A Lesson Learned After Only 45 Years in the Making

Sounds unbelievable, I know, but it's true. I bought my first boat about 45 years ago, and in all the years since, I never had an occasion to learn what I read for the first time ever just last night.

Now there’s one thing you must consider here. I’m that guy all those authors have in mind for an audience when they publish those books like “Computers for Dummies,” “Electronics for Dummies”…I’m sure you get the picture. Further consider the fact that I’ve simply never been inclined to do anything mechanically. When something breaks, I’m many dollars ahead just to take it to an expert to fix. If I touch anything at all in that realm, I’m inviting disaster.

Suffice it to say that anytime I’ve ever grabbed an outboard’s primer bulb to prime it, I just took hold and started squeezing…sometimes for so long that I thought my hand was going to fall off. As I learned last night, though, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do that…one which should spare a lot of wear and tear on your hand.

For openers, the primer bulb should be in a position where you can orient the direction arrow skyward for priming. This position allows gravity and the weight of the fuel inside the primer bulb to help with the operation of the one-way valves. If the primer bulb is oriented with the flow arrow pointing downward, gravity and the weight of the fuel in the line above the inlet check valve may spoil its operation, and the primer won’t work properly. (FYI: It's OK if the primer bulb rests horizontally after it is primed.)

The difference in results should be amazing, provided there are no other problems with your fuel system. In just a few squeezes, it should be possible to fill the bulb with fuel and have it feel firm…without, as one jokester I read about quipped, “using one of those little blue pills.”

The accompanying short video should help explain everything. Just click on the link provided: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrt38-ulYFc.