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Old-timer in Galveston told me I was cutting my suction line too short
He said I was losing 15% of my efficiency because I wasn't leaving enough slack for the pump to breathe. I shortened my cuts by about two foot after that, and my run times dropped by nearly an hour per shift.
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jamesf261mo ago
...so my buddy Mike runs a shrimp boat out of Biloxi and he had the exact same problem last spring. He was cutting his suction lines right at the pump inlet, tight as a guitar string, and his catch per gallon of fuel was just awful. An old deckhand named Cletus told him the flex in the line acts like a shock absorber for the pump, so he started leaving a gentle loop about three feet long near the pump base. His run times went from five hours to three and a half on the same tank, and he said the pump actually sounded quieter too, like it was humming instead of straining.
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johnson.daniel1mo ago
Man called Cletus? That checks out. Sounds like the kind of guy who learned more from a busted pump than a whole engineering degree. Probably chews tobacco and solves problems without ever raising his voice.
Bet Mike was real happy he loosened up on that line instead of just buying a whole new pump like most people would. Funny how the simple stuff nobody thinks about is what actually makes the difference. Glad it worked out for him, those fuel bills must have been brutal.
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