how could this possibly happen

[pelican]

Originally Posted by dave1972

Due to ethanol issues, I've been advised NOT to fill the tanks at the end of the season.

Run as much of the gas out of the tank as you can and still treat with startron.

The 43 gal. tank on my 20' is only 11.5" high and I can't imagine there being anywhere close

to a foot of water in your tank, even if it's 100 gal.

when i read someone,who recieved advice like this - i honestly shake my head...

"ethanol issues" - ethanol PROBLEMS,they're "problems" ,not "issues",are usually caused by water finding it's way into the tank - if you're experiencing a phase seperation problem,do a complete check out of the fuel system - it's allowing water in somewhere,find that cause,and your problem's solved...in order to preform that whole"check out" thing,the tank should be removed...

i winterize and store approx 40-45 boats every season - i've yet to have a phase seperation problem,after removing any of these boats from storage...

as far as fuel additives are concerned: i use stabil in the fall,NOTHING else,and i advise every client of the same,do not waste your money...

lots and lots of bad information,and old wive's tales concerning fuel...

[FishMagnet]

Could it be that he was told not to fill the tanks because old gasoline is not as good as new gasoline? Sitting in a tank for six months may result in the gas "going bad". Does Stabil completely stop the aging process or just retard it?

[thedog]

Originally Posted by Blue_Heron

Seems a little far fetched to me. Water is heavier than gas, yes, but unless they brought along a fitting that made a tight seal with your deck fill, it would be a very slow messy process to capture gas pushed through a vent.

The water in the gas at the last fill up is unlikely, but I think more likely than the theft by water displacement scenario. Every time I've had water in my gas, it's been a problem with the tank. 12" is a bunch, though. Is your tank really 24"deep?
Dave

how can I run the boat till end of november and not have a problem, this is what burns me.
if I had 12" of water in the tank I would have never made it anywhere to fish.
over the winter 3-1/2 months the boat had a full cover over it. and was up in the air in a rack were there was no access to it. then it was down on a ground level rack for a week. how could the boat get 12" water in the tank in one week. it did not rain that week, we have had very little rain here in the last month. and if I left the cap open and put a big funnel in it , there is no way that 75 gallons of water could have gotten into the tank. in a weeks time.

[thedog]

Originally Posted by dave1972

Due to ethanol issues, I've been advised NOT to fill the tanks at the end of the season.

Run as much of the gas out of the tank as you can and still treat with startron.

The 43 gal. tank on my 20' is only 11.5" high and I can't imagine there being anywhere close

to a foot of water in your tank, even if it's 100 gal.

the tank is 150 gallons, over half the height of the tank is water now.

[thedog]

Originally Posted by FishMagnet

I guess this is possible theoretically but I would think that there would be signs that this occurred. does the vent cap and the fiberglass next to it look normal? I would expect some subtle signs that this had been removed and replaced

they sell vent covers at the maine stores, some marinas require them on boats, the covers suction cup over the vent and have a fitting on them to catch overflow in a bottle.
very easy to rig that to put a hose on it to fill gas cans.

[thedog]

I can't believe theft is this rampant, well the tank polisher arrived this morning and we pumped the tank dry, 80 gallons of gas and 25 gallons of water,

hey wait a minute, the tank was full last tuesday(150 gallons), now one week later after the boat has sat in the back of the dealers yard, 45 gallons of water are missing, from the tank bottom

so in this amount of time, someone has siphoned 45 gallons of gas smelling water out of the bottom of my tank, and hopefully is now broken down somewhere with a big problem

can people be this desperate, thankfully there is no water hoses around this yard, and siphoning worked.

[McGillicuddy]

Sounds like you've got a real scumbag on your yard.
I'd be setting a hunting style infra-red camera nearby and nail that pos Seems he's a regular at the yard because he's coming and going at will.
Hope someone catches the rat bastard

[bigdave]

as far as water in fuel issues bg chemical makes a great product that totally disapates water in gas or diesel.