My boat has 130 gallon gas tank. I have heard people say gas go bad after a while (some say 6 months, some say a different time frame); but I may not even burn that much gas in a year since my boat is real close to my boating ground. Add in what a boat captain once told me (or is it coast guard training class), that there should always be 1/3 tank of gas in the tank just so the fuel pipe does not suck in air, it seems to me there will be some real old gas in my tank. I'm wondering if I should be managing the gasoline in the tank in any certain way? Do I have to force myself to burn more gas? Will adding Staybil help? What do you guys do with the gasoline situation, if anything special? Thanks
You have to add an appropriate stabilzer for your fuel because by time it will sludge, become gummy and for varnish, the tank will also collect water from condensation wich would corrode the parts. The stabilzer helps elongating the quality of the fuel and lube the parts against corrosion. It is also advisable that from time to time, according to your boating season and use, to clean the whole system and the tanks to be on top of everything long before you be calling for assistance in the middle of the sea in rough conditions. Cheers, Alfred
Wouldn't trust untreated gas past 3 months. Most gas today is blended with ethinol which seperates into water (That's beyond the normal condensation and varnish worries). You need to treat with Sta-bil Marine stabelizer with ethinol treatment, not the red stuff of old. That 1/3 tank you're referring to is probably the rule of thirds. 1/3 for your trip out, 1/3 for the run back and 1/3 saved for emergencies. You also never want to get near the bottom of your tank for what you'll pull up.
Wow, if you don't burn more than 130 gallons a season and really use your boat that's terrific. Gas gennies alone burn about a gallon an hour. Aside from the ethanol issue, which is real, the drop in octane can be significant in stored gasoline. For higher output gas engines requiring a higher flashpoint that's very important. If you really run at that rate, maybe only fill to 3/4 or 2/3 to be assured of a fuel turnover.
I deal with this exact same situation on one of the boats I manage for owners that rarely use it (since new). A 2006 27' whaler with Verado 225's. It has a 200 gallon tank and I ALWAYS put fuel stabilizer in it that also treats ethanol, although the marina I fuel has no ethanol. I use either Gas Medic, or Pri-G and have had zero issues with it. The boat has a 200 gallon fuel tank, I keep the tank between 130 gallons and 70 gallons. I put in 50 gallons of fuel about every 4-6 months to get it back up to 120-130 gallons. We have not had any issues. I run the engines for 30 minutes every 2 weeks on the lift and put a light load on them......in gear to about 1800rpms, and once a month I take the boat out and run it at cruise for about an hour........problem is, it burns NO fuel. To run 3 miles out at cruise, troll for 5-6 hours, and run 10 miles or so back, you burn 15-20 gallons all day. But to date in over 5 years I haven't had to change one fuel filter(they get changed annually with the service) or had any other fuel related problem.
