Frozen water in fuel filter and pump

[Zinger]

To all the snow birds take a good look at your fuel system if its stored in the cold. I always winterize the boat in fall, but today I was removing the fuel line at the electric fuel and found a frozen slushy . I removed the pump , no freeze damage but was shocked the amount of water that was there. I always buy my fuel for both the car and boat at the same place never had any problems.

[Just Say N20]

You can thank ethanol for it.

Ethanol in cars, which have fuel lines, gaskets, etc, that are made to tolerate it, are fine, because you burn through the fuel at a good rate, so there is minimal time for the nasty qualities of ethanol to show up. Except of course the poorer fuel economy.

In boats, where the fuel can sit for months at a time, there is a serious problem, besides the alcohol eating away at the gaskets, fuel lines, and loosening up all the crap on the inside of the tank (alcohol is more of a solvent than gas), alcohol also attracts water. When the fuel is left to sit for months at a time, it attracts water, and then it layers, water/gas/alcohol. Can create a real mess.

Hey, at least it took corn away from being used as food and feed, which drove many food prices way up, to give us a product with less energy per gallon, that has causes a world of problems in the automotive/boating worlds. A really awful idea, forced into execution by our elected officials without regard to any of the repercussions.

[CHACHI]

You can thank ethanol for it.

Ethanol in cars, which have fuel lines, gaskets, etc, that are made to tolerate it, are fine, because you burn through the fuel at a good rate, so there is minimal time for the nasty qualities of ethanol to show up. Except of course the poorer fuel economy.

In boats, where the fuel can sit for months at a time, there is a serious problem, besides the alcohol eating away at the gaskets, fuel lines, and loosening up all the crap on the inside of the tank (alcohol is more of a solvent than gas), alcohol also attracts water. When the fuel is left to sit for months at a time, it attracts water, and then it layers, water/gas/alcohol. Can create a real mess.

When this "layerd" condition happens, it is called phase seperation.


ken

[Walt. H.]

Ain't condensation a muther!
I put Startron & Stabil in before fueling up for winter storage and then check the fuel filter for contamination by draining it in the springtime, then I replace it with a new one after the first tank refill.

[Just Say N20]

When this "layered" condition happens, it is called phase seperation.


ken

Yes, it is. However, in my little mind, "layered" creates a vivid mental picture of badness in my fuel tank. :eek:

Phase separation sounds to me like something went wrong with my electrical system. :biggrin:

[Dr. David Fleming]

I have an antique racing outboard motor from 1932 that was used to set the worlds record speed in Flint, MI. The Johnson XR-55. The engine was converted to run on alcohol because race engines develop about 10% more power with alcohol than gasoline.

Except that, first they raced with Methanol which is wood alcohol not Ethanol which is grain alcohol. THe engine was two stroke and the only oil that would mix with the alcohol and stay mixed was castor oil. This worked ok but the engine had to be disassembled after each run to clean the castor oil out. If it stayed it would sort of glue the engine. A situation often found in old race engines that surface today.

Alcohol by its own rites is an acceptable fuel if: 1. you raise the compression to 16:1 or higher to take advantage of the almost unlimited knock resistance of the fuel (octane). 2. You mix in a slight amount of more volitle fuel to keep the engine running when the plugs foul or load up. 3. you enlarge all the fuel system to a capacity double that of gasoline. 4. you make provision to change out the fuel regularly if it deteoriates.

Methonol/Ethanol require about twice as much fuel capacity because the heat value of alcohol (determined in BTU's -British Thermal Units) is about half that of gasoline.

Another aspect of alcohol vs. gasoline is that it has a high "Latient Heat of Vaporization." This means that it cools the engine in a remarkable way when it is vaporized - it literally sucks heat away from the motor and sweats the intake system. This has a substancial cooling effect.

Aside from needing twice the size fuel tank, alcohol weighs slightly more per gallon than gasoline so the vehicle has to be balanced for almost equal weight of gasoline plus double the capacity. At over 6lbs. per gallon, a full tank of 50 gal. weighs near 300lbs and to get the crusing range of gasoline you would need 100 gallons at 600lbs. All this to get a 22ft. Donzi equal distance to what it would on gasoline.

Ethanol in todays gasoline is basically a - placebo - contributes nothing and takes up space and cost money.

Nothing for something. They ought to leave the ethanol out and raise the price - at least my motor would run correctly. Thanks George, another part of the smoke and mirrors of your administration. Also makes the world more hungry you ought to appreciate that.

Welcome to 21st century America. Oh yah, the Nazi's ran their cars on alcohol when they ran out of gas in WWII.

[CHACHI]

Except that, first they raced with Methanol which is wood alcohol not Ethanol which is grain alcohol. THe engine was two stroke and the only oil that would mix with the alcohol and stay mixed was castor oil. This worked ok but the engine had to be disassembled after each run to clean the castor oil out. If it stayed it would sort of glue the engine. A situation often found in old race engines that surface today.


Any 2 stroke oil that is a polyglycol base will mix with methanol with none of the negitive effects of castor oil.

The only issue is you should always run a batch of reg fuel/oil thru the engine to combat the hygroscopic effect of the polyglycol/methanol and that polygylcol when mixed with a petroleum oil will instantly turn to jelly.

And you may of wondered where the petroleum/synthetic mixability myth started.

Ken

[CHACHI]

Yes, it is. However, in my little mind, "layered" creates a vivid mental picture of badness in my fuel tank. :eek:

Phase separation sounds to me like something went wrong with my electrical system. :biggrin:

I thought the "layered" picture was a parfait. :wink:

Ken

[Just Say N20]

I thought the "layered" picture was a parfait. :wink:

Ken

"Nobody doesn't like parfait."

Donkey, Shrek