3 Best Boat Outboard Fuel Demand Valves for Tank Connection Review

TOP Fuel Demand Valves Comparison Table

1. The Best Universal Fuel Demand Valve for 3/8-Inch and 5/16-Inch Fuel Hoses [Attwood]

High-strength composite material stands up to the harshest marine environments. Low vacuum restriction ensures proper engine functioning at start-up and during operation. Versatile; compatible with 3/8 inch and 5/16 inch fuel hoses and Ethanol blended fuels. Compatible with all original equipment manufacturer (OEM) brands. Prevents engine flooding and fuel spillage due to pressurized fuel. Allows only the amount of fuel requested by the engine and prevents a pressurized “slug” of fuel from reaching the engine.

2. The Best Fuel Tank Connection with Fuel Demand Valve [QuickSilver]

3. The Best Fuel Line with Fuel Demand Valve [QuickSilver]

How To Install A Fuel Demand Valve For Your Outboard

Today we're going to show you how to install a fuel demand valve. What is a fuel demand valve? A fuel demand valve is a solution that was made by the industry to be able to combat the problems that the new outboard fuel tanks were having. If you’re at a 70 degrees spring day, not too hot out today and already in less than 30 minutes this tank has pressurized and really become quite rigid. so in this situation if our fuel line was hooked up from the tank to the engine as voters normally leave it we would be pushing liquid fuel through the hose and then out through the carburetor and either into the water or into the boat which are both bad situations. That's a serious situation. So how do we fix this? We're gonna install a fuel demand valve today, very quick thing to do. The way the fuel demand valve works is it senses the pressure on the tank side, keeps the pressure on the tank side and when the engine calls for fuel it opens up and allows fuel to freely flow to the engine. Before we get started today I'd like to talk a little bit about safety when working around fuel. We all know that fuel is flammable and it's no different than when you're working on a boat. So there's a couple things I'd like to talk about. First of all, you should have some kind of eye protection in case there's some kind of spraying fuel, that's always a good idea. The second thing is to have some type of containment so that when we have to drain the hose we have some place to put the fuel that's not on the ground or else somewhere else out in the environment. The next thing is to make sure you're not smoking or there's no opportunity for sparks around the work area. Things like hooking up a jumper cable to the battery while you're working on this can create a spark that could potentially result in a fire. So make sure you're safe when you're doing this project. So I guess we indicated our first step is fairly simple, we want to make sure that we drain the entire hose of fuel. You have two sides to this hose one that goes to the engine and one that goes to the fuel tank. They're separated by a check valve, so we have to drain each side independently. We provided a glass jar here which we know is fuel resistant, make sure whatever you're draining it into is fuel resistant, and we'll start by undoing the clips. So we've loosened our hose clamp and hopefully we'll be able to get our quick-connect clip out easily. We're gonna go ahead and drain out any fuel that we may have. I'm squeezing the ball, a little bit just to see if we can get the remaining fuel out. I'm like if you wouldn't mind grab me one of those paper towels. You know this is also a pretty good time to take a look at that clear jar and figure out if you have any water separation or issues in your fuel as well, just a little quick tip. Another side is the engine side so the squeeze ball will help you evacuate the hose fairly quickly. I'm gonna go ahead and reinstall this quick-connect so we don't end up with any drainage on the boat. The next step for us is to go ahead and we've pre-marked the manufacturer's suggested six inches from the tank. So see that's there and we're just going to take a standard knife and go ahead and cut this hose. This is also important to note this is the new EPA hose that has a liner in it, and you'll see how the liner is separated from the inside of the hose because of use. When we install the demand valve we're gonna make sure that it's inside that liner and that the liner isn't pinched up against the input in the output of the fuel demand valve. So this is our fuel demand valve and really the important feature here is to notice that there is an arrow and the arrow points toward the engine. And our barb here is suited for the sized hose that we're working with. So let's go ahead and install this demand valve into the fuel line that we've just cut. The first thing we want to remember is to put on our hose clamps nine times out of ten. I will forget this and have to redo it. The next part is - we already showed you our low permeation liner in here we want to make sure that does not get stuck into the hose bar. Our arrow is going toward the engine, the short piece we know is coming off the fuel tank, so let's go ahead and put that in. nice and snug up against the divan valve and we'll just go ahead and put the clamp on at this point. It's probably a great time to talk about hose clamps and the differences between them, you'll see we're using a fairly high-end hose clamp where the serrations are actually not all the way through the metal band. And they have a very nice rounded edge so it doesn't cut into the hose also this is a 100% stainless steel construction hose clamp meaning that our screw and every other part of it is 316 stainless, which is a high-grade marine stainless steel. I just like to do a little pull test when we're done, make sure we're seated correctly things look good. So now let's go ahead to the other side. Again installing the hose clamp, taking care not to interfere with that liner, slide it on as far as it'll go and just like the other side tighten it down. And again with a single pull test I know that I've done my job, so here we have the installed fuel demand off. With our demand valve installed we're gonna go ahead and put the system back together. And there we have it - we have our fuel demand valve installed.

Don’t buy cheap fuel demand valve

If you buy cheap, you will end up buying twice. There are some very cheap fuel demand valves on the market, but these are the ones made from poor quality material and components, and they can break down after a few months. Buy more quality model as it will be worth price that you pay.

FAQ

Let's go over some frequently asked questions about fuel demand valves.