For years I have topped off my fuel tanks, added sta-bil, then ran the engines long enough to get the sta-bil in the carbs. I do my boating in the NE on the Hudson River. Over a few cold ones last week, one of the guys mentioned that he was told that with the ethenol in gas nowadays, it is better to store the tanks low on fuel. What is the straight scoop here?
Winter;Store Fuel Tanks full or Empty
- Thread starter bobdeesr
- Start date
I stabilize and store with whatever is in the tank. Sometimes full, sometimes near empty, most often somewhere in between. Never had a condensation issue either way. Sure bugged me when I had nearly $1200 worth of full just sitting for 6 months when I could have used the money elsewhere.
I think filling the tank is the way to go. With the tank full there is not much air in the tank for condensation to occur. A lot of gas and a little condensation; no big deal. Very little fuel and much more condensation; it could phase seperate. The advantage of storing with a low tank is that come spring/summer when the tank is filled up, the fuel will be fresh.
Like many other boat questions there are many answers and known seem to answer your question.
Back in the day, 60s, 70s and maybe the 80s.. The rule back then was to fill your tanks.......
What changed was that all that crap that was added after that time frame........
"Condensation"
Les posted something a few years back that basically blew the theory about that happening, if I remember correctly, condensation may add a drop or two of water on an average boat.
IMHO,
With ethanol and an old boat, your concern is not water, but how ethanol, will scrub (clean) all the crap off the walls of your fuel tank. Also. keep in mind that gas has less of a shelf life than it did in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
So the answer to your question is: "It depends"
I bought my boat new in 2004, boat always had ethanol, I stored the boat full, half and a little less than half. Either ways, still had no problems.
Back in the day, 60s, 70s and maybe the 80s.. The rule back then was to fill your tanks.......
What changed was that all that crap that was added after that time frame........
"Condensation"
Les posted something a few years back that basically blew the theory about that happening, if I remember correctly, condensation may add a drop or two of water on an average boat.
IMHO,
With ethanol and an old boat, your concern is not water, but how ethanol, will scrub (clean) all the crap off the walls of your fuel tank. Also. keep in mind that gas has less of a shelf life than it did in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
So the answer to your question is: "It depends"
I bought my boat new in 2004, boat always had ethanol, I stored the boat full, half and a little less than half. Either ways, still had no problems.
Prospective
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2006
- RO Number
- 23085
- Messages
- 1,343
I agree, I don't think it matters. Convetional wisdom was always to store full. Then there was the ethenol thing which got people questioning everything. If I recall correctly, post ethenol, Mercruiser was recommending full tanks and Volvo Penta recommending empty. So even the engineers disagree.
I always left mine pretty empty. The main logic being that if the fuel goes bad, getting rid of a few gallons is easier and cheaper than getting rid of a few hundred. And in the spring I knew I was filling up with nice fresh fuel.
I always left mine pretty empty. The main logic being that if the fuel goes bad, getting rid of a few gallons is easier and cheaper than getting rid of a few hundred. And in the spring I knew I was filling up with nice fresh fuel.
I pretty much have always stored with what was left ( usually well less than half a tank) and lots of stabilizer. Another thing to consider is the detrimental effect of the wt of the fuel on the hull when out of the water. i hold 300 gallons, that's over two thousand pounds of extra wt on the stands.
I dont' know about diesel, but I have read reports where today's gas has as short of a shelf life as 3-6 months. I don't know if that's true, but that leads me to believe not to fill it before you pull it - which is how I did it before ethanol anyway. I did have a problem last year, but that was because I left the gas cap off and it got rain water in it. Besides that incident, I've never had a problem.
Years ago I used to fill the tanks on the boat I had back then.
I read somewhere that the current recommendation is to leave them half or less full. The reasoning is that the gas now has less of a shelf life, so it's better to top it off and mix it with fresh gas in the spring.
So thats what I do now.
Personally, I don't think it matters that much as long as you use Sta-Bil.
I read somewhere that the current recommendation is to leave them half or less full. The reasoning is that the gas now has less of a shelf life, so it's better to top it off and mix it with fresh gas in the spring.
So thats what I do now.
Personally, I don't think it matters that much as long as you use Sta-Bil.
Pretty good article that describes phase seperation of ethanol gas. Writer refers to many marine applications.
http://fuelschool.blogspot.com/2009/02/phase-separation-in-ethanol-blended.html
I store pretty close to empty. add stabil to whatever is left. Always put atleast 50-60 gallons of fresh gas in before I fire up the engines in the spring.
http://fuelschool.blogspot.com/2009/02/phase-separation-in-ethanol-blended.html
I store pretty close to empty. add stabil to whatever is left. Always put atleast 50-60 gallons of fresh gas in before I fire up the engines in the spring.
