{"id":905,"date":"2012-11-02T18:21:41","date_gmt":"2012-11-02T18:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/?p=905"},"modified":"2012-11-05T16:25:55","modified_gmt":"2012-11-05T16:25:55","slug":"fuel-in-the-tank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/2012\/11\/02\/fuel-in-the-tank\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuel in the Tank"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Our 10\/17\/2012 post &#8220;Putting Your Boat to Bed&#8221; generated many conversations regarding fuel in the tank.  I asked Columnist and freelance writer <a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pub\/capt-fred-davis\/14\/4a\/b66\" target=\"new\"><u>Captain Fred Davis<\/u><\/a> to review the subject and here is what Captain Davis reported.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve spent quite a bit of time researching and reviewing the topic regarding fuel in the tank your bloggers inquired about.  I&#8217;ve talked to chemists, fuel company reps and other experts.<\/p>\n<p> Oil company reps suggest your fuel tank should be filled to around 90% after treating with a marine stabilizer.  It\u2019s best to replace the water separator filter just prior to stabilizing the fuel.  When adding the stabilizer, (Sta-Bil or StarTron additives work well), be sure you use marine grade which is twice as strong as the automotive mixture.  Do not skimp on the stabilizer; it will do no harm if you use extra.  Be sure to run the treated fuel completely through the entire system.<\/p>\n<p>Now the controversial questions:  Why not drain the tank, leaving it near empty?  Or, as some suggest, why not \u201cleave it half-full\u201d so you can add a half tank of fresh fuel next season?  <\/p>\n<p>Ethanol is an alcohol; it absorbs moisture during the season.  The water, mixed with the ethanol will pass through the system and burn with the mixture.  While in storage, the fuel starts to break down in approximately 30 days.  Once the alcohol absorbs enough moisture the breakdown separates leaving a thick content at the bottom of the tank.  Absorption takes place as the moisture in the tank, having entered through the vent, exceeds a certain point causing phase separation to occur.  <\/p>\n<p>If the fuel tank has more air space it can circulate more moisture, which expedites phase separation.  Less air space means less moisture and therefore, if the tank is 90% full there is still enough room for expansion as the tank warms from the sun shining on the cover or as warmer air temperatures circulate around it.<\/p>\n<p>There are opinions put forth that emptying the fuel completely is the best action.  Actions, such as using a shop vac may prove dangerous.  In many states, Fire Marshals prohibit storing a boat with an empty fuel tank.  An empty tank could be considered a bomb because of the danger of fumes.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our 10\/17\/2012 post &#8220;Putting Your Boat to Bed&#8221; generated many conversations regarding fuel in the tank. I asked Columnist and freelance writer Captain Fred Davis to review the subject and here is what Captain Davis reported. I&#8217;ve spent quite a bit of time researching and reviewing the topic regarding fuel in the tank your bloggers [&#8230;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[238],"tags":[10,14,388],"class_list":["post-905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boating-tips","tag-boat-insurance","tag-boating-safety","tag-boating-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":921,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions\/921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}