Fuel storage?

[Halstead666]

I am about to take my 1996 searay 215 out for the season and will store it from Sept-April (8 months). It has a 50 gal fuel tank and I am wondering what's best to do with this tank? 1. Fill it with marine gas (non elthanol) and treat with some additive like seafoam or stabil or 2. Leave it as close to empty for the 8 months and treat with Heat additive to remove water in spring when adding new fuel when getting ready to put it back in the water? Or is there a 3rd option better than the other 2?

 

[ihearth2o]

Do you have a manual? What does it say? I do #1 and run the engine on muffs to stir up the stabilizer.

 

[geneseo1911]

I prefer to store mine full. I use Marine formula Stabil with every fill up, so my layup procedure is to fill the tank and add a slightly heavier than normal dose. I also put a piece of tape over the vent to keep the tank from breathing. Never had any issues.

Heat doesn't remove water, it just gets it back into suspension and gets it to the engine. Better to not get water in the first place. I wouldn't be scared of an empty tank so long as the vent is plugged. You then can't get any more moisture in than was in the air trapped in the tank. Even less air if the tank is full of fuel, though...

The only thing I would be afraid of is not covering the vent or not using stabilizer. My parents have a '67 firebird that we had to drain a full tank of fuel out off because it went stale over the winter.

I've never used Seafoam, but I don't think they claim to be a fuel stabilizer, do they? I can vouch that Stabil works and works well. We have small engines that only run once every year or two and so long as the fuel is stabilized they start every time. If we forget we can count on having to drain the tank & clean the carb.

 

[pckeen]

I have done both, but find that when my tank is empty, I end up with condensation. I used a can of seafoam last year on the recommendation of my mechanic with good results. Any fuel stabilizer will do.

 

[Phobos]

I have a 1995 Jaguar that I store over the winters (going on 10 years now) in my garage and I add stabil based on how much gas is in the tank and have never had a problem. I do usually leave the tank fairly low. Maybe 5 - 6 gal (1/4 tank). Not sure if a boat would be too different than the car. The car is all injectors so, not sure if those are more or less tolerant of fuel problems.

I will be storing my boat soon (just bought this year) and was planning on doing the same. Adding in stabil... then running it around the lake a bit before taking it out and storing it (in my garage) with the stabil in the gas.

I never thought about covering the vent hole.

 

[HT32BSX115]

I am about to take my 1996 searay 215 out for the season and will store it from Sept-April (8 months). It has a 50 gal fuel tank and I am wondering what's best to do with this tank? 1. Fill it with marine gas (non elthanol) and treat with some additive like seafoam or stabil or 2. Leave it as close to empty for the 8 months and treat with Heat additive to remove water in spring when adding new fuel when getting ready to put it back in the water? Or is there a 3rd option better than the other 2?

Howdy,


I always store my boat with the tank nearly empty. If it's not empty I siphon most of the fuel out and use it in my car. (it's all E10 up here in the great NW btw..... )

Then (next year), I replace filter, fill it up and go boating. I have done this year after year up here in the NW where it pretty much rains all winter and temps go from the teens to the 50's multiple times in a winter. I also do not use Sea Foam, Owl-Snot, Sta-lube, Sta-bil or other snake oil either...... I park my boat around SEP every year and refill it around late June or July.

I have NEVER in 30+ years of boating, found water in any boat tank (or aircraft fuel tank for that matter) . I am not even sure that people that get "condensation" are really getting it! BUT, if the boat is left out in the rain water though, can and does get in via leaky fuel caps, vents, etc......

Read the following article if you're not sure. http://www.yachtsurvey.com/myth_of_condensation_in_fuel_tanks.htm

Regards,


Rick

 

[Halstead666]

In the past I have filled the tank with (E10 gas) and added either Stabil or Seaform on the heavy side or with marine gas with zero ethanol and every spring I have troubles with the carb on my main engine and especially the Honda kicker (9.9) where I spend to first week just tooling around to empty the tank of the old gas. I think this year I am going with leaving the tank empty for the 8 or so months and not filling it up till spring commissioning time. Thanks gents for the input....

 

[HT32BSX115]

In the past I have filled the tank with (E10 gas) and added either Stabil or Seaform on the heavy side or with marine gas with zero ethanol and every spring I have troubles with the carb on my main engine and especially the Honda kicker (9.9) where I spend to first week just tooling around to empty the tank of the old gas.

That's interesting! Usually people on these forums say "I have used "XXX-juice", or "yyy-for eth-gas" and "never have a problem!"

In addition to what I have been doing with my boat, mower, cars........I have been using E-10 type gas in my 2003 model Tohatsu 9.8 4-stroke OB motor since I bought it new. every year I store it by running it completely out of gas (by disconnection the fuel line and running it until it quits) around SEPT or so. And then drain the fuel tank and line.

THEN in JUNE or JULY of the following year, I connect it to a full fuel tank and with the choke on, and with a couple of pulls it always starts right up and runs like I put it away yesterday. Year before last I didn't run it at all so it went 2 years. I have always run E-10 in it and stored it by running it out of fuel prior to shut-down........ No snake oils used in it either.

I am beginning to think that I just don't need that stuff......(well, I always thought that!)

 

[theBrownskull]

I run the level of the tank as low as I can and add Sta-bil. My former neighbor worked for a petroleum company and said the gasoline will start to break down after 31 days. He said Ethanol is hydrophilic (readily absorbs water) and the less of it you have in the tank the better.

 

[HT32BSX115]

I run the level of the tank as low as I can and add Sta-bil. My former neighbor worked for a petroleum company and said the gasoline will start to break down after 31 days. He said Ethanol is hydrophilic (readily absorbs water) and the less of it you have in the tank the better.

Yeah.....they say that a lot!

He probably doesn't have much of an answer for those of us that use gasoline that sits for several months with no apparent problems ........ I am not saying he's "wrong"...........I'm just saying that many engines don't exhibit a lot of problems using gasoline that has sit for several months.

There's plenty of us that have experienced no problems at all using several months old gasoline.

Ethanol is hydrophilic (readily absorbs water)

That is absolutely correct. BUT there's only (up to) 10% in most gasolines today. (usually less)

If you want to know how much alcohol is in the fuel, go to the following site and do the procedure indicated. http://spirit.eaa.org/autofuel/faqs/alcohol_testing.asp

If there's enough ethanol in the fuel make you feel bad, then go to http://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp and find a station that sells alcohol free gasoline............ BUT ensure that you test EVERY bit of fuel you buy because many of these stations have been known to dispense gasoline that has alcohol in their gasoline despite their claim..........

Many of us don't bother and don't worry about it......... We've been running it (E-10) since it's inception. I simply cannot tell any difference. I just pump it in and go boating.

But if it REALLY bothers you........................

 

[thumpar]

I just add some green Stabil to whatever I have left in the tank which is usually near full. A plus to it is I don't have to fill a 40 gallon tank in the spring. Never had an issue.

 

[Silvertip]

Whatever process you elect to use, if a fuel stabilizer is used, add it to the fuel, then run the engine long enough to get the treated fuel into the fuel system on the engine.

 

[UncleWillie]

I am a confessed Nut Case with experimenting with all the Fuel claims.
I do not tend to believe anything that I can not demonstrate. Here is what I have been able to demonstrate.

An open container of gasoline does NOT attract water.
An open quart Jar of gas will evaporate the lighter components of the gas and ~1/4 of the jar will be gone in less than a week.
However it will not absorb water and turn milky white.

On open container of Gasoline will go bad (Gum Up) in less than a week due to exposure to the Oxygen in the air.
The amount of "Gum" can be evaluated by appearance. Fresh gas is Yellow tinted. Gummy gas is a darker amber.

Either storage method has its pros and cons.
The full tank has less air in the tank to form gums but leaves you with a lot of gas that has evaporated the lighter components.
The empty tank exposes the remaining fuel to much more Oxygen, but filling the tank with fresh gas dilutes the issue into oblivion.

My personal preference is to drain and store with a nearly empty tank.

A Simple test is to place a sample of gas in a container and shake it vigorously.
Fresh Gas will loose its foamy "Head" in under 5 seconds.
Gummy gas will hold its "Head" for very Much longer. Wet gas will be milky and opaque.

Watered, Normal and Gummed Gas.

I am about to take my 1996 searay 215 out for the season and will store it from Sept-April (8 months). It has a 50 gal fuel tank and I am wondering what's best to do with this tank? 1. Fill it with marine gas (non ethanol) and treat with some additive like sea-foam or sta-bil or 2. Leave it as close to empty for the 8 months and treat with Heat additive to remove water in spring when adding new fuel when getting ready to put it back in the water? Or is there a 3rd option better than the other 2?

I find it interesting that you go out of your way to ensure that you use Non-Alcohol Fuel and then plan to deliberately add Alcohol (Heat Additive) to solve a water problem that E-10 fuel would have prevented in the first place. :joyous:

 

[tpenfield]

I am in the M-T (empty) tank crowd . . .

I usually run the tank as low as practical and then siphon the rest out and use it up in the automobiles. Keep in mind that the fuel tank is full of vapors even when and especially when it is empty. So, very little moisture laden air can actually enter the tank from the vent system.

sometimes, I'll run some 'dry gas' (alcohol) in the spring, just to take care of any moisture that may have gotten into the tank.

My thoughts are that the "full tank" method is a leftover procedure from when fuel was $0.50/gallon. With a larger boat, you can have $500-700 worth of fuel sitting for up to 8 months which does not seem like a good idea.

 

[bruceb58]

I find it interesting that you go out of your way to ensure that you use Non-Alcohol Fuel and then plan to deliberately add Alcohol (Heat Additive) to solve a water problem that E-10 fuel would have prevented in the first place. :joyous:

Of course they are 2 completely different types of alcohol.

 

[UncleWillie]

Of course they are 2 completely different types of alcohol.

Well I'll agree that they are two different types of alcohol. (The "Completely" part, I have a problem with.)

The "E" in E-10 is Ethanol (C[SUB]2[/SUB]H[SUB]6[/SUB]O). HEAT's MSDS states it is 99% Methanol. (CH[SUB]4[/SUB]O). A difference of one (CH[SUB]2)[/SUB]
Closer to comparing Oranges to Grapefruits.

All this technical saber rattling aside....

I still find it interesting that someone who avoids E-10 fuels because they consider Ethanol to be an evil product of the underworld
will happily plan to add Methanol to the same fuel, and consider it a magic potion, Especially considering that Methanol reacts with, and is highly corrosive to Aluminum.

If a nearly empty tank that displayed water in it were then filled with E-10 gasoline, the water would go back into solution without the addition of any additives.
For each 10 gallons of E-10 added to the Tank, over 6 ounces of water would be re-absorbed by the fuel. That is a lot of water!

Ethanol is here to stay, Live with it.

 

[bruceb58]

Methanol and Isopropyl are fully soluble in water and don't have the phase separation issues of ethanol when it is saturated. That is why they are used as gas driers. That is what I meant.

I actually don't have a problem with using E-10. I do have issues with the political aspects of it and that it has lower energy content than non alcohol fuel.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Well I'll agree that they are two different types of alcohol. (The "Completely" part, I have a problem with.)

The "E" in E-10 is Ethanol (C[SUB]2[/SUB]H[SUB]6[/SUB]O). HEAT's MSDS states it is 99% Methanol. (CH[SUB]4[/SUB]O). A difference of one (CH[SUB]2)[/SUB]
Closer to comparing Oranges to Grapefruits.

Just a friendly correction btw, That would be Ethanol (C[SUB]2[/SUB]H[SUB]5[/SUB]OH) and Methanol (CH[SUB]3[/SUB]OH) All alcohols have an "OH" on the "end"!! Although the depiction above by UW is technically also correct!!!!

EDIT: JEEZE......even I screwd it up!! ( and I took Organic Chemistry!!)