill hose being too long and dipping a good 10-12" below the tank level - had to cut and shorten that. Also had to reroute all the vent lines which turned out to be not so bad to do...