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Bertram31.com General Bulletin Board
Re: Nice to Be A Back Again Bertram Buff
Posted By: Peter In Response To: Nice to Be A Back Again Bertram Buff (Fred Phinney)
Date: Wednesday, 19 April 2006, at 4:02 p.m.
The problem is that no one seems to have the definitive answer to that question!
What is know for sure so far is:
First; that the ethanol will clean old varnish from the inside of the tanks, so cleaning them out before the switch is a good idea.
second; that the ethanol will react badly with older (pre-1978 or so) rubber gaskets and fuel lines. So if they are in question at all, you really must replace them. That goes for filler lines, vent lines and fuel lines.
Third; that ethanol likes water. That above a certian percent (0.5%) of water in the fuel the ethanol and water separates out and sits on the bottom of the tank.
Forth; that ethanol in concentrations of greater than 10% is a problem not just for fiberglass, but also for a lot of materials found in all sorts of fuel systems, including brass, aluminum, some pastics, zinc, cast iron, cork etc.
Fifth; that the concentration of ethanol, after it separates out of the gas with the water and sits in a puddle on the bottom of your tank can exceed the safe 10% level.
Fifth; the source of the water in the fuel may be at your marina and beyond your control
Sixth; that some boats with fiberglass tanks have experienced engine problems and failures.
Seventh; that ethanol is a molecule that permeates easily through a lot of things, fiberglass included, and that any defects in the tank's inner surface can lead to a failure similar to blistering. In the tests done by Boat US it isn't clear how they sealed the raw edges of the coupons they soaked, so their results are unclear as to whether ethanol in concentrations below 10% will leach out compounds from a gel-coat surface in good condition.What is speculated;
first; that ethanol is dissolving the fiberglass tanks. This isn't clearly the case. The fiberglass tanks and pipes used for underground storage at gas stations have been tested, and they don't have a problem. Also, some fiberglass tanks failed long before ethanol was in our fuel chain. I even personally know of a Diesel B31 owner who stated that his fiberglass tank failed "Years ago" leaking Diesel fuel into the bilge. So some fiberglass tanks will fail, and maybe it is due to ethanol, and maybe it is due to other factors...or maybe it is due to different compositions of the resins used over the different production runs.
Second; that replacing the fiberglass tank with aluminum may not be a good solution because ethanol can etch the aluminum and contaminate the fuel.
Third; that stainless steel tanks have been shunned until recently because of fears that the welds cain fail suddenly and leak gas into the bilge. Some, myself included, believe this is a problem with older stainless construction techniques and is no longer a valid complaint.
Forth; Plastic tanks should work, but the plastic fittings on those tanks are suspect. Also the ethanol can permeate through the plastic possibly leading to a smelly bilge, even if it isn't a dangerous leak.
Fifth, that epoxy doesn't seem to get along with ethanol at all. Epoxy resin based tanks and repairs should be avoided.
Sixth; That vinylester seems to be the best resin for a new fiberglass tank, or for re-lining the old tank.
Seventh: that ethanol blended fuel when mixed with older MTBE blended fuel can create a sediment in the bottom of the tank causing fuel filters to clogI don't think I have sen any 100% objective testing or reporting on any of these subjects, so you will have to make your own judgments.
Now, keep in mind every problem stated here applies not only to your own boat, but to every link in the fuel chain from the marina where you buy fuel, to the truck they deliver it in, to the distribution plant it comes from. Fixing your own boat is only a small piece of the complete problem.
What is annoying:
That one gallon of ethanol takes 1.7 gallons of fuel to produce and distribute. That it takes 1.5 gallons of ethanol to match the energy output of one gallon of gasoline, and so the ethanol blends will lead to everyone in the country burning more gallons of E-10 than they did of gasoline. The net effect on pollution is that due to increased consumption, atmospheric pollutants will rise as a result of ethanol use, not decline. The government seemingly has mandated the use of ethanol fuel for the benefit of corn farmers and big oil companies at the detriment of every one else and the environment. Oil companies themselves don't like the stuff, except that they get a big tax kick-back to put it in our gas while charging us more money for the inferior product.
But wait... now the EPA is quietly backing away from their mandate, but offering no other alternative, so due to tax breaks and other economic issues we will likely continue to get ethanol in our gas for the foreseeable future, and when the s*** hits the fan, the gov't will say "Hey, we didn't FORCE the oil companies to put the ethanol in the gas!"So now you should be up to speed.
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