Beta engine breakdown in the clyde !

[steve yates]

No, it doesn't matter, and you can't see them. Harder to bolt down tho, may require straps.

Your tank is more likely to be mild steel than stainless if it's an old boat.
Mine was, I had it steam cleaned in milford haven when I had the Adams issues as you. Once cleaned, all the fuel pissed out when they put it back in

The sludge and crap at bottom of tank was all that was stopping up the holes.

I replaced it with a 120 l plastic tank, with an inspection hatch.

 

[Mistroma]

certainly there is a lower chance of condensation but what makes you think condensation is the main cause of water in fuel? plastic may be better but it looks like shite.

the ethanol in bio is hydroscopic, the more of that shit you have in your tank the more water you'll get.

it's not that simple as the air in the tank will contain a certain amount of water but so will the air outside and if there's a vent then that water can be sucked from the outside.

with a full tank i'd suggest not having a breather pipe and just releasing the cap a little when in use as you would with an outboard tank.

another disadvantage with a full tank is that it's an expensive bastard if you get bugged up.

then, of course there was that fascinating post by mistroma about the gypos and their asphelt messing up your fuel. never heard of it before, i thought they just nicked it.



you dont want that with a full tank, it will make matters more likely and a lot worse.

i rest my case for not keeping more fuel than absolutely necessary in your tank.

Yes, I agree that it is now better to keep little fuel in a tank over the winter. Diesel now has quite a short shelf-life, much shorter than in my youth. I sailed from the UK in 2012 and open my fuel tank 1-2 times each year to check the sump.

Pre-2012: Mainly red diesel from fishing harbours, very little contamination noted
2012-2017: White diesel, mainly from marinas. Increasing contamination noticed (Egg-cup full > 200mls)
2018-2019: White diesel, from garage if possible or mini-tanker. 1-2 litres of contaminated fuel.

I add a shock dose of Marine16 early in the season and another shock dose at the end before lifting out. The amount of "bug" was always small and even now doesn't look bad. I am seeing asphaltines in the fuel removed from the sump after settling for weeks/months. This appears as cloudy fuel with some larger particles. However, the contaminated fuel rapidly settles to give clear diesel with a small amount of oily dark brown residue plus a few black particles.

I now run the tank down as much as possible before lift out in Greece because I believe fuel breakdown is more of an issue than "bug" from moisture. I also put grease around the o-ring in the filler before lift-out to prevent rain getting in over winter as that could let in more water than I'd get from condensation.