Am sure this must have been covered time and time again so I apologise for that, feel free to refer me to another thread, I couldn't find one.
What exactly is the little float bowl hole for ( apart from filling my inflatable with 2 stroke mixture when I arrive at shore. ) what would happen were I to plug it up? I am assuming it might be there to prevent fuel syphoning direct into motor perhaps? if so I would have thought the tickler wasn't sealed and would break the syphon? indeed if I plugged the ikkle hole would the fuel just leak through the tickler anyway?
Johns advice under FAQ to judge it and turn off the fuel is a bit tricky for me due to the ever changing conditions on the crouch and the fact that the final approach to the yacht club slip is always through a gang of swans ( what is the collective noun for swan? ) so having no power is not a good thing ( you try swinging oars around without annoying a swan when in the middle of a group! )
Hi waggles - I've always assumed the hole is an overflow - I bolt the float bowl on with the hole pointing backwards to avoid or at least minimise the spill when raising the engine on a boat, but its still a problem to be considered when putting the engine in a car boot.
I don't recall that Villiers put a hole in the later plastic float bowls.
Don't know what a group of Swans is called, but I've always been worried by the swan upping practice that occurs in certain parts of the country!
Maybe this is why they are always bad tempered. Rick.
My 40+ is a 1972 with a plastic float bowl, and definitely has the hole, what is more as it screws on the hole comes right at the side
If it is just an overflow it would probably be OK to bung it up as The fuel would still come out of the tickler I am sure if the needle valve stuck open or something, could check that, maybe by that time neat fuel would be running into the motor! not a good idea so that could be the reason.
think I will rig up a nice little polished brass bucket to hang under the carb so it swings round under it still when you raise the engine! If that is too much like hard work a nappy should do it
Oh and swans, Wikipedia says collectively they are called :
A gaggle, ballet, bank, bevy, flock, game, regatta or team. And if they are in flight, a wedge.
So now we know. I call them comething else entirely when they congregate at the end of the slipway ( under my breath anyway, I call them 'sir' to their faces )
Interestingly I have a Villiers engine with a Villiers carb. That has a metal float bowl that does not have a hole in the side. It does not screw on like the plastic ones but is retained by a cap nut that screws onto the bottom of the centrepiece. It is also tightened up against a joint washer in the carb body. The float chamber is vented through the tickler which must be hollow as it has small vent hole in its side.
I have often pondered on this and came to two conclusions,
1. it was an overflow and if pointing towards the boat you could instantly see when bowl was full.
2. it was also a drain hole to allow excess fuel to be drained on the beach, carpark, wherever, before placing engine in boot of car, thus preventing nasty accident with fumes and spilt fuel...
Stationary engines generators and the like would not need them, as they remain vertical at all times..
The trouble with theory 2 in this day and age is that your letting several shillings worth of petroleum spirit spill away. I rather like the idea of an highly polished brass bucket swinging below the carb, though!
The hole certainly serves for option 1, maybe it is due to a difference in the tickler?
As for option 2, its a point for sure but would guarantee you get gassed if you lay motor down for the first time in your boot!
I will have to try and resolve it somehow as I always run the motor in the yacht club water barrel to flush it through after each trip so empty the carb then. It is just getting embarassing filling up my inflatable and if the wind is in the wrong direction emptying the carb in the river is not very 'green' and wouldn't do the swans much good! am sure the spreading pretty patterns would soon attract the harbour masters launch too.
Yes I like the idea of the small bucket too. Perhaps it should be more of a jug for pouring the caught liquid back into the tank. It would have to have 'Seagull' embossed in the side of course and although it would have to be polished it must also have that little bit of 'patina' as would the brass chain ....
My thoughts were:1) to let one know when the float bowl was full so you could relese the tickler.
2) To allow any water on top of the fuel to drain off????
You are right Vic there are two holes in mine too, I guess that is to guarantee one is 'down slope' when you tilt the engine to maximise flow into the dinghy the other being 'up slope' to allow the rain etc in
As a matter of interest I had to take the carb off to cure another teensy weensy, bijou problemette and investigated further.
The tickler is NOT sealed and does have a small vent hole so there is no problem with the float bowl 'breathing' BUT the tickler, even when depressed is higher than the main jet holder / air intake throat, therefore if you had no holes and depressed the tickler until fuel came out of it, well, it would never come out of the tickler, it would come out the air intake and presumably fill the motor up too.
Back to the little polished brass bucket idea I think!
) so having no power is not a good thing ( you try swinging oars around without annoying a swan when in the middle of a group! )
