Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

[ziggy]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

i'm with the stabill & top it off crowd. i think condensation is the enemy. not the e10 fuel. i seem to have a choice here. the e10 is the cheaper stuff. i use premium with my stabill. premium because that's what my boat engine says it wants, not because of winterization........

winters here are bouts 5 months. snow and very cold. -0 is not unusuall in the winter for days on end....

 

[SuperNova]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

It's not so much the concern about condensation as with the ethanol absorbing moisture from the air in tanks that are vented to outside air..

It is a concern about both. And the simple truth is the more fuel in the tank= less room for moisture laden air.

 

[skeat]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

Long Island...NE maybe not but it's certainly not NC or FL ( plenty of nights < 20 degrees F). I also had this boat in Maine for 6 years which does count as the NE. Gas with ethanol is relatively new here so how someone has stored gas for the past so many years doesn't come into play. I just have known people who have had problems and when they pulled the water/separator filter were surprised at what they had found. Lucky (or not) for me that hasn't happened yet.

 

[SuperNova]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

You're probably right, you can do it either way full or drained, and I think the real problem crowd is the ones with 1/4 or 1/2 tank. That's where the real big problems stem from I believe.

 

[njlarry]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

Anbody know what Merc or Volvo currently recommend? Seems likely they should have done some real testing.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

Anbody know what Merc or Volvo currently recommend? Seems likely they should have done some real testing.

i don't know about current. like not current. but service manual #2 for my '75 165 mercruiser specificaly states on pp 1A-6 for winter storage. item 7. "Drain all gasoline from fuel tank."

 

[KRS]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

i don't know about current. like not current. but service manual #2 for my '75 165 mercruiser specificaly states on pp 1A-6 for winter storage. item 7. "Drain all gasoline from fuel tank."

This one made me laugh. You're disputing (kind of) what most people are saying because of a written owner's manual.

Then, just below your post in your signature line, it reads "Question Authority".

I laughed at that ! hehehe

"It's like, I'm a tough guy that questions authority, but hey guys, the manual says....."

Okay, humor at your expense is over, my apologies.

hehehehe

KRS

 

[ziggy]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

Okay, humor at your expense is over, my apologies.

apology accepted. glad ya found it funny. though i didn't even have funny in mind.

i'm with the stabill & top it off crowd.

Quote:
Anbody know what Merc or Volvo currently recommend? Seems likely they should have done some real testing.
i don't know about current. like not current. but service manual #2 for my '75 165 mercruiser specificaly states on pp 1A-6 for winter storage. item 7. "Drain all gasoline from fuel tank."

ya see that i stabill and fill. contrary to the "service manual" not owners manual. i've had 4 toys. two jetskis, two boats. first ski said in the service manual to drain it. 2nd ski said fill it, in the service manual. both boats were L6s aint read #1 lately but assume it says the same as #2, which was where the quote was from. and it was only an possible answer for the question posed. which was a good one i thought. mfgs usually know whats the best way to care for their engines. but there seems to be contridiction to it. some say empty, some say full. so full or empty, seems a debatable subject i think too...... let alone the quality of fuel that the thread is about...

yep, i do question authority. nothing tough guy about it. who makes the authority the authority? what makes whoever, right? if people didn't question authority, the world would still be flat......hum. extreme boating. boating over the edge....................

still, glad ya got a laugh out of it.......it's good to laugh, even at my expense........i'm no worse off for it one way or the other.......

 

[skeat]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

http://www.chevron.com/products/prodserv/fuels/bulletin/motorgas/4_oxygenated-gasoline/pg2.asp

This is a quote from the above bulletin from Chevron: "This water sensitivity also means that extra care should be taken when gasoline oxygenated with ethanol is used as a fuel for boat engines. Ethanol blends are hygroscopic (absorb moister from the air) and in time can phase separate during storage if the tank is vented to the atmosphere and is subject to breathing as a result of temperature changes."

While they go on to say ( as I think most of us are in agreement) that a partially filled tank is the most susceptable to this breakdown and a full tank is a much better way to store gas if you are going to keep gas in your tank, the only way to completely eliminate the problem is to store your tank empty. Even that though they say is dangerous (why they don't say) but I'm guessing they are talking about the fuel transfer.

I run my boat down on the last outing of the year, run it at home to flush it out and fog and then take out the 28gallon tank, empty the few gallons that are left in my car and put the 15-20lb aluminum tank in my garage. No separation or condensation. Original tank ('89), and the carb has never been off the engine.

whatever works for you

 

[backwater dawg]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

Everyone has different ideas on this subject---and we all have different climates to deal with. I prefer to store mine empty after I've added stable and fill with fresh gas in the spring-as we have a 6 month lay up period--also--I have a freind who is a chem eng at one of the local refiners and he said with how they are now making gas--it doesnt have much of a shelf life and his recommendation was not to keep gas over 6 months-even with stable in it--it's prob different with a chain saw or small engine-just a little bit of gas--I just can't see storing 140 gallons--adding stable--and then have the gas go bad---just my thoughts--Steve

 

[SuperNova]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

http://www.chevron.com/products/prodserv/fuels/bulletin/motorgas/4_oxygenated-gasoline/pg2.asp

This is a quote from the above bulletin from Chevron: "This water sensitivity also means that extra care should be taken when gasoline oxygenated with ethanol is used as a fuel for boat engines. Ethanol blends are hygroscopic (absorb moister from the air) and in time can phase separate during storage if the tank is vented to the atmosphere and is subject to breathing as a result of temperature changes."

While they go on to say ( as I think most of us are in agreement) that a partially filled tank is the most susceptable to this breakdown and a full tank is a much better way to store gas if you are going to keep gas in your tank, the only way to completely eliminate the problem is to store your tank empty. Even that though they say is dangerous (why they don't say) but I'm guessing they are talking about the fuel transfer.

I run my boat down on the last outing of the year, run it at home to flush it out and fog and then take out the 28gallon tank, empty the few gallons that are left in my car and put the 15-20lb aluminum tank in my garage. No separation or condensation. Original tank ('89), and the carb has never been off the engine.

whatever works for you

The reason that an empty tank is dangerous is because it is full of highly explosive fumes.......does your wife know you are storing a 28 gallon bomb in your garage? There are a lot of reasons for storing a full tank and that is just another one to add to the list.--
Stan

 

[skeat]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

so that's why she put my bed in the garage.

 

[SuperNova]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

so that's why she put my bed in the garage.

LMAO......good response
--
Stan

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

I take some wide electrical tape and cover up the vents on my 2 inboard tanks on 2 boats...on the Stabiled gas thats in it. 20 foot full, big boat about 1/4 tank..no problems yet (and its always wet in the winter in the PNW)

 

[45Auto]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

Just noticed this in Mercruiser Manual 30, Volume 1, page 1B-71:

Preparing Power Package For Storage

1. Fill the fuel tanks with fresh gasoline (that does not contain alcohol) and a sufficient amount of Quicksilver Gasoline Stabilizer for Marine Engines to treat the gasoline. Follow instructions on the container.

2. If the boat is to be placed in storage with fuel containing alcohol in fuel tanks (if fuel without alcohol is not available): Fuel tanks should be drained as low as possible and Quicksilver Gasoline Stabilizer for Marine Engines added to any fuel remaining in the tank. See Fuel Requirements for additional information.

So Mercruiser wants you to fill it if you're using real gas, drain it if you're burning corn!

 

[njlarry]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

Thanks 45, that's what I was looking for. What is the date of that? Seems like alot of us are filling because someone said to 20 yrs ago when E10 didn't exsit.

 

[SuperNova]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

Got news for ya. Ehtanol blending has been around for as long as the arabs have been unfriendly. America ran it in the early 70's and the 80's. Every time there is a gas pinch we start mixing ethanol blends. Chrysler even put out an e-85 capable van for a number of years. And the old school of thought is to drain the tank, I remember my father and my grandfathers preaching that to me. So it's not a matter of something someone told us to do 20 yrs ago. But I will agree it is a movement that started in the late 90's. Before the current run of ethanol blending.
--
Stan

 

[45Auto]

Re: Fill the tank or drain the tank for winter season?

Hi NJLarry,

The date on the manual is August 2006.