Bertram31.com General Bulletin Board

Re: My current plan for ethanol

Posted By: Peter
Date: Thursday, 20 April 2006, at 9:31 a.m.

In Response To: Re: My current plan for ethanol (Rawleigh)

First of all I have a 26 FB.
I will be changing all my hoses over before the ethanol season. After that about the same plan as John. Also I will avoid filling up in the early morning. I don't want to be the first guy at the dock who gets the night's water bottom off the marina's storage tank!

Since ethanol will no longer be required by this fall anywhere in the USA, maybe the oil companies will begin to move away from it in a year or two. A similar thing happened in the '70's. (See thread farther down re: Ethanol no longer required in California)

That 70's information also piques to my interest. Although the ethanol wasn't as pervasive in the late 70's, there was some around for a couple of years. Maybe your tank has already been tested with ethanol fuel and you don't know about it because back then no one was paying attention?

If I do have to change out the tanks I'll probably go for two SST tanks arranged fore and aft with a transfer pump. That way I can regularly run one down to as empty as possible, and then transfer all of the fuel from the other draining it to empty. That should help keep the fuel fresher although I'll probably give up some capacity. I'll also be sure to have enough inspection hatches built into the top of each tank so that the entire thing can be easily cleaned.

I'm still a little uneasy about the venting though. An open air vent in a humid marine environment seems like an invitation for condensation. Especially when the vent is hanging over the topsides some place exposed to spray. As the fuel goes down the vent must be sucking in all sorts of moisture with the air. There must be a better way.

Meantime I envy you fellows who get to use your boats so much that the fuel price is the major deciding point in keep/sell decision. For me it is small percentage of the budget. Well below dockage, yard bills, annual maintenance, and upgrades.

Messages In This Thread

My current plan for ethanol
John F. -- Wednesday, 19 April 2006, at 10:05 p.m.

Re: My current plan for ethanol
Mack -- Wednesday, 19 April 2006, at 10:27 p.m.

Re: My current plan for ethanol
Rawleigh -- Thursday, 20 April 2006, at 8:05 a.m.

Re: My current plan for ethanol
Peter -- Thursday, 20 April 2006, at 9:31 a.m.

Re: My current plan for ethanol
Carl -- Thursday, 20 April 2006, at 10:41 a.m.

Re: My current plan for ethanol
jim -- Thursday, 20 April 2006, at 11:11 a.m.

Re: My current plan for ethanol
wayne -- Thursday, 20 April 2006, at 12:14 p.m.

Re: My current plan for ethanol
Rawleigh -- Friday, 21 April 2006, at 12:08 p.m.

Re: My current plan for ethanol
JohnD -- Thursday, 20 April 2006, at 11:14 a.m.

Flo-Scans
Carl -- Thursday, 20 April 2006, at 1:46 p.m.

Re: Flo-Scans
Vic Roy -- Thursday, 20 April 2006, at 6:38 p.m.

Re: Flo-Scans
Hunter -- Thursday, 20 April 2006, at 8:49 p.m.

Re: Flo-Scans
jim -- Thursday, 20 April 2006, at 9:46 p.m.

Re: Flo-Scans
andre fourrier-Louisiana -- Friday, 21 April 2006, at 6:00 p.m.

Re: My current plan for ethanol
Mack -- Thursday, 20 April 2006, at 9:17 p.m.

Re: My current plan for ethanol
Carl -- Friday, 21 April 2006, at 12:28 p.m.

Re: My current plan for ethanol
Harv -- Friday, 21 April 2006, at 1:21 p.m.

Re: My current plan for ethanol
Carl -- Friday, 21 April 2006, at 5:20 p.m.