What to do with old gas?
So I recently acquired a 1965 Bayliner 19', I already know I have a huge
project ahead of me but before I can go much further, the fuel tank is
*full* of gas which has been sitting in there for over 4 years. There
was a bottle of stabilizer among the assorted crap in the boat but I'm
guessing this stuff must be far too old to run in a motor. How do I get
rid of it? There must be close to 20 gallons of 50:1. |
James
Oct 11
2006
|
| Wow...That makes 8 of us who know it's not in NORTH Carolina!....(c; (When I meet one of those, I always convince him it's just south of
Wilmington....(c;)
|
Larry
Oct 12
|
| Heh. I was just curious - we're buying a house in that area up around Goose
Creek in fact. Had a great time in Charleston and loved the fishing. Still can't get
over sitting off Fort Sumter fishing the rip there for specs - within
spitting distance of the Fort. Love the town too. |
Tom
Oct 12
|
| I'm liking that idea, the thought had occurred to me but I wasn't sure
if it was a good idea. Now to find something to siphon it into for the
time being. |
James
Oct 11
|
| I'm near Seattle, the tank is metal, if you want some of the gas you're
welcome to come and get it. |
James
Oct 11
|
| Diesel lasts pretty well forever, it doesn't have nearly the volatiles
that gasoline has and it doesn't have alcohol in it to soak up water. I
have used ancient diesel without any problems and you can use it as fire
starter as well, or solvent, it's much safer stuff. |
James
Oct 11
|
| If you have trouble siphoning (don't know how your tank is set up) here's
something that worked for me.
I have a 20' Scout CC with a 100 gallon tank buried somewhere in the hull.
I was going to tow it to Florida and wanted to empty the full tank to
decrease weight. I found I could not siphon it out because I couldn't get a
tube down into the gas through the fill opening. So ... I went to AutoZone
and bought a cheap electric fuel pump for a car. (I think it was 24 bucks).
Got some clear, soft tubing and attached sections to the suction side and to
the outlet. I disconnected the fuel line where it exited the fuel
filter/water separator and connected the hose with the pump to the filter
outlet. Made a long set of leads with clips on them and connected to a
remote battery. Worked like a champ. I filled up my car, our neighbor's
car and a couple of friend's cars. Eisboch |
Eisboch
Oct 11
|
| Diesel fuel attracts moisture, and that moisture does most of the
damage you see in diesel fuel systems. Because diesel fuel attracts
moisture, the alcohol statement is moot. |
basskisser
Oct 11
|
| I had the same question last year since I have 500 gallons of diesel sitting
in a boat that has not been used for over a year. It's a good idea to add
some biocide (even a little water in the fuel will encourage critter growth)
but the fuel itself will last indefinitely. I have to check something
though .... I know gas fuel tanks on boats are vented, but I am not sure
about diesel tanks. I think they are .... which is another reason to add
some biocide from time to time. Eisboch |
Eisboch
Oct 11
|
| I should add .... the engine on the Scout is a Yamaha 4 stroke .... no oil
in the gas ... therefore, I could fill up the car tanks. Eisboch |
Eisboch
Oct 11
|
| They would have to be vented, because as you pull fuel out, unless it
were vented, you'd create a vacuum. |
basskisser
Oct 11
|
| You can run 50/1 in a car too.... no real harm. And mixed with plain gas
even less noticable. -W |
Clams
Oct 11
|
| I bought a boat that had 150 gallons of 9 year old gas in it. The boat had
a stainless steel gas tank and the owner had put stabil in before storage. I got rid of it by siphoning off 5 gallons at a time and using it in my old
(1974) chevy pickup mixing with new gas. ( i got tired of driving that
old rig as my daily driver just to use up the gas) I did this untill I got it down to around 1/3 tank and filled up the boat
tank. The outboards ran fine on this. btw, the old gas still smelled like gas. <--this is important Good luck. db |
D-unit
Oct 11
|
| @tornado.tampabay.rr.com: |
Larry
Oct 11
|
| And....biocide is only good BEFORE the diesel grows algae, not after. If
there's algae in it, it just needs polishing and you come up with good
diesel fuel again...without the bugs. |
Larry
Oct 11
|
| @trndny02: |
Larry
Oct 11
|
| >Nuts...I'm in Charleston on the other side of the asteroid. As in South Carolina? |
Tom
Oct 11
|
| The cleanest way to dispose of it is to burn it in "something".
Siphon at least 15 gallons of it out into three 5 gallon cans. Then use it in the lawnmower (50/50 with real gas) or add it slowly to the
car or back into the boat... always making sure it's no more than 15% of the
fuel supply. And make sure it's CLEAN before using it in anything. I've run into a lot of "free gas" that way. Just use it SLOWLY. The little oil (50/1) mixed in won't hurt anything. -W "James Sweet" <jamessweet@hotmail.com> wrote in message |
Clams
Oct 11
|
| I've never done it but have heard of people that put a gallon or so at a
time in their car or cars everytime they fill them up. The small amount of
old gas with 2 stroke oil mixed with it apparently won't hurt anything. Otherwise, you will have to transport it to your nearest hazardest waste
recovery facility. http://www.gas-care.org/ Eisboch |
Eisboch
Oct 11
|
| @trndny02: > There must be close to 20 gallons of 50:1.
> Where are you located, James? I burn it in my gas car, a Chevy V-8 EFI, if
it's free...(c; Just add 5 gallons to a tank of "new" gas to dilute it
with more octane producing light elements. If it knocks, cut back on the
old gas even more. Does the gas smell like shellac or gas? Was it in a plastic tank or metal?
A full metal tank with no air pocket in it will store gas indefinately.
There's a metal tank on my Honda 5KW genset that starts on the first pull
that's been in there since 1989! It still smells like regular gas, not
shellac, because it cannot breathe in a full tank...losing light elements. Don't pour water in your car, however.... 4-stroke engines, by the way, run just fine on 50:1 2-stroke mix. We used
to call it "top oil" back in the 50's....a good thing.
|
Larry
Oct 11
|
| I would suggest that you drop a torch in it and set the whole thing on
fire including the boat. However, that's probably not the end result you want, so it' perfectly
fine to add the old gas, a little at a time, to any power equipment
you may have or your car. A little at a time as in one gallon in 10
kind of thing. Also, I've used old gas/oil mixes in high rev trimmers
and leaf blowers. Doesn't seem to bother them much as long as you put
a drop or two of fresh gas into the mix. Failing that as an option, I believe you can dispose of old gas at
your recycling center. If they don't have a method, empty onto some
leaves or something and torch it off. |
Tom
Oct 11
|
| How about the fact that the gas cap is vented? |
basskisser
Oct 11
|
| Larry,
How long should diesel last if the tank is topped up with no void for
condensation ?
MMC
"Larry" <noone@home.com> wrote in message |
MMC
Oct 11
|
