When to fill up with gas?

ethanol fuels it is the damage to seals and o rings
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TRUE 20 years ago. Look the solution is to out law ethanol in the first place. Waste of good corn and tax dollars that does nothing for the enviroment. Just get rid of it.
 
starcrafttom":13tge8li said:
I see things in this statement that make me say ???.
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One of the ??? that I see is the claim to fill up in the morning when the gas is cooler. The station's giant storage tank is 10' underground. That temperature changes a few degrees seasonally. That means that if you wait and fill up only in the winter you might save a few pennies. Price per gallon, not time of day, makes the difference.

Ethanol has become the boogie monster that gets all the blame. Boat US did a little study where they left a standard 6 gal. red plastic Moeller type gas can sitting around for a few months. When they measured it again, it was about 5.9 gallons. Some plastics are more permeable than others and it probably is the "good stuff" that passes through. Now, the gas in the tank does go through a daily expansion/contraction also the air through the vent.
Gas just doesn't like to stay put and the volitiles will leave first. I'm sure ethanol gets the blame.
 
For the last few years I’ve run E10. Real gas is too hard to find and when you do find it, you have to pay exorbitant prices. That is even worse now. We know who to “thank” for that!

I’ve been using the blue “Marine” Sta-bil at every fill up. Religiously. I change the fuel filter/water separator in the spring. Last year I filled the boat in the fall as I was afraid the COVID Armageddon was about to occur. 120 gallons on hand was better than the 20 I had in jerry cans. I doubled the Stabil ratios, as recommended in that fill. I have never had an issue. When I drain the filter at the end of the season, the amount of water in it is perhaps 1 tsp at the most, and that’s the large filters.

This year the boat started right up after sitting since October. Maybe I’m just lucky. Maybe the Stabil works as advertised. Maybe my maintenance allows it to be successful.
 
Last summer my starboard 2012 Honda 40 rpm's were not keeping pace with the port Honda 40 -- and topped out just under 4000 rpm's. My local marine engine mechanic suggested that instead of bringing it in for service; I should first run several tanks treated with SeaFoam though the motor.

To start, I added twice the recommended maintenance dose to one 23 gallon tank. The engine rpm's improved quickly. For the next tank, I reduced the SeaFoam additive to their recommended maintenance level (I can (20 oz) of SeaFoam marine to 30 gal fuel). Within 3 tanks the sluggish Honda ran smoothly and attained 5500-6000 rpm WOT.

FWIW, I only use non-ethanol fuel. I also use a single engine trolling for trout/salmon in Lake Superior. Prior to last year, I used Sta-Bil marine additive.

This season, I have continued the SeaFoam additive at 20 oz per 30 gallons. Both engines continue to run smoothly with rpms closely tracking.
 
I buy REC89 (no ethanol) in Florida. I have one large aluminum fuel tank that is partitioned in the middle. Each side holds 20 gallons for a total of 40 gallons.

Never have drained the carbs, I use Sea Foam (standard) fuel treatment by the gallon at O'Reilly Auto Parts for $52.99 Each. I fill my boat with five gallon gas jugs using a syphon ball hose. Mix 4 oz. of SeaFoam to one 5 gallon jug of fuel, dump in the boat. Start once a week. The engines are 1998 40hp Hondas. Never had a fuel problem. Never taken the carburetors apart or had them serviced.
 
Been running regular gas (10% ethanol) forever with no problems. I do use premium, no ethanol, for the last fill of the season though. So the ethanol gas is never sitting in the tank for more than a month! However, I don't put ethanol in my small engines. (Mowers, snow blower, generator, etc.) Not really sure why, since they are all suppose to work ok on the E10 stuff. And gas doesn't sit in them more than a month or so either.
 
Dang Mark....Saw your post and decided to check out your pics. Nice job on the boat, and those C-Dory boat models are just awesome!!! Any chance I could commission a couple Molly Brown's? :oops:

Sorry for the quick highjack, couldn't resist.

James

P.S. I should have looked you up as we passed Jensen Beach earlier this year, my bad.....
 
Thanks Steve. WOW, that seems like a lot of evaporation, but the message is clear. It is NASTY stuff.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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