Question about water in fuel tank

[boatz]

My auxilary tank has water in the gas. I have about 50 gallons in the tanks (new Gas). My question, Has anyone just added large quantities of dri gas and if so has it been successful? The service manager at the marina wants to pump it all out of the aux tank. Please let me know if anyone has tried this out.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[seasick]

Pump out the water. Dry gas won't help for large amounts of water, Actually E10 contains alcohol and that's what's in dry gas.

 

[Fishin' Rod]

Are you using a water separator filter? E.g. Raycor 11 microns

 

[seasick]

If you have a lot of water, a water separating filter isn't going to help very much.
Imagine a tank full with only water and connected to a Racor. Whatdo you think the filter is going to do?

 

[cgmiller]

The way I see it our boating season is so short that it is not worth jerking around trying to save a few bucks. There may be a local outfit that will clean the fuel and the tank with a pump and filter system. I had the tanks in my last boat cleaned for about 300 bucks. I may have the tanks on the grady done if I dont pull them once I finally get the boat back from the fiberglass guy..

 

[Fishin' Rod]

If you have a lot of water, a water separating filter isn't going to help very much.
Imagine a tank full with only water and connected to a Racor. Whatdo you think the filter is going to do?

You should go back and read again. He has 50 gallons of NEW GAS in his auxiliary tank, that's no indication of a "lot of water". Maybe you could come up with a helpful solution rather than bashing a fellow poster.

 

[Fishin' Rod]

The way I see it our boating season is so short that it is not worth jerking around trying to save a few bucks. There may be a local outfit that will clean the fuel and the tank with a pump and filter system. I had the tanks in my last boat cleaned for about 300 bucks. I may have the tanks on the grady done if I dont pull them once I finally get the boat back from the fiberglass guy..

If you have a minimal amount of water in your gas, Starbtite's Gastron along with a Water Separator Filter will take care of the problem. All boaters running today's ethanol added gas should without question be running a Water Separator filter not only for the water but for dirt too. I use the one with the clear bowl on the bottom. It's always interesting to see the how much junk is in the bowl when I change the filter. If you do go with a filter spend the extra money and go with the Raycor 10 Micron opposed to the Sierra brand.

 

[Fishin' Rod]

If you have a lot of water, a water separating filter isn't going to help very much.
Imagine a tank full with only water and connected to a Racor. Whatdo you think the filter is going to do?

You should go back and read again. He has 50 gallons of NEW GAS in his auxiliary tank, that's no indication of a "a tank full of water or a lot of water". Maybe you could come up with a helpful solution rather than bashing a fellow poster.

 

[seasick]

If you have a lot of water, a water separating filter isn't going to help very much.
Imagine a tank full with only water and connected to a Racor. Whatdo you think the filter is going to do?

You should go back and read again. He has 50 gallons of NEW GAS in his auxiliary tank, that's no indication of a "lot of water". Maybe you could come up with a helpful solution rather than bashing a fellow poster.

If he said he had water in the tank, then there is water separated on the bottom. If the water were suspended ( blended) in the fuel, he wouldn't know he had water.
I was not bashing him, I made a statement that should have kicked in some thought about what a 'water' separator' does. If you have water on the bottom of a tank, and it is covering the pickup, the motor will pump pure water. That pure water will pass right through the water separator filter.

 

[Grog]

The Dolphin has a 75G aux tank. With 50G of fresh there's still up to 25G of who knows. I tried the E-zorb route, all it did was emulsify the water which then get's trapped in the Racor. The best route is to have someone come by and filter/polish the gas in the tank. The only catch is if the fuel level sender screws snap.

 

[Tucker]

Been plagued with water in fuel last 2-boats. Fuel/Water seps don't do anything because the ethanol makes the water mix with gas. The only remedy is to siphon all the gas out when the boat's on a trailer and dispose of properly. Make sure your gas cap o-rings are good.

 

[gw204]

The key is whether or not the water has settled to the bottom of the tank or not. If so, easy fix..

1. Position the boat so one side of the tank is lower than the other (move it around on the trailer or add weight to one side if slipped).
2. Pop the sending unit.
3. Take a coat hanger and straighten it out. Fasten one end of a piece of 3/8" tube to very end of the coat hanger and insert it in the tank. Put that end at the lowest point. Attached the other end of the tube to a primer ball. Run a second line from the ball to a catch container.
4. Pump away...

I did a simlary thing to remove water from the fuel tank of my Formula. Only difference is the rig I made used tube small enough that I could send it down through one of the pickup tubes.

You'll know what's gas and what's not...

 

[Tucker]

Based on my experience both those bottles are fouled. Gas around me is yellow. That orange stuff is mixed water and gas. Yep that's pretty much how I empty the tanks only I suck on the hose end and watch it coming through (clear hose). Make sure you have the trailer cranked up in the front.

 

[eppem]

Yes, what Brian said, pop the sender and siphon out the junk.

 

[gw204]

Yep....that gas was 2 or 3 years old when I got the boat. I simply was trying to draw out as much water as I could before making a determination about whether or not to try and mix some fresh fuel in and burn it.

I just wanted to show that it's very obvious what is and isn't gas when things have settled out.

 

[grady23]

According to an article in Boat US magazine, trying to mix old gas and new gas only gets you more stale gas. If you can pump the tanks down about 15-20 gallons, you can pull the sending unit and siphon the gas out. I used a sealed electric fuel pump and a 3/8 hose. I ran the hose thru a 3/4" PVC pipe so i could control the hose better. If your boat is like mine and the Aux tank sender is in the front of the tank, you'll need to drop the bow as low as possible to get the water to run to the end where the sender is located. You may be able to save the gas, I know how expensive this gets BELIEVE ME I KNOW. Trying to save the old/new gas mixer isn't worth the trouble unless you can find a biz that can polish the fuel and guaranty the octane hasn't been compromised. Lowered octane can cause pre-ignition and damage the engine(s). I would also clean ALL the fuel lines, filters and blow out the carbs. The fuel lines can hold eneough water to completely fill the float bowls with nothing but water.
I went thru 5 sets of filters trying to "Short-cut" this ame problem and STILL had to completely drain the tanks and lines. In my case, I had to drain off 140 gallons of fuel and get rid of it. Check around. Maybe someone in your area that blends oil/gas, transmission fluid for a "trash burner". The guy that took my fuel did just that to heat his HUGE shop.

 

[MelissaDaisy99]

I had the tanks in my last boat cleaned for about 300 bucks. I may have the tanks on the grady done if I dont pull them once I finally get the boat back from the fiberglass guy..

 

[Tucker]

Grady23 is spot on. Polishing old fuel is pissing in the wind, the octane is reduced and costs almost as much as buying new. Good idea about mixing the old stuff for heating.

However, we need to remember that fouled fuel can remain in the cross over lines between fuel tanks. After replacing fuel you should open tank selectors to each tank it's fed from and bleed of the old gas.

 

[Doc Stressor]

If you are using non-ethanol gas, water will separate completely and not be a problem as long as you use a Racor and don't let the water in the bowl get too high before draining the bowl. I used to get wet fuel on and off years ago and always just ran it until all the water was gone. A Racor (or any separator) WILL pass water if the level gets as high as the filter element. Adding dry gas (alcohol) will only work if you have very little water present.

If you are using E10, pump the tank. The water phase will contain most of the ethanol and the gasoline will have too low of an octane rating for your engine. You could damage a piston from detonation.