store your tanks empty.

As far as the diesel in my boat over the winter, I burn it in my diesel fireplace in the salon and it keeps my boat about 75° F, lol.
But then again, I am a liveaboard.
 
One thing to consider if not full and the boat is in the water, the sending unit is going to sit and rub on the rheostat and over a period of time you will have a "dead" spot and the gauge will show empty when the fuel is at that level
 
I store mine with the tanks about half full. The gas is treated with Star-tron at every fill up, and StaBil before the last ride of the season.
I top the tanks off with fresh gas before launching in the Spring.
So far, so good.
 
quote:
Originally posted by HOGAN

The only reason I would fill up is to save money if fuel prices go up. My tanks are now 3/4 full, and that's how they will spend the winter.

Click to expand...
I usually put the boat away with whatever it has....this season I couldn`t resist the 2.82 a gallon from the fuel truck a full 1.70 less per gal than my last on water fill ...I filled up. took 250 gals, saved $425.00
 
This will be the forever argument with points on both sides :)

My experience with Gas Motors
Filled the tanks added stabilizer (no problems)
Filled the tanks added nothing (no problems)
1/2 tank added stabilizer (no problems)
1/2 tank added nothing (no problems)
1/4 tank, added nothing, (no problems)

All ethanol in my neck of the woods, been that way for 13 years +

Conclusion:
Stabilizer is a waste of money
Whatever amount you have in fuel in the tank does not matter.

My setup was fuel injected, 2003 and 2004 motors

IMHO, whatever works for you is not going to be a problem.

Walter
 
Condensation builds up on the walls of the tank. If empty, the inner walls become a collector for condensation. This is exactly the design for an emergency water condenser.

I've done many tests on how to store gas over the winter. Even to the point of blocking vents and filling the tank with nitrogen gas. I live in the SF Bay Area where it never gets cold enuff for a hard freeze. So, condensation is a year long proposition. My personal conclusion is to store the tanks full. Even more so in high humidity areas. To a lesser degree where it's frozen all winter.
 
My post is not theory, but real life, at least here in NY
 
quote:
Originally posted by walterv

This will be the forever argument with points on both sides :)

My experience with Gas Motors
Filled the tanks added stabilizer (no problems)
Filled the tanks added nothing (no problems)
1/2 tank added stabilizer (no problems)
1/2 tank added nothing (no problems)
1/4 tank, added nothing, (no problems)

All ethanol in my neck of the woods, been that way for 13 years +

Conclusion:
Stabilizer is a waste of money
Whatever amount you have in fuel in the tank does not matter.

My setup was fuel injected, 2003 and 2004 motors

IMHO, whatever works for you is not going to be a problem.

Walter

Click to expand...


Same experience I have had. My engines have always been carbureted.
 
This will be the forever argument with points on both sides :)

My experience with Gas Motors
Filled the tanks added stabilizer (no problems)
Filled the tanks added nothing (no problems)
1/2 tank added stabilizer (no problems)
1/2 tank added nothing (no problems)
1/4 tank, added nothing, (no problems)

All ethanol in my neck of the woods, been that way for 13 years +

Conclusion:
Stabilizer is a waste of money
Whatever amount you have in fuel in the tank does not matter.

My setup was fuel injected, 2003 and 2004 motors

IMHO, whatever works for you is not going to be a problem.

Walter

I also agree with Walterv
 
It all depends on how long you’re planning to lay your boat up for. If you’re just putting it into storage now in November, and you’re planning to dunk her the first warm weekend in March, you don’t even need to stabilize it… fuel doesn’t break down that quickly. I never stabilize the fuel in my lawnmower because I know I’ll be using it in both the spring and fall. I always stabilize the fuel in my snow blower, because if there’s a winter without any snow, it’ll be more than a year before I run it again.
 
"I always stabilize the fuel in my snow blower, because if there’s a winter without any snow, it’ll be more than a year before I run it again."

Wow I never thought about this in the same way as the boat. I completely drain the snow blower of fuel and run it dry. Then I do a fogging oil job to the cylinder same as I do with my emergency genset. As you point out there have been times when each one of them has been idle for 2 to 3 years in a row out in the shed. They never have any problems at all when I need them and fuel up they start right up. Guess there is no accumulation of any water in those tanks from condensation in the shed otherwise there would have been issues.

Hope this helps
 
TimR,
Have a buddy that owns (owned) a mobile gas station. Mobile told them in a seminar, gas goes in the crapper after 30 days, 60 days, they're not allowed to sell it. This conversation is about keeping fuel in the ground when renovating a gas station..

Now real world, I agree with your post, I will also take that a bit further that 9 months would be fine.

Walter
 
Boy, I sure hope I don't use their rest rooms.
 
Walter, a friend who is an avid mechanic and boater made a good point about stabil.
For fuel injected engines, it's not as big of a deal. The rails and injectors are under pressure so it's more difficult for the bad gas to clog things up. But more importantly, there are no shallow pools/puddles of gas sitting around like in a carb.

He suggested using stabil in anything with a carburetor but don't worry about fuel injected engines, it's a nice to have.
 
I had a FI O/B and found it very sensitive to bad gas. Didn't clog but wouldn't run.
I suspect that the tight tolerances of FI would make them subject to corrosion but fortunately never experienced that.
 
I always add stabilizer to my gas. For a few bucks, it gives me peace of mind. Never had a problem with fuel in the spring.
 
So many different results it seems a crap shoot that's why I advocate empty tanks. Less gas to worry about. With non ethanol gas even if somehow someone sprayed water in the vent you could suck it out and be good to go. With the ethanol stuff it is all ruined.
 
Following up on that list, it is interesting to see even my Valv-tect also contains 5-10% (by weight) isopropyl alcohol too.
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/pdfs/MSDS/Valvtect/VAL_CFMS12_MSDS.pdf

Whereas , at 1st read that looks a little disturbing , it actually would not increase the % of alcohol in the tank at all , since the tank contents already have up to 10% alcohol. If the stabilizer contained OVER 10% alcohol , then there could be concern. (The main ingredient at ~~50-55% is apparently xylene.)

But FWIW, Valv-tect has worked OK for me for a very long time with no bad effects. And I still prefer to use that in limited amount for storage rather than risk adding different additives than is already in the Valv-tect gas I always buy. Even with no limited additional winter storage dosing, I think my full tanks would be well-protected any time an unforeseen situation curtailed the boat use for a year or more.

Also FWIW, the listed main ingredient for Startron and Sta-Bil appears to be naphtha , which Wikipedia says is "straight run gasoline" which has too low octane characteristic ...by itself... to be safe for modern engines. But of course that's not the only ingredient and the stabilizer is not meant to run the engine without adding to gasoline in undeteriorated condition.
 
Even Wikipedia doesn't know what naptha is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naphtha

OR

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-naptha.htm

My recollection was that it was a natural occuring liquid that would rise to the surface much like crude oil. I think it was refered to in either 'Sinbad' or 'Ali Baba...'

I looked up Xylene since a friend mixed it in racing fuel in his garage so don't tell anyone. Anyway couldn't find it as a 'content' in Nitromethane. I've seen a Xylene like compound in hardware stores, generally in the solvent section.

Ran into some very disturbing info about our gasoline. I'll start a thread, hopefully to get some feedback.
 
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