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Winterization fuel question

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Reel Ax

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Heading up to clean her out for the winter. The marina is pulling her this upcoming week.  Last time I was out I had 1/2 tank of fuel. I had planned on filling her up before putting the stabill in, but wave forecast is 8-12' growing to 15' and the nearest fuel is about 3 miles away, so running her over is out of the question.  Can I leave it 1/2 full or am I better off buying 10 gallon gas cans  and filling her up?
 
Fill her up and use SeaFoam to treat the fuel. Most here feel SeaFoam is a better product than Stabil. My Bennie dealer does too.

Steve
 
You should be fine as long as you had good mix of Stabil (or whatever treatment you use) in with the fuel. If it's not sitting outside in rain/snow or near the water it's doubtful it will pull much if any moisture. IN MY OPINION the more fuel you have, the more ethanol to suck moisture out if the air. I take mine down to 1/4 tank and have not had issue for 2 years. Matter if fact my dealer asked me if I ran it down as much as possible. Just my 2 cents .......
 
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Also put Stabil in before fueling so the fuel going in mixes it up real good or put in in your cans and then add the fuel to the cans.
 
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They say you cant put to much stabil in. JFI The Bennington dealer here in Nebraska TOLD ME NOT TO USE SEAFOAM. I have used stabil for years without any problems and everything from tiller to mower to my boat and generator start every spring with no problems! I would stop and buy 10 gallons and top it off before you put it to bed.
 
Put stabil in the fuel and leave the level where it is and you will be fine. In my opinion the level doesn't matter much if you treat the fuel. Never failed me on any of my stuff doing it that way.
 
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For years I would determine when my 2nd to the last tank of the season would be and I would start putting Stabil (and I've used Seafoam) in before filling up the tank (Ethanol free) so it would mix up really good and it would run through the entire fuel system including the fuel injectors. Then I would do the same w/the last tank. During winterization my marina's service dept. adds Stabil and asks me if I want the tank topped off which I have always done. ( But not too  much where it will expand and leak out the cap) This way I have treated gas that will be fresh the following spring and it's FULL!!!!!!!!!
 
Just filled ours up the other day with E-free and stabil. We do sometimes use the boat if we get a warm winters day an then I add more to keep it full.
 
I keep mine full, I always run Yamaha Fuel Stabilizer and Conditioner throughout the year, all I do is change the concentration. Normally its 1oz for every 3 gallons, but over the winter it should be 1:1 (oz/gallon) never had a problem. Of course I've only ever started one of my boats once after I put it away for winter. Haha, that's funny, I had never actually thought about that fact. On the bright side, my dealer never had a problem with them!
 
Everyone knows there is water in the air (that's what humidity is).  When a glass of ice water sweats, water in the air is condensing on the side of the glass.  Same process makes it rain.  And snow.  Same thing happens INSIDE your gas tank.  Water in the air sealed INSIDE the tank will condense on the INSIDE of the tank, and it drips down into the gas and is absorbed into the gas.  By filling the tank for the winter (and sealing it tight), you are reducing the volume of air, and ultimately water, that can condense.  By filling the tank, you also have a lot more gas in which that much smaller amount of water can be diluted with compared to if your tank was nearly empty with gas, but full of air (and water in the air). 

You don't have to be in a freezing climate for condensation to occur.  Air at 100% humidity, at 100 degrees, will condense into water as soon as the air temp starts to drop, even at 99 degrees.  This is why it rains.  And snows.  In colder climates, the greater temperature drop condenses that much more water out of the air. 

In my opinion, far more water will condenses in a completely empty tank since the tank will be full of air (instead of just a small amount of air had the tank been filled with gas).  This extra water will sit there all winter and when you fill it with fresh gas in the spring, all that water will mix with the fresh gas.  Better to fill the tank with gas in the fall (and stabilize it so the gas doesn't degrade), and have a much smaller amount of air/water in the head space.

So fill it.  Stabilize it.  Forget it.
 
For similar reasons, it is better to maintain a full tank of gas as much as possible throughout the boating season.  It doesn't have to be winter for water to condense, there just needs to be a temperature drop (which happens every night).

Keep the tank full WHENEVER possible to minimize condensation inside the tank.
 
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Calamus said:
JFI The Bennington dealer here in Nebraska TOLD ME NOT TO USE SEAFOAM.
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Wow, my dealer told me specifically to add SeaFoam run the boat over to them (they are on my lake) and they will clean the logs take care of the battery and store it till spring. After running Seafoam they told me they wouldn't even fog it. I have my oil and drive lub changed in the spring when ready to bring her home.

Go figure...

Steve
 
I was told, and prefer to, change the lube at the end of season, that way if you did get any water in your lower unit it won't freeze. Plus, if you did have a leaking seal which caused the water to get in there in the first place, you aren't finding out about it in the spring when you're itching to get out on the lake!!
 
My mechanic said to use stabil and store it with a little more than 1/4 tank. The gas loses octain when it sits for several months. That way in the spring when you fill it up you are running mostly fresh gas. Three years and so far so good.
 
Obviously there are many thoughts on the subject and it seems they all work well. Any horror stories out there?

Steve
 
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Sure, It was a dark and stormy night...... Oh, you mean about fuel levels for winter, I thought you were in the Halloween mood! :D  
 
Last May while I was at my dealer I saw a mason jar with about 1/3 water and 2/3 gas  .Someone had came in with a Fours Winns that would not start .

Turned out for winter storage the owner  filled it up with ethanol gas and did use any stabilizer.

The mason jar was a sample from his tank . 
 
So he had w66 in the boat? 66% fuel and 33% water!!
 
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