Draining gas?

[bones774]

If i suspect my gas tank has water what would be the best way to clean it.
How to remove possibly 40 gals of gas? use hose thru fill inlet? disconnect engine feed line? access some type of service cover on top of tank? I should be able to see water? will i be able to separate and reuse gas? otherwise where to dispose of so much gas? do i have to drain whole tank to get the water? I know in aviation we used to have little spigots at the lowest point of gas tank and we would quickly drain a little squirt to check condition of fuel, that was a good idea? any other precautions or tips to help?

Thanks

 

[sutor623]

Re: Draining gas?

Wow thats a lot of questions. First thing, how old is the gas? Did it have stabilizer in it? If so I add this stuff called Iso-Heet for 2stroke or 4 stroke, whatever your application is, and add it to the tank. Shake it around and let it set for a few days. Another thing I do is add a fuel/water separator to the fuel line. Im sure it has saved my butt way more times than I can think of.

 

[sutor623]

Re: Draining gas?

Oh one other thing, sometimes you can see water beads at the top of the gas, if the tank was full then you are allowing less of a chance for condensation. The closer to empty, the more moisture will be allowed into the tank.

 

[Don S]

Re: Draining gas?

You don't have to empty the tank if the gas is good and you just want to get the water out. Try this.
First, head to NAPA and get a cheap electric fuel pump. Make and model doesn't make any difference. Pickup some fittings for the pump so you can attach some 1/4" ID clear tubing to both ends of the pump. Then get you a couple of feet of copper tubing that will fit tight inside the clear tubing, and put it on the pickup side of the pump. Make the output hose long enough to go into a container for your junk gas.
Now, put some wires on the pump (a red and black will work..... red for positive and black for negative) put some clips on the end so you can hook to a battery.
NOW, since water always settles to the bottom of the tank, raise the bow of the boat so the back of the tank is lower than the front. The water will also head to the back.
Then remove the fuel pickup tube from the tank (make sure the fuel level is low enough when you start that it doesn't run out of the fitting when you pull it out).
Start your electric fuel pump and stick the copper tube all the way to the bottom, move it around and you will get all the water and leave the gas.

Dispose of the contaminated fuel properly

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Draining gas?

Test it.

Once the tank has been shaken (such as a trailer ride or after an outing) pump some gas into a mason jar and place it on a level surface for about 1 hour. If there is any water in it ....... it will separate and be obvious.

 

[Don S]

Re: Draining gas?

Oh one other thing, sometimes you can see water beads at the top of the gas,

Water sinks in gas, you might see air bubbles, but not water beads on top of gas.

 

[sutor623]

Re: Draining gas?

You don't have to empty the tank if the gas is good and you just want to get the water out. Try this.
First, head to NAPA and get a cheap electric fuel pump. Make and model doesn't make any difference. Pickup some fittings for the pump so you can attach some 1/4" ID clear tubing to both ends of the pump. Then get you a couple of feet of copper tubing that will fit tight inside the clear tubing, and put it on the pickup side of the pump. Make the output hose long enough to go into a container for your junk gas.
Now, put some wires on the pump (a red and black will work..... red for positive and black for negative) put some clips on the end so you can hook to a battery.
NOW, since water always settles to the bottom of the tank, raise the bow of the boat so the back of the tank is lower than the front. The water will also head to the back.
Then remove the fuel pickup tube from the tank (make sure the fuel level is low enough when you start that it doesn't run out of the fitting when you pull it out).
Start your electric fuel pump and stick the copper tube all the way to the bottom, move it around and you will get all the water and leave the gas.

Dispose of the contaminated fuel properly

This is brilliant!!

 

[robert graham]

Re: Draining gas?

I'd start by installing a Racor fuel/water separator type filter with the clear blastic bowl and a petcock drain on it. Then you can pump or siphon as much as you can of the gas out, inspecting it as you go for water drops, which will settle in the bottom. If you have an access plate or cover to remove it could really help you to see and remove the water. I'd keep a garden hose and a fire extinguisher real handy! You might call around for an oil or fuel recycler who might take your old contaminated gas. Good Luck!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Draining gas?

Water will collect at the lowest part of the tank. If you can get to the gas gauge sender and remove it, you can put a siphon hose to the bottom of the tank. I use one of those "shake-shake" siphon hoses to start the siphon. A piece of 1/2" copper pipe in the end of the siphon hose will fit thru a standard brass garboard boat drain fitting. Put a jerry can on the ground under the copper pipe, start the siphon and use the siphon hose to get all the water out of the tank.

Now take the jerry can and put it on the bench and let her settle for a few minutes. Now siphon the bottom of the jerry can into a clear gallon container. The water will settle to the bottom and you can reuse the gasoline. Remember gasoline and alcohol can seperate if there is enough water, so be sure to pour off any seperated alcohol water mix. If you are unsure what is gasoline, what is alcohol and what is water, color the gasoline with some 2 cycle oil and it will be obvious.

 

[Philster]

Re: Draining gas?

After the siphon techniques are used, you might want to treat the fuel with a product that treats water in fuel and make sure you have a water separating oil filter.

 

[Don S]

Re: Draining gas?

and make sure you have a water separating oil filter.

You should look into a water separating fuel filter too.

 

[bones774]

Re: Draining gas?

I have one of those water filters that look like an oil filter, are they capable of handling large amounts of water such as if boat was flooded?
Years ago in the county we had a garage mechanic that was draining gas from a tank in the workbay with a cheap electric drain pump, the car went up and took the station with it.

 

[Bigboyitm]

Re: Draining gas?

You don't have to empty the tank if the gas is good and you just want to get the water out. Try this.
First, head to NAPA and get a cheap electric fuel pump. Make and model doesn't make any difference. Pickup some fittings for the pump so you can attach some 1/4" ID clear tubing to both ends of the pump. Then get you a couple of feet of copper tubing that will fit tight inside the clear tubing, and put it on the pickup side of the pump. Make the output hose long enough to go into a container for your junk gas.
Now, put some wires on the pump (a red and black will work..... red for positive and black for negative) put some clips on the end so you can hook to a battery.
NOW, since water always settles to the bottom of the tank, raise the bow of the boat so the back of the tank is lower than the front. The water will also head to the back.
Then remove the fuel pickup tube from the tank (make sure the fuel level is low enough when you start that it doesn't run out of the fitting when you pull it out).
Start your electric fuel pump and stick the copper tube all the way to the bottom, move it around and you will get all the water and leave the gas.

Dispose of the contaminated fuel properly

I need to do the same thing, but never thought of doing it this way. Good advice!

 

[Don S]

Re: Draining gas?

Years ago in the county we had a garage mechanic that was draining gas from a tank in the workbay with a cheap electric drain pump, the car went up and took the station with it.

Boats have blown up when simply refueling. Does that mean you should never refuel your boat?

Everything is dangerous if not done correctly and/or without using a little bit of good common sense.

Water separating fuel filters will remove about 1/4 of a quart of water before it starts bypassing the water to the carb. Not exactly a large amount. I constantly would drain 1/2 to 3 gallons of water out of the fuel tanks of boats that are suffering with water in the fuel.

 

[Philster]

Re: Draining gas?

You should look into a water separating fuel filter too.

Probably!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Draining gas?

I have one of those water filters that look like an oil filter, are they capable of handling large amounts of water such as if boat was flooded?
Years ago in the county we had a garage mechanic that was draining gas from a tank in the workbay with a cheap electric drain pump, the car went up and took the station with it.

If the boat was flooded, you need to completely drain the tank because it will all be water. a fuel/water separator wont help you there.

I witnessed a jeep getting hit by lightning and the main tank and the two jerry cans of fuel went up. does that mean we shouldnt drive when there is rain or lightning? like Don mentioned, boats blow up from improper fueling. planes crash, does that mean we shouldnt fly?

 

[bones774]

Re: Draining gas?

I witnessed a jeep getting hit by lightning and the main tank and the two jerry cans of fuel went up. does that mean we shouldnt drive when there is rain or lightning? like Don mentioned, boats blow up from improper fueling. planes crash, does that mean we shouldnt fly?

[/QUOTE]
Those could be acts of god or simply accidents, not quite the same as introducing an ignition source to a fuel source. Just throwing it out there so people have a little cautionary note. I doubt that the lightning strike analogy would go very far with the claims adjuster when he showed up at the burnt down service station. When you run those little cheese box motors you can see the sparking between the brushes and commutators.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Draining gas?

Those could be acts of god or simply accidents, not quite the same as introducing an ignition source to a fuel source. Just throwing it out there so people have a little cautionary note. I doubt that the lightning strike analogy would go very far with the claims adjuster when he showed up at the burnt down service station. When you run those little cheese box motors you can see the sparking between the brushes and commutators.[/QUOTE]

I have no idea what you're trying to argue. The suggestion was made to use and automotive fuel pump. A pump made specifically for the purpose of pumping fuel. Not like the suggestion was a friggin' shop-vac! ?

 

[Alan_Scott]

Re: Draining gas?

http://www.benmeadows.com/kolor-kut-gasoline-gauging-paste-25-oz-jar_s_220227/

If you should decide to siphon all of the fuel into a 55 gallon drum, this will let you know exactly what the water level is.

 

[Rulost]

Re: Draining gas?

When I was an auto mechanic we would sometimes get vehicles in with water in the tank. We used a universal electric fuel pump to get as much gas out of the tank as we could before pulling it to clean completely. Pumped that into a 55 gal drum and let it set for a day. using a paste like Alan_Scott posted, we could tell how much water was inthe drum after it settled. We then set the depth of a pickup tube to be safely above the water and pumped as much gas back into the car as we could. Saved the customer from having to replace any more than necessary. Also added a bottle of fuel dryer to the first tank of gas.