Living with Ethanol Fuel Article from Sports Fishing October 2011

mrgreencms

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Woodbine
I have been reading my latest Sports fishing magazine and came across an article with a few recommendations for all of us who do not have easy access to ethanol free fuel. Here are the main ideas of the article:
1.Check the label at the fuel station. If it does not say E10 than do not use it. The National Marine Manufacturers Association based in Chicago are pushing for larger and more easy to read stickers.
2. Fill up at busy gas stations. Only use high use gas stations to fill up your boat. The longer the fuel stays in the underground tanks the more chance of getting phase seperated fuel in your tank.
3. Add a fuel treatment to your tank at each fill up. There are many out there, pick the best.
4. Change your fuel/water filter more often. Recommendation is every 50 hours or 6 months. Also carry a spare on the boat at all times. (Good Point)
5. Check all fuel hoses, replace any that are not up to spec for E10. This is one that might affect us all. It does not matter what type of fuel we are using, E10 or ethanol free.
These recommendations come from an article by Jim hendricks in Octobers Sport Fishing magazine Volume 20 issue 6 pages 30 - 33.
Dave
 
All great suggestions. Thanks for posting!
 
I would add, even though its fairly obvious and was probably left out of the article because of how obvious it is, is top off the tank (as well as add fuel stabilizer) before any type of long term (3+ mts) storage. Its a pain in the pocket at the time of fill'age but you"ll use it next spring and a full tank will slow down the seperation and condensation process of the Ethanol.

Luckly I live near farming country so Im able to drive about 15 minutes further down the road and top off with straight up, clean petrol...as God made it. ;)
 
Actually, the prevailing recommendation is that with Ethanol-enriched fuels, long term storage should be avoided and the the tank should be emptied. This is simply because there is no way to reliably ensure the fuel will not phase separate nor become contaminated with water (especially in a boat where the tank is vented to the atmosphere)
 
Ethanol should just be avoided, in my opinion. I stick to marine gas, and use it in my mower, chain saw, two outboards, and my motorcycle. All of them run much better and I don't have to worry about them. Still use fuel/water filter, etc. but since my small outboard starting crapping up from ethanol, I switched everything but the cars to the good stuff. There are stations out there. Find one and see if it makes a difference for you.
 
Sorry Nocturn, but as Paramarine said, the last thing you want to do is keep Ethanol fuel for any period during an off season. And with Ethanol, filling to the top will not help. Condensation is not the issue. Ethanol will draw the moisture right out of the air into the fuel. The air space in the tank makes no difference. I do as Shallowminded mentioned. I use non-ethanol fuel in my boat, motorcycle, pressure cleaners, mowers and any other engines that might sit awhile.
 
Do most here know where the fuel tank vent is even located in a Triumph boat? Tell me and we will then compare notes ;)

As far a buying pure fuel I cannot... I would rather buy 91 Octane E10 from Chevron and add Startron (runs much better anyway) then buy the (so called) pure stuff from the nearby Citgo and give my money to that Communist Hugo Chaevz. And I hope they finish cooking his brains down there in Cuba while he is getting those Chemo Treatments :D



 
Do most here know where the fuel tank vent is even located in a Triumph boat? Tell me and we will then compare notes ;)

As far a buying pure fuel I cannot... I would rather buy 91 Octane E10 from Chevron and add Startron (runs much better anyway) then buy the (so called) pure stuff from the nearby Citgo and give my money to that Communist Hugo Chaevz. And I hope they finish cooking his brains down there in Cuba while he is getting those Chemo Treatments :D




I don't know about you, but my vent is located in my fill.
 
That is where it is on mine also, my point is that as long as you have your fuel cap on sung (plus I have a boat cover) it really is not that much of a "open" system.

And for you that have Racor Style Fuel / Water separators (this includes the ones that Yamaha, Honda, and I suspect others that are just re-branded and sold. Then you may want to also consider upgrading your filter element to one that drops down to .2 microns like this one that does not allow water to pass :D


http://www.lowcostboatingstore.com/RACOR-S3228SUL-REPLACEMENT-ELEMENT-2-MICRON_p_6368.html
 
Does this fuel/water seperator filter fit on the current system we have or do you have to buy a whole different system and have it installed? I currently have a 10 micron fuel/water system on my 195CC. (Yamaha 115 4 stroke engine).
 
The fill cap actually has vent holes in it so that the tank can still vent properly with the cap snugged down. This compares to an automobile which is a "closed" system, ie, when the cap is tightened the system system cannot vent to the atmosphere.



That is where it is on mine also, my point is that as long as you have your fuel cap on sung (plus I have a boat cover) it really is not that much of a "open" system.

And for you that have Racor Style Fuel / Water separators (this includes the ones that Yamaha, Honda, and I suspect others that are just re-branded and sold. Then you may want to also consider upgrading your filter element to one that drops down to .2 microns like this one that does not allow water to pass :D


http://www.lowcostboatingstore.com/RACOR-S3228SUL-REPLACEMENT-ELEMENT-2-MICRON_p_6368.html
 
Well, the 195CC vents to the atmosphere. The vent is high on the port side of the transom, just above the bilge pump outlet. Could be worse, could be below the bilge outlet.:D
 
Does this fuel/water seperator filter fit on the current system we have or do you have to buy a whole different system and have it installed? I currently have a 10 micron fuel/water system on my 195CC. (Yamaha 115 4 stroke engine).
Dave, I was curious about this, too, and if you have the same filter/bracket as mine (I have the Sierra 18-7866 10 micron filter assy, usually sold as Yamaha assy, even though I have a Suzuki motor), I just spent some time finding the specs for that filter and the S3228SUL made by Racor. They are not interchangable. The port threads are different: 11/16"-16 for the Sierra (and lots of other applications) and 1"-14 for the Racor 2 micron. So you'd have to get a different spin-on bracket.
 
Could be worse, could be below the bilge outlet.:D

Sounds like some of the boats I've worked on....(not literally of course, but that kind of WTF!?!?!? designs)
 
Dave, I was curious about this, too, and if you have the same filter/bracket as mine (I have the Sierra 18-7866 10 micron filter assy, usually sold as Yamaha assy, even though I have a Suzuki motor), I just spent some time finding the specs for that filter and the S3228SUL made by Racor. They are not interchangable. The port threads are different: 11/16"-16 for the Sierra (and lots of other applications) and 1"-14 for the Racor 2 micron. So you'd have to get a different spin-on bracket.


Good to know and that was just a quick 0.2 Micron Filter element Google search for me so we do know those elements are out in the market place.

If your local dealer Part Mgr cannot source one for you pending your current mounting system (Honda Marine like mine uses Racor) then just swap yours over to one of direct Racor units if you feel the need to make sure not a drop of moisture does not make it past your current filtering system ;)
 
I think there is a misunderstanding about filters and water and ethanol. Water doesn't mix with Non-ethanol fuel and thus can be separated using a typical water separating filter. However Ethanol fuel absorbs moisture (water) into solution with the ethanol and will pass thru even 2 micron filters to the engine. And once it phase separates from the fuel mixture it's more concentrated with water and is even worse and cannot be remixed with the fuel. Water separating filters will only remove any excess water in the fuel only after the ethanol reaches saturation. Ethanol is basically the worst thing that could be added to fuel. There is NO additive that can reverse phase separation, remove the water from the ethanol or reverse any of the negative effects of ethanol. But it's your money, so spend away.
 
I think there is a misunderstanding about filters and water and ethanol. Water doesn't mix with Non-ethanol fuel and thus can be separated using a typical water separating filter. However Ethanol fuel absorbs moisture (water) into solution with the ethanol and will pass thru even 2 micron filters to the engine. And once it phase separates from the fuel mixture it's more concentrated with water and is even worse and cannot be remixed with the fuel. Water separating filters will only remove any excess water in the fuel only after the ethanol reaches saturation. Ethanol is basically the worst thing that could be added to fuel. There is NO additive that can reverse phase separation, remove the water from the ethanol or reverse any of the negative effects of ethanol. But it's your money, so spend away.

Exactly.

Keep in mind that most (read 99%) of "water absorbers" sold in marine stores were ethanol. The reason behind these products being popular? they allows water present in the fuel to be carried through the fuel system in order to be burned off during combustion.

For a more scientific reason, the chemical formula for Ethanol is CH[SUB]3[/SUB]CH[SUB]2[/SUB]OH. The -OH group (this is what makes it an alcohol) is almost the same size as a water molecule H[SUB]2[/SUB]O. This means that any filter that is large enough to allow ethanol to pass will also allow any bonded water to pass as well (speaking purely on element porosity, ie microns). Water-absorbing elements such as Racor's Aquabloc will not absorbed bonded water because the properties which make such elements bond to water will not cause already bonded water to separate. Finally, filters that rely on centrifugal force (such as Racor's Turbine Series) will not cause bonded water to drop out of suspension because again, they are not designed to remove the alcohol.

These properties are what made Ethanol such a great water absorber and one of the main reasons it is such a lousy fuel!
 
Is ethanol added to all different octane gas? I read somewhere that it's not added to the 89 and 91 octane fuel.
 
No, it's in all grades. There are some stations that may "contaminate" only one grade, but usually all grades at any given station are either ethanol free, or they're all contaminated.
 
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