Keep tank full?

swist

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 1, 2004
Messages
678
To carry on from a digression on another topic on WOT fule consumption....<br /><br />Many fishing boats have large tanks to get you out to sea and back. For example I have a 109 gal tank on a 24' boat = 150 gal is not unusual on some brands. If I remember gas weighs around 6+ lbs/gal. SO I am carrying 650+ lbs of load when tanks are full. That's as much as 3-4 people.<br /><br />In aviation (and also recommended by a lot of car manufacturers), keeping your tanks full is goodness as there is less room for condensation to form. This goodness, if true, can be an expernsive proposition with a big tank (in my case I'm adding 20% or more to the weight of the boat).<br /><br />What kind of an issue if this really? For one thing the condensation would likely be fresh water which is minimally harmful for most aluminum tanks (and not at all if you have platic yanks). And most decent setups have a fuel-water separator. And I always learned in my auto mechanic days (no separators!) that a little water in the gas isn't going to kill anything.<br /><br />Based on all this, does one keep your tanks full or not? (Assuming you are not heading out far enough where you actually need that whole tank at once).
 

cobra 3.0

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Messages
1,797
Re: Keep tank full?

I always keep no more than half a tank of gas in my boat. Mind you my tank is relatively small compared to the sizes you mention. I would stay away from fuels containing alcohol (it attracts water).
 

JasonJ

Rear Admiral
Joined
Aug 20, 2001
Messages
4,163
Re: Keep tank full?

Just get a water/fuel seperator and only put in as much as you need. There is no way I would carry any more weight than I had to, you just burn more fuel and put more stress on the motor.
 

OBJ

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 27, 2002
Messages
10,161
Re: Keep tank full?

I don't think keeping the tank full when in frequent use is an issue. It's the months of winter layup that may be of concern. And as Jason posted, a fuel/water seperator should take care of any water in the fuel.
 

JB

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Mar 25, 2001
Messages
45,907
Re: Keep tank full?

Moving to Boats.
 
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