Bad Fuel At Black Meadow!!

[River Runnin]

A friend fueled up there twice. He just got his boat running day before yesterday after draining 6 gallons of water out his tank! Just a heads-up buyer beware!

 

[Shlbyntro]

Thank you ethanol!

 

[lbhsbz]

Thank you ethanol!

Actually, ethanol helps with this problem as it will absorb water, mix with gasoline, and burn.

Contaminated fuel has nothing to do with ethanol

 

[Shlbyntro]

Ethanol is the attractant in your fuel that draws moisture out of the air in your fuel tank and allows to to condense. The chemical attraction is not strong enough to keep the water bonded to the ethanol and it will eventually separate out and settle at the bottom of the fuel tank if the weather situation is not warm and dry enough for it to evaporate out later. It will not stay bonded and that's why fuel "drying" additives like Iso-Heet are made with Isopropanol, a different type of alcohol that creates stronger bonds with the water but even that has a maximum water content level of about 5% to still remain effective. High volume tanks with low volume usage are most at risk.

I challenge you to do an experiment. On a cool or humid day, Take 2x 1qt mixing cups that's are transparent. Fill one about halfway with standard pump gasoline (usually E10 or E15). Fill the other the same amount with ethanol-free lawnmower gasoline like the VP you can now find in the lawnmower isle at home depot.
Put them both in front of a running swap cooler with no lids for about 20-30 minutes. You will notice that the pump gas has gotten "foggy". Now cover the containers, they dont have to be perfectly sealed but it won't hurt if they are, and let them sit in an equally cool place overnight.

In the morning, you will find water droplets sitting at the bottom of the cup of pump gas and the lawnmower gas will appear to be virtually unchanged

Now imagine a low sales volume gas station with a 1000+ gallon tank where this occurs again and again day after day on a much larger scale

 

[Deja_Vu]

Bummer
Just filled my boat with non-ethanol 91 from Campbell cove mixed with Stabil 360 for winter storage

 

[rvrrun]

Actually, ethanol helps with this problem as it will absorb water, mix with gasoline, and burn.

Contaminated fuel has nothing to do with ethanol

You need to do some research and rethink this post.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Actually, ethanol helps with this problem as it will absorb water, mix with gasoline, and burn.

Contaminated fuel has nothing to do with ethanol

Actually it does not. The water doesnt homogonize with the fuel so the more water it absorbs (it will pull the moisture out of the air instead of just dealing with whatever may get spilled into it), the more water accumulates on the bottom of the fuel tank, a.k.a. where the fuel pick-ups are located. So, the ethanol will actually substantially increase the chances of the engine ingesting water instead of fuel.

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[was thatguy]

Next up: nitrogen inflated tires...go!

 

[RiverDave]

Actually, ethanol helps with this problem as it will absorb water, mix with gasoline, and burn.

Contaminated fuel has nothing to do with ethanol

Not the way I have understood it.

 

[Ziggy]

Bummer
Just filled my boat with non-ethanol 91 from Campbell cove mixed with Stabil 360 for winter storage

Did you run the boat at all after doing the fill up?

 

[Deja_Vu]

Did you run the boat at all after doing the fill up?

Not yet, its on my list for this weekend.

 

[riverroyal]

I think your first mistake was getting gas at black meadow landing.

 

[lbhsbz]

Actually it does not. The water doesnt homogonize with the fuel so the more water it absorbs (it will pull the moisture out of the air instead of just dealing with whatever may get spilled into it), the more water accumulates on the bottom of the fuel tank, a.k.a. where the fuel pick-ups are located. So, the ethanol will actually substantially increase the chances of the engine ingesting water instead of fuel.

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Tapatalk

Yes, ethanol mixes with water much better than it mixes with gasoline, but it still mixes with both...to a point.

I never ran a water separator filter in my boat for the first 7 years I owned it. I used to always use ethanol gas and never had an issue. I started (for some reason) using ethanol free fuel about 3 years ago and 3 times now have had water in the tank. Not much, but enough to cause me to paddle back to the beach. I siphon out what I can, add a can of ethanol 91, and I'm back in business.

If ethanol was the problem, we would see considerably more issues on the road with cars and trucks....and we don't. The only issues I've ever heard of with water in the fuel are in boats...primarily marina fuel. Boats exposed to water, and so are marinas. Water and fuel handling is the problem, not the ethanol. (Ethanol causes plenty of other issues, but having 6 gallons of water in a tank's worth of fuel I don't think is one of them). The fuel transportation method or storage system was substandard if that much water was present.

There is a product called "HEET" which is methanol, and used as a water remover when added to a fuel tank. It mixes and burns....to a certain extent.

 

[Big B Hova]

I got bad fuel too

 

[Taboma]

Yes, ethanol mixes with water much better than it mixes with gasoline, but it still mixes with both...to a point.

I never ran a water separator filter in my boat for the first 7 years I owned it. I used to always use ethanol gas and never had an issue. I started (for some reason) using ethanol free fuel about 3 years ago and 3 times now have had water in the tank. Not much, but enough to cause me to paddle back to the beach. I siphon out what I can, add a can of ethanol 91, and I'm back in business.

If ethanol was the problem, we would see considerably more issues on the road with cars and trucks....and we don't. The only issues I've ever heard of with water in the fuel are in boats...primarily marina fuel. Boats exposed to water, and so are marinas. Water and fuel handling is the problem, not the ethanol. (Ethanol causes plenty of other issues, but having 6 gallons of water in a tank's worth of fuel I don't think is one of them). The fuel transportation method or storage system was substandard if that much water was present.

There is a product called "HEET" which is methanol, and used as a water remover when added to a fuel tank. It mixes and burns....to a certain extent.

I take it the water separator fuel filters haven't provided a solution for you ? Too much water ?

 

[lbhsbz]

I take it the water separator fuel filters haven't provided a solution for you ? Too much water ?

I added the separator about 3 years ago and haven't had an issue since. Mine has the clear bowl on the bottom and I do see some water on occasion, but I can drain it out through a valve and carry on. I'm still using non-ethanol fuel, because it's available. For years though...no problems using ethanol fuel with no water separator.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Yes, ethanol mixes with water much better than it mixes with gasoline, but it still mixes with both...to a point.

I never ran a water separator filter in my boat for the first 7 years I owned it. I used to always use ethanol gas and never had an issue. I started (for some reason) using ethanol free fuel about 3 years ago and 3 times now have had water in the tank. Not much, but enough to cause me to paddle back to the beach. I siphon out what I can, add a can of ethanol 91, and I'm back in business.

If ethanol was the problem, we would see considerably more issues on the road with cars and trucks....and we don't. The only issues I've ever heard of with water in the fuel are in boats...primarily marina fuel. Boats exposed to water, and so are marinas. Water and fuel handling is the problem, not the ethanol. (Ethanol causes plenty of other issues, but having 6 gallons of water in a tank's worth of fuel I don't think is one of them). The fuel transportation method or storage system was substandard if that much water was present.

There is a product called "HEET" which is methanol, and used as a water remover when added to a fuel tank. It mixes and burns....to a certain extent.

You dont get the effects on road cars and trucks cause they rarely sit for much time so the fuel doesnt have the time to seperate. Also, the road is a much drier environment they operate in as well. I agree that storage of the fuel is a large contributing factor as well though.

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[rvrrun]

Yes, ethanol mixes with water much better than it mixes with gasoline, but it still mixes with both...to a point.

That is not correct. Alcohol (ethanol) is very soluble in petroleum, this is why they use it as an additive. Alcohol does not mix with water, but it is extremely good at absorbing it (hygroscopic). This is where the problem with an alcohol/petroleum mixture rears it's head. When the alcohol has absorbed about 3 tsp/gallon of fuel it looses it's bond and falls out of suspension, ultimately congealing at the bottom of the tank.

 

[Taboma]

I added the separator about 3 years ago and haven't had an issue since. Mine has the clear bowl on the bottom and I do see some water on occasion, but I can drain it out through a valve and carry on. I'm still using non-ethanol fuel, because it's available. For years though...no problems using ethanol fuel with no water separator.

I haven't had any fuel problems in anything, from the road, the yard, my generator, the dirt or water toys that I can attribute to ethanol. Even gas for my yard equipment I've stored for a year --- although I did add stabilizer to that and my jetskis.
I do try to pump out and cycle my jetski gas thru my truck, since my skis are hi-compression, but I never get it all out and I've had zero water issues or seen any water in anything period.

In the past year I had two fuel pump failures in my RZR, both replaced under extended warranty. When I asked the RZR service writer for an explanation of why the replacement pump died within barely 100 miles, he immediately proclaimed "It's the ethanol", I fuckin wanted to hit him I didn't of course, but certainly took the opportunity to square him away as to just how many toys or vehicles I've got running just fine, all running ethanol gas ---- so just maybe Polaris should build a fuel pump for the type of fuel we're all pumping, then dumped the RZR Now it can be somebody else's problem

Has everybody forgotten all the problems leaded gas caused ? Back when gas was heavily leaded, we were constantly pulling the plugs, heads, and cleaning the valves and piston tops from all the lead deposits it left behind. Although the lead did cushion the valves, so in our older engined cars and ocean boats without hardened seats, we were dumping in additives to replace the lead.

I'm certainly not an advocate of ethanol, but not sure its the root of all our problems

 

[Taboma]

That is not correct. Alcohol (ethanol) is very soluble in petroleum, this is why they use it as an additive. Alcohol does not mix with water, but it is extremely good at absorbing it (hygroscopic). This is where the problem with an alcohol/petroleum mixture rears it's head. When the alcohol has absorbed about 3 tsp/gallon of fuel it looses it's bond and falls out of suspension, ultimately congealing at the bottom of the tank.

Perhaps your tank, but not in any of mine, YET I hope

 

[Rondog4405]

I think your first mistake was getting gas at black meadow landing.

Lmao
..yeah at $5.59 a gallon . big mistake!!$$$$

 

[rvrrun]

Perhaps your tank, but not in any of mine, YET I hope

They say the shelf life of e10 is about 3 months, but I’ve been lucky up to a year so far. If you a driving every day, it’s no problem. The boats, bikes and toys suffer.

 

[lbhsbz]

They say the shelf life of e10 is about 3 months, but I’ve been lucky up to a year so far. If you a driving every day, it’s no problem. The boats, bikes and toys suffer.

I've had mixed results. In my Edger, E10 smells like bad gas in less than a month. It still runs, but after 2 months, it stuck a valve. Whats strange is...I filled the edger out of a 1 gallon gas can....I didn't empty that gas can for about 3 months. Gas in the edger smelled bad, gas in the can smelled fine. In my chainsaw, the E10 is probably 3 years old, it still smells like gas and fires on the 2nd pull. In my boat, I've left half full tanks of E10 over the winter and it still smells like gas the next summer...and works fine. My Suzuki DRZ400 sat for about 5 weeks with gas in the tank and would start and run, but wouldn't idle. Changed the gas, everything is fine.

Storage is critical for E10 I believe.

 

[Taboma]

I've had mixed results. In my Edger, E10 smells like bad gas in less than a month. It still runs, but after 2 months, it stuck a valve. Whats strange is...I filled the edger out of a 1 gallon gas can....I didn't empty that gas can for about 3 months. Gas in the edger smelled bad, gas in the can smelled fine. In my chainsaw, the E10 is probably 3 years old, it still smells like gas and fires on the 2nd pull. In my boat, I've left half full tanks of E10 over the winter and it still smells like gas the next summer...and works fine. My Suzuki DRZ400 sat for about 5 weeks with gas in the tank and would start and run, but wouldn't idle. Changed the gas, everything is fine.

Storage is critical for E10 I believe.

Perhaps the way the different tanks are vented ? Or where you have them stored ? or Both ?

 

[was thatguy]

I got bad fuel too View attachment 703777

Wow!

 

[Big B Hova]

Wow!

30 years of bad fuel! Just replaced the gas tanks. They were full of all kinds of crap.