watch the fuel source

[scottscotty]

purchased my fuel for a short evening outing and had a wonderful time. splashed' the trailer sailer 3 days later for an evening sail. while allowing the motor to warm up to leave the dock area......the engine just dies? tried, and tried to get it running again. no luck. put it back on the trailer dropped mast and packed everything away, including my wifes disappointment. The next day I went out and pulled the gas tank ( its small, about 3 gallons) out of the boat and gathered up some big glass jars. started dumping the fuel and what do you know, "water". I can guarantee that before I ever go thru this much work again, I will have strained the fuel thru my Mr. Funnel that I keep around the garage for my lawn mower/weed eater gas stuff. for the life of me, I can only figure that the fuel was contaminated when I purchased it. A lesson learned the hard way. I will strain my fuel before each trip just incase.....

 

[NYSail]

Well gee that sucks! Did you fuel up at a marina or a regular gas station?

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Did you start with any old fuel in the tank? If it’s ethanol, it can draw water from the air and undergo phase separation, causing the alcohol and water to sink to the bottom (where your tank pulls fuel from).
Any ethanol older than about 30 days is suspect. I treat it when I buy it, and anything older gets added into the car’s fuel tank where it’s diluted, then I buy fresh fuel for the outboard.

 

[thinwater]

purchased my fuel for a short evening outing and had a wonderful time. splashed' the trailer sailer 3 days later for an evening sail. while allowing the motor to warm up to leave the dock area......the engine just dies? tried, and tried to get it running again. no luck. put it back on the trailer dropped mast and packed everything away, including my wifes disappointment. The next day I went out and pulled the gas tank ( its small, about 3 gallons) out of the boat and gathered up some big glass jars. started dumping the fuel and what do you know, "water". I can guarantee that before I ever go thru this much work again, I will have strained the fuel thru my Mr. Funnel that I keep around the garage for my lawn mower/weed eater gas stuff. for the life of me, I can only figure that the fuel was contaminated when I purchased it. A lesson learned the hard way. I will strain my fuel before each trip just incase.....

In fact, it was NOT the fuel source, it was e10 phase separation (Google it). It is VERY, VERY unlikely you got water from a gas station.
Krause memorandum on phase separation of ethanol gasoline

The key is to keep humid air away from the tank. Keep the tank vent closed when the engine is not running. Same with any jerry cans.

This is not a "30-day age" thing, it is a careful storage thing.

• Keep portable tanks sealed. Keeps out humidity and oxygen, and reduces evaportation of helpful volitiles
• Use silica gel vent filters on installed tanks. Keeps out water, reduces air exchange, and reduces evaporative losses.
• Use a quality anti-corrosion additive to prevent carb corrosion and resulting carb clogging (the water absorbed makes e10 corrosive). Biobor EB and Stabil 360 Marine (the blue stuff, not the red stuff) have repeatedly done well in independant testing (Practical Sailor Mag and others). No aluminum corrosion means no carb problems.

 

[scottscotty]

it was non ethanol 93 . My tank was new. motor fitting , bulb, and lines were all brand new (used regular gas line instead of the grey line sold in the kit).