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View Full Version : another ethanol global warming winterizing thread



mattyboy
09-28-2013, 09:26 AM
with the end of the season around the corner it is time to think of winterizing.

I have always been of the school to run her dry and store as low on fuel as possible then treat what little gas if left.

last year made me think. with the severity of the storms that have hit the NE over the last two falls I have changed my plans. with irene,the halloween blizzard, and superstorm sandy we have been left without power and gas for weeks at a time. last year luckily i had a full tank but the poor weather didn't let me run the boat down on gas I had to winterize full. Then sandy hit and we went without power for 2 weeks the boat became our life boat I rigged a jumper cable to the electric fuel pump and filled 10 5 gallon cans that kept my friends generators running and got me to work until the gas lines died down in NJ/NY area. I also used the spare bilge pump and battery to operate the sump pump for the basement. It worked out ok ,if a friend wanted 5 gallons here take one of my batteries and charge it for me while you have your generator running and the 5 gallons is yours.

so that is the plan for this year leave her topped off and treat the hell out of the gas. keeping my fingers crossed we had a very high rate of ethanol issues last spring here on our lake and hoping we have a mild fall without any storms.

Carl C
09-28-2013, 09:41 AM
I believe that the condensation/separation issues only happen with outdoor storage when the sun beats down on the shrink wrap and heats things up. Then at night it cools off and condensation forms in the boat and fuel tank. I store my boat uncovered and inside an unheated garage and I never give any thought to how much fuel is in it and I never use stabilizer, and I've never had a problem. I top it off in the spring and run it a little easy while burning the old fuel. Also, we don't have to worry about hurricanes and such in Michigan although we did feel the winds from Sandy. My off season is only around five months. Just my thoughts on the issue.