Fuel tank empty or full?

[Art]

You just think so.
My brother's friend took a whiz over the side of his boat. The USCG sent him a ticket along with the photo.

Oh nooooo... so now, USCG is into porno picts! :lol:

 

[BruceK]

...My brother's friend took a whiz over the side of his boat. The USCG sent him a ticket along with the photo.

Uh oh. The fish,the whales, the sharks, and all sea creatures, are in big trouble.

 

[Drake]

You just think so.
My brother's friend took a whiz over the side of his boat. The USCG sent him a ticket along with the photo.

What was the ticket for?

 

[markpierce]

Best is to use the boat nearly continuously, or at least very frequently, so fuel doesn't get "sour" and there is little opportunity to deal with water in fuel. My problem is that life doesn't allow that. ... Nevertheless, haven't had a water/fuel issue, yet.

 

[OldDan1943]

What was the ticket for?

I guess it is illegal to pee into the Great Lakes.
Now if he had jumped over the side to pee, no one would know.
Trust me, the offender was very surprised.

It would appear there are areas of Lake St Clair that are know routes for smuggling drugs (?) and people out of Canada and into the US.

I am told it is not uncommon for US boaters to cross into Canada for a "day trip", come back with "extra people" who quickly disembark and disappear before the owner reports into customs. Even during the winter, when the Lake is frozen over, people will try to walk from Canada to the US only to be welcomed by a Custom agent and or the local police.

I suspect is it not uncommon in FL. Even though the 'wet foot/dry foot' policy has expired, people are still willing to take a chance to disappear into the "land of milk and honey, where all the streets are paved with pure gold."

If the boat owner is caught and found guilty, I am guessing, his boat is arrested and sold at auction, he will be fined and maybe spend time in prison.

SIGH, So much for my Plan A; to get a date for the prom.

I have talked to some folks who sailed to Haiti. (before the hurricanes this year) They accepted humanitarian stores from a large sailboat with a disabled engine and attempted to take them into Haiti, without a proper manifest. The end results, they were 'captured' upon landing, held until the fine was paid. This involved the police driving them around Haiti to the various ATMs, gathering up cash to pay the fine. Thinking it was 'finished', they return to the court to pay the fine. They discovered, the court had decided to close early that day so they were stuck in Haiti for a couple more days. As I understand it, they did contact the US Consulate and they ensured this couple had better accommodations ashore, while they were trying to resolve this incident.

So you see, even trying to do 'good' can result in you getting the shaft.

Word of advice: don't accept anything without a proper manifest. You would not accept packages for your plane fight even from a friend. Remember the Scotland bomber? He gave his sweetie a present which turned out to be a bomb and brought the plane down.

Sorry about my ramblings....

 

[IG 30]

I have recently had to remove the steel tanks from my IG 30 due to leaks and believe me its not for the light hearted, both tanks hold 450ltrs (118gal) the tanks had been left partially full and condensation had caused algae a brown diesel water mud 4" deep. I had to drain the tanks vacuum them out then cut them in half to remove, all this due to the bottoms of the tanks having rust holes due to condensation. I have done a lot of research and found a bloke who had been working around diesel tanks for over 40yrs and his experience and advise was to always keep a steel tank full this way there is little to no condensation and to add a product call fuel doctor (Australia) to keep it conditioned, I have added an extra drain tap to each tank so I can every now and then drain a little off the bottom and keep an eye on what's going on.
( Full tanks are good ballast)

 

[Art]

I have recently had to remove the steel tanks from my IG 30 due to leaks and believe me its not for the light hearted, both tanks hold 450ltrs (118gal) the tanks had been left partially full and condensation had caused algae a brown diesel water mud 4" deep. I had to drain the tanks vacuum them out then cut them in half to remove, all this due to the bottoms of the tanks having rust holes due to condensation. I have done a lot of research and found a bloke who had been working around diesel tanks for over 40yrs and his experience and advise was to always keep a steel tank full this way there is little to no condensation and to add a product call fuel doctor (Australia) to keep it conditioned, I have added an extra drain tap to each tank so I can every now and then drain a little off the bottom and keep an eye on what's going on.
( Full tanks are good ballast)

I usr Soltron... good for diesel and gasoline to keep em bug, algae and water free. https://soltron-gtr.com/

 

[FF]

For seasonal storage GAS tanks should be as empty as you dare so the first fill will dilute the water/ethanol in the tank.

Diesel I fill to the brim , to cut down on the space for air to condense water into the tank.

Seems to work fine.

 

[CMS]

Regarding empty tank and condensation....

https://marinehowto.com/does-an-empty-marine-fuel-tank-condensate/

 

[rslifkin]

For seasonal storage GAS tanks should be as empty as you dare so the first fill will dilute the water/ethanol in the tank.

Diesel I fill to the brim , to cut down on the space for air to condense water into the tank.

Seems to work fine.

Filling gas tanks and adding a good load of stabilizer (plus dry gas if the fuel is non ethanol) also works. Minimizes condensation and gives more fuel to absorb it, so the relative amount of moisture isn't enough to become an issue. FWIW, my boat has been stored with full gas tanks every winter for 35 years without issue, both with ethanol and non ethanol fuel.

In general, the idea is to get them either as full as possible or pretty much completely empty (ideally with a way to drain off moisture before refilling).

 

[psneeld]

Often the GAS (not necessarily diesel)tank full requirement at marinas is for insurance (explosion) reasons from what I have been told/read.

Ethanol gas was a game changer.

Condensation in my experience has rarely been the issue with phase separation. It usually is a shot of free water that makes the separation.

Therefore many people I know store gas (if allowed) tanks empty as possible because if it does phase separate, having to pay for 20 or so gallons of bad gas is way less money than 200 gallons.

Sure it depends....but that is my experience with over a decade of Ethanol gas and hundreds of customers I spoke to when in the marine business.

 

[Art]

Suggestion

I experience no bug, algae, water or fuel separation problem in our boat's gas tanks... no matter how full [or empty] they are nor how long they are left dormant. Their claim is; Soltron works amply well in diesel fuel.

Soltron - Fuel additive:

https://soltron-gtr.com/

https://navstore.com/soltron-enzyme-fuel-treatment-16-oz-500ml-bottle.html

Also sold in NAPA stores

 

[Bacchus]

Regarding empty tank and condensation....

https://marinehowto.com/does-an-empty-marine-fuel-tank-condensate/

CMS
I have read your test procedure & results and would offer a more realistic test that might make a difference.
If I read correctly your test was done with a dry tank and my reaction was... if there were any condensation on the tank interior in cold temps it could have evaporated when temps warmed.
I'd suggest a more representative test would be to include a small amout of diesel so that any condensate that did form would sink to the bottom and eliminate the possibility of subsequent evaporation.
BTW I agree with the premise that condensation is an overblown myth in many locations ( especially NE where cold Wx is normally rather dry as well)

My thought / logic that is the basis of my belief is...
1 fuel tanks with any appreciable amounts of fuel are a sizable mass and lag temp changes
2 cold air is relatively dry
3 warm air can be relatively wet (humid)
4 as temps drop there is a lag of tank air cooling and the exterior air is already cool / dry so tank inspirates dry air
5 as temps increase and the tank warms it is expelling cooler / dryer air than the exterior environment

The result is when temps are low enough to condense there is little moisture present and dew point is low. When external dew points are high the tank is "exhaling" dry air so no/ little moisture can enter the tank vent.
I agree the above may not hold true is very moist environments like the PNW?