Reply With QuoteThe coast guard in this case was ignorant of the law. K&N's with the number you read off are legal for marine use.
I have a K&N flame arrestor on my 27 Fountain Fever. I was out yesterday when the USCG pulled me over and boarded my boat. Everything was OK until they saw the K&N. At that point they towed my boat to the nearest pier where I had to fix it or pull it out of the water.
When I got home I went to a few websites including K&N, USCG, and SAE. K&N states that the flame arrestor is SAE certified and "marine approved" but does not say that it is "USCG approved".
I went to the USCG website and found this:
"The following frames address the 15 areas that are the main inspection items of the VSC. Five of these items: Personal Flotation Device (PFD or life jacket), Fire extinguishers, Flame arresters, Visual Distress Signals (VDS), and Marine Sanitation Devices (MSDs) must be either Coast Guard approved or have a Underwriters Laboratory (UL) or Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) number. All references to these items in the following frames are assumed to meet this criteria."
http://www.uscgboating.org/vsc/VSC_A.html
I went out and pulled my flame arrestor and the filter and bottom plate have the SAE J1928 stamped on them. From what I have read on the USCG site this should be OK.
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Here is something interesting from the SAE website:
SAE Standards
Document Number: J1928
Date Published: April 1993
Title: Devices Providing Backfire Flame Control for Gasoline Engines in Marine Applications
Issuing Committee:
Marine Technical Committee
Scope:
This SAE Standard covers the minimum requirements for design, construction, and testing of devices to prevent the propagation of backfire flame from within the gasoline engine to the surrounding atmosphere. The purpose of this document is to recommend a procedure for testing and establishing acceptable flame arresting characteristics of the devices.
J1928 is stamped on the filter and housing of the K&N.
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Has anyone ran into a problem like this before? I am concerned about an insurance issue if there is ever a problem.
Thanks
The coast guard in this case was ignorant of the law. K&N's with the number you read off are legal for marine use.
Just got off the phone with the USCG. They told me that the USCG regulations had changed as of January 2004 to include "SAE approved" flame arrestors. They do not have to carry the "Coast Guard approved" label.
That's nice to know after they ended my boating day!
You are legal. 3 items must be on the flame arrestor. The name of the manufacturer, the word "marine", and the test performed on the flame arrestor (SAE J1928). The words "Coast Guard Approved" are NOT required. The Coast Guard actually does not approve anything. They do set up standards but do no actual testing. Typically the testing is done by an SAE facility hence the markings on the K&N. I have a .pdf file stating what is required and can send you a copy, but it sounds like you already found the web site it is on.
Why did they stop you
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