ethanol gas

[scottg]

eppem and Gradyfish22:
My engine mechanic stated that using ring free and a gas stabilizer is adequate. He feels that the 10 micron will be over restrictive on the gas flow and starve the engine. I have a Yamaha 225 two stroke, 1998. I am not convinced, yet. Any thoughts?

The Yamaha 10 micron filter is a much larger canister than their old 30 micron and is rated at 90 GPH.

[wilson]

alcohol is very hydroscopic (water and alcohol are best friends) and will apbsorb water thru the vent everyday with expansion and contraction of the fuel in the tank. it will absorb enough water to the point of phase seperation, then the water/alcohol mixture will settle to the bottom, just like water and gas did before. there might be water soluble additives in fuel that will go with the mix. i work in a refinery and we still make gas the same way and just add 10% ethanol to the volume of a truck full. i wonder if you can't just add water to your tank and split off the water/ethanol mix to be left with straight gas? i know you would need a bottom tap but it could be done. alcohol is not reactive with fuel, it is not a OCTANE booster. the only way to boost octane is to crack more heptane into octane or add benzene (benzene is the poop at 114 octane rating)and the only oxygenating benefits are alcohol uses almost no oxygen to burn, leaving more O2 per cylinder volume for the octane burn. ethanol does not have the same btu as octane (less power) but it produces water vapor and carbon dioxide when burned, hence it's a GREEN fuel. that's it kids!!

[BobP]

One can hire out pumping the tank dry, I think they remove the fuel level sender and stick a tube in there.

When I a DIYer drained both my tanks while still in the boat, via the existing suction lines, with the bow up, little was left in total, well less than a gallon. Need bow up to get so low, at least on my model.

[mistymorn]

we are just switching to ethanol here and I am concerned about mixing with the previous blend. My dealer said that there were problems in the beginning however they are using a different formulation and it should't create a problem. Here is my main concern....I left my tanks at 1/2 full two years ago (in the fall) and I got quite a bit of condensation in my tank...it took me a while to get it out as I do not use my boat a lot. Now with ethanol coming is it ok to add it to the current fuel of course adding star tron. I usually keep my tanks full and add about 15 or 20 gals at a time. I would prefer doing this to avoid condensation and since I have to add the fuel using those damn new gas cans it is a pain.

[gradyfish22]

Having your tanks full makes it harder to for condensation, if your boat sits for long periods of time between uses, I'd use star tron and put what they recommend in, maybe a hair more. I'd also consider adding some fuel stabilizer to the gas. I'd ask your Yamaha tech for the best advice, but I store my boat for the winter with tanks full and have not had issues after having it sit, I add stabilizer and star tron along with ring free to the tank. You will get some condensation, but star tron allows it to pass through safely, but that is a small amount of water, you should not have a ton in there.

[mistymorn]

Thanks, gradyfish22. I did get a ton of water..so perhaps I did get some bad gas. What do you think of gradually adding 15 or so gals of ethanol to the system. as I said the dealer said that they are using a different formulation

[gradyfish22]

I was told by my mechanic to run my tank down low, then add the fuel. He did not give me a good enough answer as to why to do this, but I did it to be safe, and had no issues with the switch over, I ran my tank down to about 1/4, maybe a little less, but more then 1/8 of a tank and then filled it completely with the new fuel. I think it was more of a precaution then anything. Not sure what would happen if you mixed it in slowly, possibly not much but I'm not an expert in fuel's. It probably is just a slightly different amount of ethanol in the fuel, or it may be from a new distributor that may have new additives. I'd think as long as you are adding star tron and ring free you should be fine, hopefully others will chime in and maybe some may know reasons why not to do this, but I cannot think of any.

[mistymorn]

Thanks again...you make perfect sense....It is a shame that this junk has been forced doun our throats....but...oh well...life will go on....Boat safely!

[JUST-IN-TIME]

To be honest I think it was more hype than actual problems with the ethanol. Use good 10 micron filters and have fun. It does eat at the fuel pumps so plan on changing them.

yeper

10% or less alcohol is fine for marine fuel rubber

any more they will do metal
im glad my grady is metal until water seperator!!
cept fuel fill and vent

[eppem]

best solution is to be proactive...you can have your tank spotless clean and get a batch of bad gas from your gas dock...the e10 has to work its way thru the whole system, the problem is, that system ends up in your tank! Pop the sender and look into your fuel tank, you can see any water or crap sitting under the gas (gas floats)...make a syphon with some hose, a primer bulb and some copper tubing and you can solve many of the problems. While at the gas dock, stop and pump some gas into (an approved!0 container and use your best assett..YOUR EYES! good clean fuel looks like urine..(unless its treated by your gas dock supplier)...we, like many CT resident boaters had some problems when the switch was made...i think its 3 or 4 years now and the problems are not as bad...glad to help if you have questions...

mike@diversemm.com

[gw204]

eppem and Gradyfish22:
My engine mechanic stated that using ring free and a gas stabilizer is adequate. He feels that the 10 micron will be over restrictive on the gas flow and starve the engine. I have a Yamaha 225 two stroke, 1998. I am not convinced, yet. Any thoughts?

Ringfree and Stabil w/ every fill up for me. I'm also running 10mm (I think) 3213 Racors on the exact same motors and have had zero issues w/ Ethanol or fuel delivery.