OEM Petcock with Dan-Marc Hydrolock?

[Valkorado]

In past posts I've asked if anyone has ever had a Dan-Marc failure, and I did not hear of any failures although some people carried bypass hoses or an extra Dan-Marc when travelling just in case.

My current question:
Has anyone ever experienced hydrolock on their Valkyrie with an OEM petcock after installing a Dan-Marc?

I don't want to hear theoretical possibilities that it could happen, or that the OEM petcock is doomed for failure (and, it may well be if not maintained).  I don't want to hear rumors that you heard that it happened to your friend's cousin's co-worker's Valk.  Only actual personal experience.

I know hydrolock is rare, but I'd bet it's even more so with a Dan-Marc installed.  

[MarkT]

I can't give you what you are asking for.  But I'm TOTALLY on board with installing a Dan-Marc no matter what else you do.  When I did my wrenching on Jade this winter, I had a fuel filter inline.  It was transparent plastic from NAPA, same one I used on my Honda garden tractor (also have a Dan-Marc there).  I was surprised to see it caught a bunch of crud that was inside the belly tank, or maybe I created it when brazing the bung.  Looked like flakes of oxidized aluminum. It occured to me, that had the filter not caught it, it might have got stuck in the Dan-Marc and propped it open.  Surely would have made problems with the carb float valves.  I had feed problems and had to redo the fuel line layout - could have been any number of things, like the loop in the gas line, the filter being too restrictive, or the gas line not being downhill.  I corrected all those when I redesigned the layout.  And replaced the filter with the one that R&M supplies with the belly tank.

For any readers who haven't seen my report on my belly tank install, I set it up to retain the OEM gravity feed, while treating the belly tank as a big reserve.  So if the fuel pump fails, I already have in place the stock fuel system's layout - the fuel pump only runs once per refuel, for 9 minutes, to transfer the belly tank's 3 gallons up to the main.  So of course the Dan-Marc install is appropriate.  As well as the fuel filter, as long as I had a good one and was working on the fuel system anyway.

[nogrey]

A recent poll taken by Gavin and sons shows that the ocurrance of hydrolock is more prolific than has been previosly believed. The original author was asking because he experienced hydrolock with both a Dan Marc and a pingle petcock.

[Leathel]

Why would you run 2 shut off valves (OEM & AFC .....Dan Mac is the retailer not the brand) each shut off restricts flow a little......

 If running a electronic shutoff it best to have it at the T, less fuel line after the shutoff the better

 A shutoff is great but when it has power it flows, so if you have it going on the key like mine it will keep flowing if you use the kill, If you go to start and get talking with the key on its flowing...

 No matter what you have if the bike is leaking from the carbs fix it .... not worth the  risk

[MarkT]

Why would you run 2 shut off valves (OEM & AFC .....Dan Mac is the retailer not the brand) each shut off restricts flow a little......

 A shutoff is great but when it has power it flows, so if you have it going on the key like mine it will keep flowing if you use the kill, If you go to start and get talking with the key on its flowing...

Also makes for a "single point of failure" - something I try to avoid when it's reasonable. You really don't have a choice on having a petcock unless you just want to go to a lot of trouble assembling one from plumbing parts which has no valve in it.  You don't have to USE the petcock valve if you have a shutoff solenoid - I rarely do and then only if I need the reserve function.  Also a leaking OEM petcock is a KNOWN problem.  It's not a good design - very unreliable even when it hasn't failed - YET.  You might not get the ball properly centered on the shutoff hole and the rubber vacuum diaphram can fail with little indication before it hydrolocks the bike. Use the larger 1/4" DM (or AFC if you insist on pedantry) and the solenoid doesn't add restriction below the engine demands.  Even with towing a heavy boxy trailer up long hills at highway speeds resulting in mileage in the teens.  Wired with a latch relay powered by the kill switch output Bl/W wire, the kill sw, the ignition sw, or the tipover relay will all shut the fuel off.

Turtle254 posted the link to this solenoid on another thread recently.  It has much better specs than the DM / AFC solenoids - especially in the areas of lower power use and orifice size. It's basically a ball valve actuated by a motor rather than a valve held open by a solenoid coil.  Takes 4 seconds to open or close. https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-8-Motorized-Ball-Valve-Brass-9-V-12-to-24-VDC-VAC-2-wire-N-C-Normally-Closed/301651165722?hash=item463bcf821a:g:tP4AAOSwrklVW15H:sc:USPSPriority

Agree with your other 2 points...

[Leathel]

Why would you run 2 shut off valves (OEM & AFC .....Dan Mac is the retailer not the brand) each shut off restricts flow a little......

 A shutoff is great but when it has power it flows, so if you have it going on the key like mine it will keep flowing if you use the kill, If you go to start and get talking with the key on its flowing...

Also makes for a "single point of failure"

I guess I didn't word that well, The OEM vacuum shutoff is restrictive compared to a manual valve, the AFC valve is also restrictive, why would you run 2 things to restrict flow, Put a manual highflow tap on the tank which can be turned of for long sitting periods and only have one restriction...

I like the idea of the electronic ball valve but it looks big?

[Avanti]

I know this is a older thread but might be useful later on.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-8-Motorized-Ball-Valve-Brass-9-V-12-to-24-VDC-VAC-2-wire-N-C-Normally-Closed/301651165722?hash=item463bcf821a:g:tP4AAOSwrklVW15H:sc:USPSPriority

3/8" Motorized Ball Valve N/C 9 V, 12 to 24 VDC/VAC 2-wire Normally Closed Brass

Dimensions
Height: 4"
Width: 2-1/2"
Length: 2-1/8"
Weight:  13 oz

2-way, bidirectional
Normally Closed
2-wire actuator - Allows for simple control and wiring
Energize actuator to open valve
De-enrgize to close valve (closes with power supplied by internal capacitor)
Visual valve position indicator
Excellent choice for gravity feed applications
Excellent choice for applications requiring long activation periods
Port Size
3/8" NPT (female) inlet / outlet ports
Outer thread diameter / TPI (threads per inch):  0.675 inches / 18 TPI
Full port design (3/8" or 10 mm internal port diameter)
Straight through design (no directional changes inside valve)
9 to 24-volt AC or DC (auto detects voltage)
300 mA max while ball is turning (30mA max when held in open position)
20" power cable with 2 lead wires
Energize actuator to open valve, De-Energize to close
4 second cycle time from closed to open and vice versa
Internal micro-switches stop current flow to motor when open/closed positions are reached
Valve Materials
Valve body:  Brass
Ball: Stainless Steel (SS304)
PTFE (Teflon) Primary Seals,  FKM (Viton) Secondary Seals
Metal gears