Draining fuel tanks

C

CheckRaise

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C Dory Year
2003
C Dory Model
22 Cruiser
Vessel Name
CheckRaise
I've got a 22' cruiser with 2+ year old, untreated gas in its tanks. I'm hesitant to burn it off, even at an idle. Has anyone determined a (relatively) easy way of pumping/draining gas out of their tanks?
 
I have drained gas tanks before using a hand pump.
 
I just use a long clear siphoning hose and a few good draws on the hose and your set.I just drape the hose over the gunnel and empty into a gas can. With the clear hose you can see the gas coming and that way you do not end up swallowing any gas.Works for me. Tug
 
The fuel line connector that goes to the engine has a check valve that can be opened by inserting a small tie wrap, WD-40 hose or similar soft object. Put the opened connector into an empty fuel can below the bottom of the boat and start the siphoning process by squeezing the fuelline bulb. Please note the bulb is sensitive to the attitude it is held at.
This is slow but it works OK.

Steve
 
I don't know if it is the best way, but I used a shop vac to drain my tanks. I was scared the whole time. I put some water in the shop vac each time I ran it.
 
CheckRaise":23viw8qv said:
I've got a 22' cruiser with 2+ year old, untreated gas in its tanks. I'm hesitant to burn it off, even at an idle. Has anyone determined a (relatively) easy way of pumping/draining gas out of their tanks?
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Just park it in a tough neighborhood and somebody will relieve you of your old gas!

(AND maybe a lot more....................!)

Starcraft Tom has some friends that have borrowed a few things from him before.

Maybe he could set you up with an appointment, and you could get localboy to arrest the thugs after they serviced your boat?

Joe. :lol: :thup
 
Alok":euz2s29q said:
jimcinfra":euz2s29q said:
I was scared the whole time.
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No kidding! :shock:
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"Houston, we have ignition.......!"

Pretty good for a $39.95 Sears Craftsman ShopVac!

Joe. :lol: :thup
 
jimcinfra":10k6j1wf said:
I don't know if it is the best way, but I used a shop vac to drain my tanks. I was scared the whole time. I put some water in the shop vac each time I ran it.
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OMG...glad you're still here to tell the tale!
 
This would be a perfect time to take out those check valves if you have them then I would use long hose connected to fuel bulb drape over gunnel squeeze the bulb a few times and then remove bulb this should then siphon off rest of gas works for me

I keep a fuel line an extra bulb on board .With the cc-23 the alum fuel tank pickup is in front of tank so when you are on plane with a few degrees angle of attack fuel goes to back of tank so you are not pulling all the gas out . 30 gallons and maybe you can use 25 gallons .So I keep the bulb and line to transfer fuel to other tank if I get caught with less fuel in one tank I can transfer fuel to the tank im using .
 
From a safety standpoint--I hope that the shop vac post was a spoof. That is a very good way to blow up the boat and yourself....

I have used my fuel polishing and transfer system to take fuel out of the tanks of a number of boats. I put the fuel into 30 gallon plastic containers or 5 gallon cans. After filtering with a 2 micron filter and adding addatives, plus adding 2;1 fresh gas, I have burned it in my SUV. This gets away from "what do I do with the old fuel".
 
No, not a spoof. I quess from the reaction I was completely a dumb ass for doing what I did. Thank the good Lord for protecting me!
 
jimcinfra":1ehlpwyd said:
No, not a spoof. I quess from the reaction I was completely a dumb ass for doing what I did. Thank the good Lord for protecting me!
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Jim, I am really glad that the good Lord was looking out for you and that you survived an "accident waiting to happen".....In my occupation, we call "practices" like this job security.

About four days ago a couple of folks were driving in a van in Bellevue, Wa. They were having difficulty keeping their van's engine running. As I recall from the news stories, they removed the engine cowling that extends inward between the driver and front passenger seat thereby giving them direct access to the engine's carburetor. Then they had an open bucket of gas and were apparently using a cup or glass to dip into the gasoline and pour it directly into the carburetor to provide fuel to the engine. With the buildup of fumes in the passenger compartment it wasn't long before an explosion occurred engulfing the van and its' occupants in flames. Apparently both have survived their critical burns, but the van is "toast". Video clips of the van on TV showed it while it was still engulfed in flames.

(Perhaps, one of you computer nerds can locate the Seattle TV news video footage of this and transfer it to this thread.)

P.S. I love the name of your C-Dory.....very appropriate for where you live. :thup
 
Thank you Roger! That was fast.....16 minutes from my request for video footage to your having it posted on the "thread".
 
DaveS":21w5ppkj said:
Thank you Roger! That was fast.....16 minutes from my request for video footage to your having it posted on the "thread".
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It would have been faster but I had to filter through a few videos and watch them to make sure I had the right ones :lol: .
 
I have faced this question and built myself a relatively inexpensive and highly useful little device sort of like Dr. Bob's fuel polisher. It consists of a 12V fuel pump from NAPA and a Racor filter. I mounted the pump on one side of a pine board and the filter on the other. The pump is wired to an on/off switch in the positive wire. The wires are 12 feet long and have alligator clips on the end. That keeps the battery, and any potential sparks in clipping to it, some distance from the fuel to be pumped. Add in some fuel hose to stick into the tank to be drained and into the receiver and you are good to go. No priming needed as it primes itself. The NAPA pump is not fast but it clicks away and drains out old fuel, cleaning it in the process. It can also be used to transfer fuel form the boat at the end of the season to the truck or vice versa especially since it goes through a good filter. All in all, the cost was relatively miniumal and the utility is high
 
I have not tried it but I would think those vacuum pumps that suck out engine oil would also work for fuel. Usually your fuel level is not full at the end of the season so you would not be extracting a lot of gas. I know they make a 3.5 gallon size, maybe larger.

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Dave dlt.gif
www.tolandmarine.com
 
Mythbusters tried very hard to get a shop vac to ignite fuel- and couldn't.

Still, it is not the prefferred method of extracting fuel. :shock:
 
If you go to the Mythbusters web site, you will find that the first vac they used had a motor which was isolated from the fumes. The second short circuited,but did not ignite--my guess there is that the ratio to air and fuel was not proper. The third vacuum, did ignite fumes--an older model.

There are plenty of law suits and people in burn units who have suffered the bad results of using a shop vac and any explosive mixture.

Don't take the chance that the optimal ratio is not present or that the shop vac does not produce sparks which will ignite fumes.

I sat in a major burn unit waiting room for 6 weeks, with the wife of a very close friend who had been badly burned. I developed a good relationship with the head of the burn unit, and the most common cause of burns was some explosive fumes, set off by a spark--next most common cause was open heaters. Shop vacs played roles in at least 2 cases which were in the unit at that time.

As with Jim's post above--my fuel pump set up has any battery connections far from the fuel source, an ignition protected switch, and a fuel pump which is ignition protected. For example, I would not use my 12 volt oil change system to pump gasoline (although I have for diesel). It is not designed to specifically prevent ignition of fumes.
 
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