Fuel Draining

First I have to say thank you

First I have to say thank you to everyone on this baord. You guys are great & a wealth of knowledge to someone new like me who wants to take a crack at this stuff first prior to paying someone.

Here goes. I have a 139 gal tank with about 30 gallons in it. The boat has been hauled and fuel stabilizer added. I read with the E10 gas here that you should store the boat with no gas to avoid a tank of water in the spring. It's in my back yard so no yard rules apply about having to top off. What is the safest way to drain down the rest of the tank? I read a great piece in sea worthy about how people are using shop / wet vac and blowing them & the boat up. Scratch that from the list.

Thanks again in adavance.
Jeff

Jeff: Stay alive a little lon

Jeff: Stay alive a little longer by taking the boat to a fuel supplier that will pump it out for you at their risk. They may charge you or consider the fuel as payment. They might even come to your place to do it. Guy

not sure why we wouldn't s

not sure why we wouldn't still store the tank full...

I drained mine with a drill pu

I drained mine with a drill pump attached to the suction hose from the tank.

"I was thinking the same thing

"I was thinking the same thing. Just did not know if the drill pump would get too hot or not.

Thanks,"

"You could buy an electric fue

"You could buy an electric fuel pump and a long piece of fuel line.
Disconnect the fuel line at the intake side of the boats fuel pump. Put the electric pump inline with the long piece of fuel line going to whatever you are going to put the fuel into and pump the tank out.

Make sure all connections on the fuel pump are safe and will have no chance of making a spark when the pump is turned on or off.
In other words don't buy a cheap switch or just touch the wires to the battery.

This is about the safest way of doing this yourself.

Or, close the tank so no air can enter it. Turn off the fuel to the engine and close the vent line. (there are line pinchers made for this or just plug the lines) This way it is about the same as storing a can or drum in this case of fuel.
Air is what lets the water in and lets the fuel go bad. Stop the air flow and everything should stay as it is.

Even if you do drain the tank the tank should be sealed. Air moving in and out of the tank is what brings the water in.

Good luck."

Jeff:

An electric drill h

Jeff:

An electric drill has an air cooled armature which sends out a shower of sparks from the brushes that looks like a sparkler is burning inside it. Would you let your child do it?

We have used NAPALM (jellied gasoline) in every war we have been in and the victims...enough said.

Use an air drill if you must and have someone competent with a fire extinguisher standing by.
Guy

"Here's my two cents worth

"Here's my two cents worth. I replace tanks on a pretty regular basis and have to drain all fuel out before I remove them.

I remove the vent line from the hull fitting and rig my compressor to that vent line. With the fuel supply line disconnected from the motor and the fill cap tight, I adjust the pressure regulator to it's lowest setting and pressurize the system. This method safely pushed the fuel out of the tank and into a portable container.
Don't walk away while the tank is draining! A regulator failure could ruin your tank, and your day. 5-7 psi will not harm your metal tank but it only takes 1 lb or less to move the fuel.

This process is for metal tanks only. Do not try this on poly or fiberglass tanks."

Rick: Your's is a safe an

Rick: Your's is a safe and easy method worth more than two cents. Guy

"This is my first winter with

"This is my first winter with E10, and I too am concerned--so much so that I ran the tanks down far as I dared, then added 20 gallons of "normal" gas I trucked in (with Star-Tron stabilizer added).

My mid-West friends--who've been using E10 for sometime--claim that the stuff is NOT a problem: just fill to 90 % full and add the stabilizer. Maybe so, but I'll wait 'til next winter to find out!

Jeff

PS: Like your tank emptying trick, Rick. Slick!"

"Everyone, I second Guy's

"Everyone, I second Guy's non-recommendation of a drill pump. If you use one to pump gas, you will catch on fire. The only question is "which second or minute will you catch on fire"?

I use one of those shake-shake siphon hoses to drain the gas. I remove the gauge sender unit, and put one end into the tank. The other end is attached to a 1/2 copper water pipe which fits through the rear bilge drain (boat on trailer or blocks), and the gas runs into a portable gas container on the ground behind the boat."